Hillary Clinton has closer ties to the military than any president in decades

If Hillary Clinton takes office next year, she will do so as the president with more experience and the longest record on national security than any of her recent predecessors, including her husband, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. That same record, however, has also earned her the label of being a hawk — meaning she was the one who said go when her former boss, Obama, had wanted to hold back.

"I'm convinced this president, no matter what the circumstances, will never put any boots on the ground to do anything, even when it's compelling," Iraq surge architect Jack Keane told New York Times Magazine. "One of the problems the president has, which weakens his diplomatic efforts, is that leaders don't believe he would use military power. That's an issue that would separate the president from Hillary Clinton rather dramatically. She would look at military force as another realistic option, but only where there is no other option."

As one aide further explained, "[Clinton] likes the nail-eaters — [Stanley] McChrystal, [David] Petraeus, Keane. Real military guys, not these retired three-stars who go into civilian jobs."

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Strangely enough, that puts her at odds with the Republicans in the race — meaning the gen­eral election might "present voters with an unfamiliar choice: a Democratic hawk versus a Republican reluctant warrior," The New York Times writes.

For more on how Clinton became the military-minded leader she is today, read on in The New York Times Magazine.