TODD MORGAN GATHERS THE FRUITS OF YEARS OF WORKING IN THE VINEYARD WHILE GENERAL GOWEN SEEKS APPROVAL FROM VOTERS FOR HIS NEXT COMMAND POSITION
BY KEN ROSSIGNOL
THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY
NEWS ANALYSIS
Nine American Generals in history were sought out by destiny to lead the nation. They were George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Each rose to the occasion in a time of war and gained fame and even fortune that led to their selection by voters to the top position in the government. Three went to the White House soon after their victorious leadership in wars, while most of them served in many posts before their presidential election.
Three other Presidents have seen various military service, and some publications paint their service in the rank of general when that designation is unclear, as in the case of President Andrew Johnson. Johnson, a United States Senator from Tennessee when that state seceded from the Union, was appointed Military Governor by President Lincoln, perhaps confusing some historians into believing he was a general. Johnson became Lincoln’s Vice President and assumed the office of President after John Wilkes Booth murdered Lincoln. Chester Arthur was a Quartermaster General of New York during the Civil War.
President William McKinley enlisted in the Army at the age of 17 when the Civil War began. As a Sergeant in the Commissary Division at the Battle of Antietam, he ensured that each Union soldier was given food and hot coffee on that deadly day.
World War I saw the service of two future Presidents; while neither obtained the rank of General, they served with distinction, as did the Army officer who served in the Spanish American War.
Col. Theodore Roosevelt commanded the Rough Riders in the war with Spain, while Franklin Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson during the Great War.
Future President Harry S. Truman, too old for the draft, re-enlisted in the National Guard and went to the battlefield in France as a Lieutenant. He was promoted to the rank of Captain and was the only president that saw combat during that war.
The events guided by the leadership of these Generals and other officers who were later elected to office were critical in the formation, continuance, expansion, and protection of the United States.
Five presidents fought in World War II besides General Eisenhower. John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush were all in combat. Ronald Reagan was in the Army Reserve and due to his poor eyesight, was assigned to the Motion Picture Corps where during the war he and his unit made more than 400 training films.
How many ex-generals have been embraced by the electorate in the fifty states for local and state office is unknown at this time.
Now, in 2022, an unknown General who has led a virtually anonymous life for two and a half decades in St. Mary’s County has suddenly appeared on the political landscape and lectures the populace on his campaign website on the need for adequately focused leadership. Gowen’s claim to be a small business owner is based on a stable in which he and his wife operate on their estate and rent stalls along with training for riders.
General Gowen points to his work at cleaning out manure from stalls as the bulk of his participation. Still, that experience is wildly beneficial in the Maryland General Assembly, where he seeks to represent St. Mary’s and Calvert.
Many small business owners who have struggled over the years and have been either put out of business or ground into the pavement by the mandates of the Maryland government to close down, restrict their hours, and suffer arrest and fines if failing to obey executive orders, that allowed Walmart and liquor stores to remain open, may find Gowen citing his work in his stable on his estate to be typical manure shoveled out by elitists.
General Gowen never missed a payday or had to worry about making payroll during the Wuhan Flu Pandemic and promoting himself as a small business owner borders on the absurd and reeks of arrogance.
GENERAL GOWEN’S MOST RECENT COMBAT EXPERIENCE
Gowen points with pride that he commanded the Maryland National Guard’s response to the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021, when a mob of bozos stormed the Capitol building.
The National Guard was deployed two full weeks after President Trump had authorized their use and only to bolster the propaganda war, which Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats have dramatized.
The theater of the January 6 hearings is designed to turn the attention of the voters from the massive failures of the Biden Administration in ruining the economy, destroying American energy independence, causing runaway inflation, the disaster in Afghanistan, and aiding the drug cartels in importing Fentanyl from China with wide-open border policies and allowing up to three million illegal aliens to stampede into the nation.
General Timothy Gowen is mustering voters to sign up in his political brigade to propel him to victory in the Republican Primary on June 19, 2022, for the GOP nomination for the Maryland House of Delegates District 29-C. The General has a long and illustrious record of service in the Army Reserves.
General Timothy Gowen resides on a small waterfront estate in Medley’s Neck close to the Potomac River. He is joined in the race for the GOP nomination by St. Mary’s County Commissioner Todd Morgan, who is in the last year of his third term as commissioner.
