With Walz pick, both parties have a military vet on the ticket for the first time in 2 decades

Veterans are back on the tickets.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her Democratic running mate means both major parties will include a military veteran for the first time since 2004, when President George W. Bush faced Sen. John Kerry.

It’s also the first time since GOP Sen. John McCain ran in 2008 when even one former member of the armed services was nominated.

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, chosen by former President Donald Trump last month as his Republican running mate, served from 2003 to 2007 in the Marine Corps, including a deployment to Iraq.

Mr. Walz has at least one advantage over Mr. Vance should they meet on a debate stage this fall: longevity. Mr. Vance left the Marine Corps after four years with the rank of corporal, while Mr. Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard, retiring in 2005 with the rank of command sergeant major.

According to the Almanac of American Politics, Mr. Walz, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives before running for governor in 2018, ranks as the highest-ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress.

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SEE ALSO: Kamala Harris picks Tim Walz as her running mate, hopes to cash in on his Midwestern appeal

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Ms. Harris’ new running mate even has a West Point “background,” having been born in West Point, Nebraska. The eastern Nebraska town, which had a population of just over 3,500 in the 2020 census, was so named because it was the westernmost point along the state’s Elkhorn Valley.

The recent lack of military service on the resume has been an anomaly in American politics, with time spent in uniform long seen as a major asset — even a prerequisite — with voters of the post-World War II era.

Ms. Harris was under some pressure from veterans before she revealed her choice, particularly after Mr. Vance joined the Republican slate.

“The next commander in chief would be well-served by having a post-9/11 generation veteran — or any military veteran — at their side in the perilous times that we’re living in,” Allison Jaslow, CEO of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which represents the post-9/11 generation of U.S. military veterans, said in a statement last month.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has an opportunity to not only add post-9/11 generation veteran leadership to the Democratic ticket, but to also ensure that America’s next vice president is a battle-tested veteran of our United States’ military.”