"How far would they get today?" Topic

Been on a bit of an ACW kick lately. Even been soloing a favorite board game I bought in the 80s.
Anyway, got to wondering about Jackson & Sherman. Both were rather eccentric if not downright insane.
How far would someone like that go in today's military?

I don't have a clue as far as today's military, as we don't have the same level of mobilization as during the ACW. Both wore West Point door knockers, but they need widespread combat to earn their reputations as well as superiors who recognize their respective talents.

If the comparison was to WWII, I would equate Jackson to Patton – aggressive trait, with a religious bent that convinced them that God was on their side.

Sherman? Can't think of a contemporary. Maybe Curtis Lemay?

Both were rather eccentric if not downright insane.
How far would someone like that go in today's military?

Commander-in-Chief?

"Both were rather eccentric if not downright insane."

That appears to be a decent qualification for high office in almost any sort of human organisation. Certainly a significant minority of CEOs fit that description.

Much would depend upon luck, as always.

Probably not too far given that today's "modern" perspective does not view some of their eccentricities in high regard, as opposed to the accepted "modern" eccentricities of current high ranking individuals. There probably is a conservation of eccentricity law somewhere in play. On the other hand, many of the high ranking individuals of the ACW did leave the Army at the Captain rank (for many reasons) and only returned when their services were required, eccentric or not. I imagine another large scale conflict would have similar results.

panzerCDR pretty much summarized my views.

@panzerCDR,

I think your "conservation of eccentricity law" is a real hoot!

Well…the current nominee for Secretary of Defense is a retired lt. general with the Moniker "Mad Dog."

The media makes a lot of the whole "Mad Dog" thing. But really, most Flag Rank Officers seem to have some publicity moniker that appears to have been dreamed up by a boxing promoter. "Mad Dog" just has alliteration with his last name. I doubt there's even half a dozen recorded incidents of him biting anyone.

True RST:

Bulldog
Blood & Guts as examples of WWII and Korean war nicknames.

But get into the 'M's and you have for example:

"Mad Anthony" — Anthony Wayne, U.S. general
"Mad Dog" -- James Mattis, US Marine Corps general and Secretary of Defense designate
"Mad Jack" – Jack Churchill, British Colonel in World War II
"Mad Mike" —Mike Calvert, British brigadier[57]
Mike Hoare, British officer and mercenary leader[58]
"Majoren" (Norwegian, "The Major") – Hans Reidar Holtermann, Norwegian World War II military leader
"Manila John" – John Basilone, United States Marine, World War II Medal of Honor recipient
"The Marble Man" — Robert E. Lee, Confederate general (for his perfection at West Point)[39]
"The Marble Model" — Robert E. Lee, Confederate general (for his perfection at West Point)[39]
"Marshall Forwards" — Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian general
"Mary" — Arthur Coningham, New Zealand/Australian First World War flying ace and Second World War senior RAF officer
"Maryland Stuart" — George H. Stewart, Confederate general
"Meagher of the Sword" – Thomas Francis Meagher, Commander of the Union Irish Brigade during the American Civil War
"Mick" — Edward Mannock, First World War British fighter ace
"Mickey" — David Marcus, American Army colonel, helped train the nascent Israeli Army, became its first general (Aluf)[59]
"Mike" — Frank W. Fenno, Jr., U.S. submarine commander[2]
"Micky" — Harold Brownlow Martin, Second World War Australian bomber pilot attached to the RAF
"Mokka"—Mordechi Limon, Israeli admiral[60]
"Moke" — William J. Millican, U.S. submarine commander[2]
"Monk" — Benjamin Dickson, U.S. intelligence officer[61]
"The Monster" — Jacob H. Smith, U.S. general
"Monty" — Bernard Montgomery, Second World War British field marshal
"Moon" — Wreford G. Chapple, World War II U.S. ace submarine commander[2]
"Mush" (from "Mushmouth") — Dudley W. Morton, World War II U.S. ace submarine commander (for his Tennessee drawl)[2]
"Mushmouth" — Dudley W. Morton, World War II U.S. ace submarine commander (for his Tennessee drawl)[2]
"Mustapha" — Husband E. Kimmel, CINCPAC at Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941[62]
"Murph"—Michael P. Murphy, Navy SEAL

They called Jackson the "Decon" or "Parson" besides "Stonewall" and Sherman was called "Cump", but neither were called mad.

And only one has ever been nicknamed "Mad Dog", and alliteration is not a common practice. Here is a sample list:

link

And the media didn't give Mattis the nickname, the Marines who served with him did. And even the media didn't mention any biting or foaming at the mouth.