Morgan is a fixture in the defense contractor community and Republican politics and has participated in youth, school, and community issues for decades.
General Timothy Gowen, a two-star general, was selected by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan in 2019 to fill the Secretary of the Military Department position as Adjutant General of Maryland with command over the Army and Air National Guard. The salary for the cabinet post is $152,000 in 2019 and will increase to $157,000 in 2021.
General Gowen has 331 followers on his Facebook page and announced the appointment of Andrea Dyson as his campaign manager. Included with photos of him standing in front of subdivision signs in Calvert and St. Mary’s, posted to show how much General Gowen is learning about where the voters of District 29-C live, are a few photos showing him posting with participants of the Lions Club Crab Festival held at the St. Mary’s Fairgrounds on June 11, 2022. The General posted photos of his entrance ticket to the event.
Gowen introduces himself to the voters on his campaign webpage and Facebook page with a curious selection of photos. Two photos he billed as ‘photo ops from the Capitol’ are with two Democrat members of Congress – neither of which are generally known in the legislative district that spans the lower part of Calvert and a slice of St. Mary’s stretching from the Patuxent to the Potomac.
If more than two Republicans can identify either the congressman from Baltimore County or the Senator who formerly was a state senator from Montgomery County, they sure won’t be found in Linda’s Café in Lexington Park or the Social Coffee in Leonardtown. Before deciding to run for office, General Gowen was likely never to be seen in either restaurant.
General Gowen is also quite impressed with other Generals enough to have name-dropped the late General Colin Powell three times during the June 22 debate with Commissioner Todd Morgan. Todd Morgan did General Gowen quite a favor by participating in the debate as most voters had never seen the guy before that event.
Along with photos of the present and former ambassadors from Estonia, and the Democrats in DC, General Gowen also presented his recent trip to Europe to meet with officials of several countries formerly part of Yugoslavia. The General also displayed a photo of about a dozen people who held a dinner in his honor.
Why General Gowen thought it prudent to take his campaign to the District of Columbia and Europe before the Primary Election shows that he may have an inside track on a new way to win a political campaign.
As General Gowen is still active in his post, the use of the photos which may have been obtained while taxpayers were paying for his trip to meet with foreign officials on his campaign website could be questioned.
From the campaign Facebook Page of General Timothy Gowen:
June 10, 2022: Had the chance today to visit with Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, representing Maryland’s 2nd Congressional District. Talked about the runway renovation effort for Martin State Airport (Warfield Air National Guard Base) and some other key issues. Great day for a photo op in front of the US Capitol.
May 11, 2022: Great visit to the Hill today to meet with several members of the Maryland Congressional Delegation. Office calls with Congressman Trone, Harris, and Sarbanes, as well as Senator Van Hollen. I was able to spend a few minutes giving them updates on the great work being done by Maryland National Guard and discussing important issues like the future of A-10s, funding for a runway extension at Martin State Airport (Warfield Air Base), Duty Status Reform for Reservists, State Partnership Programs, and Space Force.
April 2, 2022: Honing my diplomatic skills in Belgrade, Serbia, and Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, both former Yugoslavian countries. Met with Charg’e d’Affaires John Ginkel at the US Embassy in Serbia. Later in BiH held a bilateral meeting with Bosnian Defense Minister Sifet Podzic to discuss our continued partnership and the overall situation in Eastern Europe. Stopped in to visit Ambassador Mike Murphy at the US Embassy in Sarajevo. His team provided me a comprehensive country brief. Then, numerous activities with my friend Lieutenant General Senad Masovic’ culminating with a semi-formal dinner held in my honor at their BiH Army Hall. These are critical times for BiH and all former Yugoslavian countries. Proud to help them in their continued development and efforts to foster peace.
MARCH 23, 2022: Met today in DC with the current and former ambassadors from Estonia, Kristjan Prikk (current) and Jonatan Vseviov (former). Ambassador Vseviov is currently the MFA State Secretary. Estonia is one of the State Partners for Peace to the Maryland National Guard. Important conversation about the national security implications of the Ukrainian War, NATO, and the MDNG/Estonian partnership.