Military Veterans, the Decline of American Institutions, and the "Leadership Gap" in America

According to this Gallup study, over the past four decades, several of our largest American institutions such as Congress, the Presidency, our banks and big business have all suffered a significant loss of confidence from the American people. At the same time, confidence in the U.S. military has seen a steady increase, despite the challenging past 15 years of continuous war. According to Gallup, the US military has the highest confidence level of all of our American institutions, while Congress and big business have the lowest confidence levels.  These significant confidence swings deserve further analysis from which we can gain key insights into the changing impact of leadership in our society.   

In 1975, 75% of the members of Congress were veterans, having served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War. The majority of Congress had served in uniform.  At that time, Gallup polls show Congress enjoyed a 40% confidence rating from the American public. However, at present day, the number of veterans in Congress has declined precipitously to under 25% and confidence in Congress has dramatically declined to an abysmal low of 9%, down from 40%.

At the same time in 1975, as Saigon fell at the end of the long Vietnam War, the U.S. military had recently transitioned from a draftee army to an 'all-volunteer force'. Despite the terrible socio-political-military situation in the U.S. at the end of a losing war, the military still enjoyed a 58% confidence level from the American public. Now, four decades later, and after 15 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans’ confidence in the military has risen to its current 73% level and #1 position of all American institutions. This is quite astounding given that war can have the opposite effect on the public’s confidence, and that confidence can be lost quickly with a single incident such as was experienced in My Lai, Vietnam.  

The American public sees a widening gap in confidence between the military (high confidence) and Congress, the Presidency, banks, and big business (low confidence). This prompts the question of why do we have this "confidence gap"?

In 1977, the Presidency, even after the Watergate scandal, enjoyed a 52% approval rating from the American public. The standing and prior six U.S. Presidents were military veterans with an average time in uniform of 22 years prior to being elected Commander-in-Chief: Carter (18 years in uniform), Ford (4), Nixon (24), Johnson (14), Kennedy (4), Eisenhower (34), and Truman (36).   By 2016, the approval rating for the Presidency was down to 26%, half of what it had been in 1977. Yet since 1993, we have had four Presidents: Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. Only one, Bush (3 years in uniform), has been a veteran.  

In 1979, banks had a 60% confidence level of the American public. That confidence level had dropped to 41% by 2007 prior to the global financial crisis.  By 2016, that confidence level had dropped to 29%, less than half of what it had been in 1979. 

Nearly every member of the “Greatest Generation” in America served in the military. They learned self-sacrifice, selflessness, teamwork, and servant-style leadership. They first learned how to follow, then they learned to lead. They learned about “commander’s intent”, “after-action reviews”, strategy, and tactics. They learned to communicate effectively and they learned to problem solve. At very young ages, they were taught formal leadership principles, and were given the responsibility and the opportunity to practice these leadership principles, often in dangerous environments. 

When they returned from war, they helped build America into the largest economy in the world, as leaders of corporations, communities, non-profits, and in their places of worship. They ran for office and filled the halls of Congress. They dominated the Senate and the Presidency. They led the banks and the largest companies in the world.  And the confidence that the American people had in the institutions of the Presidency, Congress and big business and banks was high. 

Unfortunately, in America today, we have a "leadership gap" that is contributing to the “confidence gap” in many of our institutions. Much of the leadership gap can be attributed to fewer young Americans serving in the military.  Fewer than 1% of the population have the privilege of serving in our military.  Because of that, most young Americans do not have the opportunity to learn formal leadership principles and to practice them in the way that previous generations have experienced. Our college graduate rate is the highest it has ever been at 33%, yet college graduates find it difficult to locate a good job upon graduation. After only a few years working in a profession, they desire to improve their opportunities by attending graduate school, often to gain their MBAs. In graduate school, many top 10 programs have only one class for leadership. One class. These newly minted MBAs are expected to be leaders immediately.  Most executives only first experience their first leadership position at age 33 and according to one Harvard Business Review example, they receive their first leadership training at age 43. This is a far cry from the hands-on leadership experienced by enlisted and officer soldiers in their 20s during the wars of the current century. 

At the same time as we see this “leadership gap”, we also see a “civilian-military gap” occurring.  As discussed, fewer and fewer Americans serve in the military. Therefore, fewer veterans are in Congress, the Presidency, the Senate, banks and large businesses. At the same time, the few who do serve in the military are rarely exposed to the American public while they are in uniform. Because of BRAC (base realignment and closure), the military bases have retreated to giant locations far removed from major cities only a few states even have major bases located in them (Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Washington state). Those that serve go back and forth between combat zones and U.S. bases far away from the majority of the American public. Not only do most Americans not serve, they also do not have any relatives who serve, and they do not know anyone who serves.  The perception of military service, once a well understood component of the American public’s image of our military, is now relegated to arm’s length distance, and 'Hollywood' stereotypes of autocratic, egotistical, self-centered leadership, to replace the real world experience and exposure to positive, principled, servant-style leadership. 

Whether is it a causal relationship or correlated relationship that the number of American military veterans in our major institutions (Presidency, Congress, banks and large businesses) has declined, at the same time that confidence in these institutions has declined, whereas the confidence in the American military has increased, is not known. It is a multi-variable analysis worthy of a PhD thesis. What is known is that there is a "leadership gap" in American institutions and the civ-mil gap is a likely factor.  Americans have trust and confidence in our military.   The military develops leaders, arguably better than any other American institution.  We should certainly elect more veterans to federal office. Our banks and our big business could receive increased confidence from the American public if they had more veterans as leaders within those organizations, and if those organizations had cultures more similar to the military in creating leaders- becoming learning organizations focused on creating leaders of character. 

The American workforce is lacking in leadership training and experience. Companies are required to do one of two things to fill the “leadership gap”: develop their own internal leaders, or hire leaders away from other organizations.  How can corporate America fill this leadership gap? 

Many of America’s greatest companies have started to fill the gap by not only hiring veterans, but developing Veterans' Initiatives programs, and using the leadership principles developed and trained in the military to help build leaders of character within their own organizations. These include some of the best companies in America including Deloitte, Mercedes-Benz USA, Novartis, 7-Eleven, EMCOR, Wyndham Worldwide, JP Morgan, Fidelity, Abiomed, Prudential and USAA.

Published by: Dan Rice, President, Thayer Leader Development Group at West Point