The President of the United States serves as the Commander in Chief of the nation’s armed forces. While not in the chain of command, the Vice President is next in line to take command. Although these offices have been held by military veterans from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (Vice President to John Adams before becoming President) to George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush (Ronald Reagan’s Vice President before becoming President himself), they have mostly been officers. With the swearing-in of JD Vance as the 50th Vice President on January 20, 2025, a junior enlisted veteran has risen to the White House. Enlisting as a private in 2003 and leaving the Marine Corps as a Corporal in 2007, Vance has become the don of the E-4 mafia. However, other junior enlisted men previously served as Vice President and even President.
In 1861, Hannibal Hamlin vacated his seat in the Senate to become Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President. The 16-year veteran of Congress (four in the House, 12 in the Senate) was not a military veteran. However, the office of Vice President offered Hamlin little to do. According to a U.S. Senate biography, the Vice President enlisted as a private in the Maine State Guard at the outbreak of the Civil War; his unit was called up to active duty in 1864.
As Vice President, Hamlin was told that he did not have to report to muster. However, he insisted on fulfilling his duty and setting an example of service to the nation. Hamlin was promoted to Corporal and carried out duties ranging from standing guard and drilling troops to peeling potatoes. Interestingly, Hamlin sought the Republican Party’s Vice Presidential nomination in 1864, but was passed over for Andrew Johnson. After his three-month active duty tour ended in September, Vice President Hamlin returned to politics and campaigned for Lincoln and Johnson. He returned to the Senate in 1869 and remained there until 1881.
Unlike Hamlin, William McKinley was an enlisted man before he was a politician. In June 1861, two months after the Civil War broke out, McKinley enlisted as a private in the Ohio Poland Guards. He reported to Columbus where his unit was consolidated into the 23rd Ohio Infantry. McKinley took well to soldiering and was impressed by one of his officers, future President Major Rutherford B. Hayes. The 23rd engaged Confederate troops on September 10, 1861, at Carnifex Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). Although McKinley was later assigned to the brigade quartermaster, he served under fire bringing rations to troops on the line at the Battle of Antietam.
For his service at Antietam, Sergeant McKinley was given a commission as a Second Lieutenant by Ohio Governor David Tod. During the 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaign, McKinley earned a promotion to Captain for his actions at the Second Battle of Kernstown and had a horse shot out from under him at the Battle of Berryville. Just before the war ended, McKinley received a brevet commission as a Major. After the war, McKinley returned to Ohio and studied law. He went on to serve as a U.S. Congressman, Ohio Governor, and 25th President of the United States.
So far we’ve examined the junior enlisted careers of a Vice President who became a private and a private who earned a commission before becoming President. However, there is one U.S. President who started as a private and never wore an officer’s rank. In 1812, James Buchanan passed the Pennsylvania bar exam and established himself as a prominent lawyer in Lancaster. Although he was opposed to a declaration of war against Great Britain, Buchanan advocated for the national defense in the War of 1812.
According to the National Guard Bureau, Buchanan enlisted as a private in Judge Shippen’s Cavalrymen, a local Lancaster militia company, on August 25, 1814. While the unit fought in the defense of Baltimore, Buchanan did not see action. Instead, he was one of 10 men who volunteered for a raid to “tactically acquire” additional horses. After the British attack on Baltimore was repelled, Buchanan’s unit was dismissed. He went on to serve in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and as 15th President of the United States.