Talk:James Stewart

retired promotion claim

I looked into this because I already debunked the same claim for Billy Mitchell, who was not promoted to Major General either. So, there seems to be no basis for this claim other than a dubious article (claiming that he was promoted at the same time as his MoF award in 1985, which is objectively untrue) and an Air Force video that probably got its erroneous information from Wikipedia. I checked the AF museum's bio of Stewart, which only lists him as a BG: https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196679/brig-gen-james-m-stewart/fbclid/brig-gen-james-m-stewart/, the Jimmy Stewart Museum (also lists him as BG):https://jimmy.org/jimmy-stewarts-biography/?fbclid=IwAR3xSuN-71xIG9aU-OSrsNFRuCS_yt2GwxUPJs41Xif1nOA7LJhwyB-rFuY, and his own papers at BYU (similarly saying BG): https://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/ltpsc/archival_objects/ref37_rom?fbclid=IwAR22PnOh-XuL85FFPG83YT8_X3szRFkSaOndpguvBlm4_dhNdExJKR4B4l0.

I searched all of the bills from the 1980s on Proquest congressional, and found none mentioning Stewart except for a failed attempt to authorize the Congressional Gold Medal in the late 1980s. Significant because a retired promotion (even a strictly honorary promotion) has to be authorized by Congress, meaning it requires a bill as a prerequisite (the president cannot accomplish it unilaterally). For example, President Trump promoted Tuskegee airman Charles McGee to Brig. Gen. in 2020. But like any honorary promotion, this had to have congressional authorization. It's here in the defense bill for FY2020, 133 Stat. 1421: https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ92/PLAW-116publ92.pdf.

I emailed the Reagan Library yesterday since their holdings only include information on the Medal of Freedom. There was no promotion contemporaneous with that award, which is clear from the script they have on file here: https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-presentation-ceremony-presidential-medal-freedom-1. Their archivist wrote me this in response today:

"I did some research and was not able to find any material in which states that President Reagan promoted Jimmy Stewart to the retired grade of Major General. I did some 'outside' research to see what I could find and, as you mentioned, this was supposedly done when he received the Medal of Freedom on 5/23/1985. With this info, I checked the speech from that day and no mention of this was found. I also researched anything on Jimmy Stewart to see if there was any material related to this and again, could not find anything. Now, this could have been done via the Pentagon and/or via the Secretary of Defence but the Library does not contain that material as only Presidential material is kept here. I would suggest, if you haven't done so already, to check with the Pentagon to see if they have any material for this."

Finally, found the video of the MoF presentation, which shows there was no promotion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgMM2j4xUR0.

Anyway, I think this is pretty definitive, but not sure how to cite it. It's pretty obvious that if Reagan had done this, there would be a record at the Reagan library. This, and the absence of an implementing bill, or even a photo of Stewart wearing the rank, is fairly definitive. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Foxtrot5151 (talk • contribs) 21:55, 12 July 2022 (UTC)

Another update. Wrote to Mr. Morrow, who is one of the authors cited to support the claim here: https://osidenews.com/2017/10/01/historically-speaking-actor-major-general-back/?fbclid=IwAR1REJSRaOFB40OmTW5ztC014leM4Syn3mkSGAYp_8tAQGjUlO5MCj-QMH0. He says he got it from Wikipedia. My guess is that all of these claims came from Wikipedia, including the dubious video from the AF Reserves. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Foxtrot5151 (talk • contribs) 01:50, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

Thank you so much for your diligent research on this topic. It looks like it was added back in December 2020. I normally try to keep up with this page and remove uncited information, but I wasn't able to keep up with page changes then. Circular citations are the worst! Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 15:17, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

Sure. Here's another source. It quotes Reagan being corrected by Stewart after he incorrectly introduced him as a Major General. Sounds like that should put this to rest: https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_the_Company_of_Legends/q_hUEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jimmy+stewart+%22major+general%22&pg=PT237&printsec=frontcover. Also appears here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Reagan_Wit/-fS7fP5oHhUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%20%22major%20general%22. Original source of the claim is here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Weekly_Compilation_of_Presidential_Docum/1H88fiQuV0IC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jimmy+stewart+%22major+general%22&pg=RA20-PA4&printsec=frontcover

Ok, so I wrote to the USAF Reserve, their museum and history director, and the USAF Reserve historians-- no response from anyone. So I lodged a FOIA request (pending). I audited the history of the incorrect claims of his rank on this page, and it's an interesting case study of how Wikipedia ended up fooling the government. The original article of 2 Nov 2001 made no claim about Stewart's rank--it was first added on 1 Jun 2004 at the correct rank of Brig. Gen. Then someone added the incorrect rank on 3 Apr 2007. That made no citation to authority at all. It was removed a total of six times if you include the final removal from 13 Jul 2022. The false claim infected the USAF Reserve recruiting video (released in Apr 2013, notably after a four year span where the false claim appeared on this page between 21 Jun 2012 and 3 Oct 2016). During the same time period it also infected an Air Force Magazine article published in Jan 2015. Both of those sources (recruiting video and the AF Magazine article) ended up as references for the claim on this page at different times. It kind of blows my mind that the government itself would end up referencing a dubious claim that never even had any support (scholarly or otherwise) when it first appeared here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Foxtrot5151 (talk • contribs) 19:03, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

Military Service

The article says Jimmy Stewart entered the service after the US entered WW2. The problem is that the US didn't enter the war until December 1941. So it's important to note that Jimmy entered the military in early 1941, leaving Hollywood BEFORE the US was in WW2. Jimmy thought service was important so he entered even before the US was geared for war. So he wasn't the first Hollywood star to enter service in the patriotic fervor after Pearl Harbor, he went on the conviction of his own personal patriotism. 47.229.100.24 (talk) 05:34, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Annex - Stewart, James (Call Northside 777) 01.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for September 25, 2022. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2022-09-25. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Adam Cuerden ^(talk)_{Has about 7.9% of all FPs} 18:03, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

James Stewart (1908–1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned eighty films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality he portrayed both on and off screen, he epitomized the "American ideal" in the mid–20th century. This publicity photograph of Stewart was taken for the 1948 film Call Northside 777.

Photograph credit: 20th Century Fox; cropped by Lemonreader

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