Before Trump has there ever been a major party's nominee in the US that has never held public office or been in the military?

by [deleted]
DBHT14

The closest you are likely tog et would be Hoover and Taft.

Both held appointed Cabinet level positions (Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of War) Hoover had also been in charge of the Food Administration in WW1 and Taft had been a federal judge.

firechicago

Probably the closest is Wendell Willkie, who ran against FDR in 1940. He did serve briefly as a junior officer in WWI, but he ended up spending most of the war in training, only embarking for France two months before the war ended, and never saw combat, much less make any sort of name for himself as a military figure.

He never held any public office, instead gaining a public profile as a lawyer and business executive opposing the Tennessee Valley Administration.

Myveryownwalrus

There was a good discussion of this last week in this thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4hws8o/historically_has_any_candidate_with_literally_0/

Short answer: Yes, several.