Why Democratic presidents keep choosing Republicans as their defense chiefs

This is no quirk. Democrats have long been vulnerable on military matters

Franklin Roosevelt and Frank Knox
(Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Barack Obama's selection of former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel as his choice to be the nation's next defense secretary has received a tidal wave of criticism. But Hagel may be in for a bruising confirmation battle, the discussion of the pick generally misses an odd historical fact that reveals one of the ways modern Democrats blunt charges that they are soft on military issues — they pick a Republican to head the Defense Department.

Ever since 1940, Democrats have regularly chosen Republicans to serve as the top cabinet officers for defense and war issues — in fact, for more than half of the 36 years of Democratic administrations since 1940, Republicans have led the department.

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Joshua Spivak is a senior fellow at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College in New York, and writes The Recall Elections Blog.