"There is general agreement among scholars that the hand salute is actually the first part of "uncovering" in front of a senior."
"There are three things to remember about the military salute. The first is that the lower-ranking or junior member initiates the salute. The senior member does not, nor should they be expected to."
And then there is stuff we see but cannot wrap our heads around... like... the evening of 5 October 2020 (just hours before Biden gives his Gettysburg speech, President Trump left Walter Reed Hospital and flew on Marine 1 to the White House south lawn. in this photograph, taken a few minutes after landing, who is President Trump saluting in the departing helicopter. whoever it is flew with the President from Walter Reed hospital in Marine 1, remained on the helicopter as the President ascended the staircase to the the South Lawn Balcony, where the President waited for the helicopter to begin its take off and departure to render and hold a salute as the helicopter departed [...] so i leave you with this question. you see the picture of The President of the United States saluting, what one guy described as the north end of a south bound helicopter. when have you ever seen The President of the United States salute an aircraft?
We've already established that proper salute protocol is not always followed. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, all while in civilian clothes, rendered salutes. Reagan is often credited with starting the trend, BUT there's evidence of Eisenhower doing it, perhaps this has something to do with my questions and theories about the military flags in the Oval Office... Ike started that too.
Truman and FDR most typically removed their hats and put them over their hearts. Very hard to find photos of either rendering salutes, but I did find a few. In addition to a playful returned salute to a child, there's another instance from Truman and one from FDR... granted, we assume the men in the photos are the real people, and it's not a hypothetical double making an oopsie a la Inglorious Basterds.
Interestingly starting with Truman, all future presidents until Obama and then Trump, had some type of prior military service. Also keep in mind, a former POTUS isn't exactly your typical civilian... he's a retired CiC, still gets secret service detail and state protection. Also the question over Executive Privilege has been talked about recently re: Trump and Obama... granted, constitutionally speaking, privilege only applies to matters WHILE in office.
So point is that protocol alone, tradition alone, doesn't exactly mean anything. Trump could have been breaking protocol. The salute could have been nothing. But it also could have meant everything. The scene was clearly set up, focused on and promoted with obvious purpose. Remember the scene of Bob Dole standing and saluting HW Bush at his funeral? That was turned into media gold. And who could ever forget arguably the most memorable salute in US History?
Back to salutes...
See CHAOS_ACTUAL
See the rest of the thread with my comments.
Also, Norman_F_Dixon
My answer here, and to the very first time that Norman asked the question, was: "POTUS."
Speaking of salutes...
We've already established that proper salute protocol is not always followed. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, all while in civilian clothes, rendered salutes. Reagan is often credited with starting the trend, BUT there's evidence of Eisenhower doing it, perhaps this has something to do with my questions and theories about the military flags in the Oval Office... Ike started that too.
Truman and FDR most typically removed their hats and put them over their hearts. Very hard to find photos of either rendering salutes, but I did find a few. In addition to a playful returned salute to a child, there's another instance from Truman and one from FDR... granted, we assume the men in the photos are the real people, and it's not a hypothetical double making an oopsie a la Inglorious Basterds.
Interestingly starting with Truman, all future presidents until Obama and then Trump, had some type of prior military service. Also keep in mind, a former POTUS isn't exactly your typical civilian... he's a retired CiC, still gets secret service detail and state protection. Also the question over Executive Privilege has been talked about recently re: Trump and Obama... granted, constitutionally speaking, privilege only applies to matters WHILE in office.
So point is that protocol alone, tradition alone, doesn't exactly mean anything. Trump could have been breaking protocol. The salute could have been nothing. But it also could have meant everything. The scene was clearly set up, focused on and promoted with obvious purpose. Remember the scene of Bob Dole standing and saluting HW Bush at his funeral? That was turned into media gold. And who could ever forget arguably the most memorable salute in US History?