As Gen. Milley steps down as chairman, his work on Ukraine is just one part of a complicated legacy

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Milley's persistent mantra, which he repeated to Congress, is that his loyalty is “to this nation, its people and the Constitution” and that "as long as I have a breath to give, my loyalty is absolute.” Pointing to the China call as treasonous, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, demanded Biden fire Milley, saying his actions undermine the president and threaten “to tear apart our nation’s longstanding principle of civilian control of the military.” Others defend him. Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who served with Milley, called him “the most consequential” chairman since World War II, adding that “Trump was and is a danger to our democracy.” Long a fervent advocate of keeping the military out of politics, Milley violated that tenet on June 1, 2020, when he was part of a Trump entourage that strolled from the White House and through Lafayette Square to a nearby church as racial protests raged. “At a time when your nation’s constitutional values were shaken to their core, you made sure that the U.S. military continued to embody the values and ideals of the nation.” Observers said Milley was moved by the remarks, delivered privately to the NATO chiefs of defense who were seated around a large table at the close of a meeting on Ukraine aid. Bauer said Milley “prevented many a crisis from spiraling out of control,” both in the U.S. and around the world, and continued to fight even though “there were mornings when you didn’t know if you would be fired by sunset.” Milley is not a man of few words.