jpeters wrote:
I guess it only makes sense to name a sub after him considering that he did serve in the Navy and I believe he was also a graduate of the Naval Academy (correct me if I'm wrong). I'm not up to speed on naval vessels but what is the Navy's policy when it comes to naming vessels after presidents? They have Reagan and Bush #1 for aircrraft carriers...any others???
John
Jimmy Carter; the best ex-president we've ever had. Seriously, the guy's done great work since he left office.
My admittedly limited understanding is that the biggest 'faux pas' if you will is that the ship was named for a living president. Naming a capital ship (if that term is correct) is supposed to be an honor reserved for deceased dignitaries.
Just my personal opinions here: There's a laundry list of folks that deserve to have vessels named for them. Do we really need to open the floodgates and start fellating politicians even more while they're still alive? How about honoring the folks that served on these ships, rather than the guys that signed the bill that approved the defenese spending budget that included funds for, but not exclusive to, the building of the warship?
This business started with the USS Ronald Reagan, which I'd have understood if they'd have announced it after he died, but he seems to have quite the cult of personality in Washington. They renamed the airport for him, they want him on the dime, and every couple of years someone goes off half cocked about putting him on mt. rushmore. Enough's enough.
Now we've got the USS George H. W. Bush and the USS Jimmy Carter, where does it end? Pretty soon we'll have the new Aegis cruisers the USS Nancy Pelosi and USS Newt Gingrich, A new destroyer DD-469 USS Bill Clinton, and newest missle sub the "USS Single-term-senator-from-Rhode-Island-whose-name-we-forgot." Oh yeah, and the Navy will soon launch a new fleet of garbage barges, the USS William Halsey, USS John Paul Jones, and the USS George Dewey providing they can get the appropriate funding approved by cutting veterans pensions and medical benfits.
Ain't politics grand?