How would Ali’s legacy be if he had served his time in the Army?

I don't think it was Blackburn who molded his image. It was probably his management team Roxborough can't remember the other guys name. They had some reach and they knew what they were doing. They even got Blackburn's 2nd murder swept under the rug because they needed him to train Joe.

 

Right, He would be looked at strictly for his boxing career without the social justice aspect included.

 

They certainly hid Sonja Henie and Lana Turner.

 

Interesting, I've only heard about it possibly being Blackburn due to having skin in the game. Was that management team behind any other great fighters?

 

I don't know, President Lyndon B. Johnson was very adamant about that war in Vietnam, people would show up at the white house, many who lost son's and husbands, he angrily dismissed them as he was cursing about those people. It was termed LBJ"s war. President Kennedy sent advisors into Vietnam in 1961, he signed a Memorandum in Oct 1963, a month before his death to remove all U.S troops by 1965, but JFK did not live to see that, he was assassinated in Nov 1963. LBJ being a warmonger escalated the war in 1964. That was a war that neither side won, when we had a chance to defeat the North Vietnamese, the politicians in Washington would have us back off. Muhammad Ali and actress Eartha Kitt were very vocal about their opposition to the war, Johnson may have sent Ali to the front line. Kitt's home phone and communications were tampered with. She was also labelled as a Nymphomaniac, movie directors were told not cast to her in any roles anymore. The Smothers Brothers Variety Show was cancelled as they poked fun at the war. People were disgusted at the war, how would you like to be 18, and the eldest son only to be led to your death? No future for you or no job.

 

We don't know that.
We don't know if he would ever return from Vietnam.
We don't know if he would have returned after 2 wounded, and if he would have been fit for sports after that.
Let's assume the best case scenario, Muhammad Ali returned to Vietnam after a year; unharmed.
It means that the break in his career would be much shorter.
I guess in that case Joe Frazier wouldn't shine so brightly in the boxing sky.

 

Agreed, even President Johnson was annoyed at Muhammad Ali for not serving (Johnson's war) in Vietnam. Majority of people were against that war, no one wanted to be patriotic about it, we were not supposed to win anyway, people were burning their draft cards they received in the mail. We were never attacked to fight back, so called proxy wars are a waste of human life as brave young men and women were killed for political purposes. Ali was not even treated fairly to begin with, who gives anybody the right to tell someone not to practice their desired faith, that borders on racism to me, under the 3rd amendment an individual has the right to believe in whatever religion they want. President Johnson paid for that war in Vietnam, that war ended up ruining his presidency.

 

It's an interesting question because Vietnam wasn't the only racially-charged issue of the late 60s. One wonders whether Ali would have tried to speak out on other, non-Vietnam issues even when he was part of the Army. And whether the Army would have tried to silence him or not. Probably depends on the issue. Floyd Patterson, for example, apparently publicly opposed segregation, and I don't think he was considered particularly radical for doing so. (Although segregation's oddly one of those issues where Ali agreed with the white racists rather than Floyd, so perhaps it's not the best example. The politics of the time were quirky.)

 

majority celebrity persons of America oppose segregation 1960s. black and white. vast majority of fame celebrity. actor. athlete. music stars. intellectual. not controversy. at all. is justice. is of mainstream view. & also LBJ presidency from 1964 push hard complete for integrated .

Ali was controversy because he support the race separation. Ali was controversy for blindness belief in racism as answer to racism!

US army was integrate in Vietnam.

persons forget what Ali said stood for. racism separation complete. because he made fans in "" left wing ' ' with Vietnam stance. so they forgets he is actual friend of KKK. in support of separationism
Lol
they re write it the history! Lol

 

as a Muslim, I can tell you all, & Allah knows best, what Cassius Clay say he belief in for most career was not Islam!
we belief he was Muslim for his name! but his belief he express
this was ignorant false preaching & is from Satan Iblis probable

he spread false lies of false Islam & spread racism
but also it bring interest & new persons to Islam properly. from just this name Muhammad Ali. & bring fans to boxing in all countries

but after late 1970s he was taught to real Islam and become humble by Allah for real as we can see
& he pray
& we can see he died I belief a good Muslim at the end

 

When you enlist in the U.S military, you take an oath administered by a commissioned officer of the military, whatever branch that you enlist in. Part of that oath is that you will obey orders given by your superiors and essentially the U.S President. Muhammad Ali would have not stayed silent on how he felt about the war, sure President Johnson was trying to integrate society, but would you like to lead others into a unjust war where you are murdering people that have done nothing to you? Lt. Callie was convicted by a court martial in 1971 because he was obeying orders, he murdered countless amounts of innocent people. People did not really consider the Vietnam war an actual war, many veterans of World War II considered the conflict against Germany, Italy and Japan an actual war, Archie Bunker on an episode of All In The Family referred to World War II as the Big One. Had we had been attacked like we were at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 1941 by Japanese forces or like 9/11, many including myself would have fought, Vietnam was drummed up by politicians who did not have the guts to face the opposing leader of a nation, sending brave young men and women into harm's way. Ali would have never served, he was not greedy like today's athletes that think of millions of dollars instead of principles. Even if he did, the politicians in Washington would have never allowed him to teach boxing or box, he spoke about the war, payback to those powerful would have been on the agenda. The draft ended in 1973 by President Richard M. Nixon after Ali was exonerated by the U.S Supreme Court on June 28 1971, a witch hunt for a very vocal individual.

 

Lol. Possibly.

 

Ali was just a loud mouth. It’s like his religious talk all the time spirituality spoken is sh1t!