Political Leaders who were Military Aviators

[ShotOne]

This came up on another thread which has vanished for some reason (perhaps hacked by North Koreans), the theme being political leaders associated with aviation. Our Winston trained as a pilot, on the other side, Goering and Hess were WW1 pilots. In the US we've John McCain and G Bush(x2) then Ian Smith, Tony Benn, Rajiv Gandhi and Hosni Mubarak. No doubt theres lots more....

[Lordflasheart]

Flt Lt Jerry Rawlings.

[Yamagata ken]

Norman Tebbit

[Like This - Do That]

Former Australian PM John Gorton, flew Kittyhawks in WW2.

[TOWTEAMBASE]

Future leader prince Charles !!

[oxenos]

and his sons

[layman]

Gough Whitlam - navigator WW 2

[desk wizard]

George McGovern (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_McGovern#Military_service)

[Barksdale Boy]

Richard Burton and John D Erlichman

[jindabyne]

Definitely not Charles, his sons, Burton or Erlichman!

[Davef68]

Ezer Weizman is the one who immediately springs to mind.

[thing]

Ezer Weizman

Who is?...

[Take That]

He flew for the RAF and the fledgling Israeli Air Force. I believe he became their Commander. In later life he was the President of Israel. Does that help?

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

King Hussein of Jordan - thoroughly nice bloke - I met him.

All Jerry Rawlings' bios state that he won the Flying and Airmanship award in training, and then there's no mention for 9 years of aircraft or squadrons till the Coup.
Possibilities:
1)He's the World's only modest fighter pilot........http://rs256.pbsrc.com/albums/hh189/abcfoxy/ROFLMAO.gif~c200
2)No aeroplanes serviceable, so did ground jobs
3)He got medically dropped
4)He failed a later stage of training

[Good Vibs]

We can't forget John Glenn.
WW2 Pacific combat, Korean War combat, Navy Test Pilot, Mercury http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/F-86_%27MiG_Mad_Marine%27.jpg/220px-F-86_%27MiG_Mad_Marine%27.jpgSeven Astronaut (the first 7 American Astronauts), Space Shuttle and US Senator.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/JohnGlenn.jpg/170px-JohnGlenn.jpg

[TBM-Legend]

In Australia, Kittyhawk pilot, John Waddy was a pollie...and B-24 pilot Sir Walter Campbell was Qld Governor...

[MAINJAFAD]

Jack Swigert (Apollo 13) did get elected to Congress (but died before taking office), He was ex USAF. Tony Benn doesn't count either as he was never a party leader or deputy.

[mr fish]

the butcher of prague, REINHARD HEYDRICH...with a title like that could only be a proper b*****d, hotly tipped to take over the leadership of the third reich.


banned from flying fighters over the Russian front by hitler himself.

[Pontius Navigator]

Don't forget Ian Smith

[Bigbux]

Don't forget Ian Smith

mis-read that for a moment and thought you wrote "Cyril" instead of Ian.

[slayerdude]

Rajiv Gandhi was never a military aviator. Went to civil flight school ..... According to his peers a so-so aviator?...... Military aviators are steep in chivalry and being gentleman.....that's a lot to give up to be a politician...... Doubt if will be a long list

[Trim Stab]

Prince Husain (eldest son of the Sultan of the Indies) was a military aviator and subsequently became Sultan.

[Hangarshuffle]

Prince Andrew. Prince Charles. William and Harry. The Duke of Camborne. Why's the Xmas Monarchy thread been shut down? Its just getting interesting. Especially in the Daily Mail tonight, photographs and everything on there.... they'll need to be bloody politicians to get out of this one....if its true.
Wedgewood Benn was a pilot on Spitfires, I think but too young or was in the wrong place for combat.

[air pig]

Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, congressman and guest of the American legal system for 8 years and 4 months.

[West Coast]

Don Rumsfeld

[GreenKnight121]

Rumsfeld served in the United States Navy[/URL] from 1954 to 1957, as a naval aviator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy) and flight instructor. His initial training was in the SNJ Texan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_instructor) basic trainer after which he transitioned to the T-28 advanced trainer. In 1957, he transferred to the Naval Reserve and continued his naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist. On July 1, 1958, he was assigned to Anti-submarine Squadron 662 at Naval Air Station Anacostia, District of Columbia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_Reserve), as a selective reservist. Rumsfeld was designated aircraft commander of Anti-submarine Squadron 731 on October 1, 1960, at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, Michigan, where he flew the S2F Tracker (redesignated S-2 in 1962). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld#cite_note-airforcetimes.com-15) He transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and retired with the rank of Captain in 1989.[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld#cite_note-defenselink1-16"] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_Ready_Reserve)

And with all that he was still a stupid *&^% who tried to damage the military both in the mid-1970s (SecDef for Pres. Ford November 20, 1975 – January 20, 1977, when he tried to force the 2nd-rate CVV carrier design and then the 3rd-rate VSS on the USN) and again in the early 2000s.

[JAJM]

President George W. Bush was also a military aviator, he flew F-102's operationally.