-Caveat Lector-
On Wed, 24 Nov 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>Before Bill Clinton, only four Democratic presidents since 1900 had served more
>than one term in office: Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and
>Lyndon Johnson.
The last two aren't strictly true. Both served out the remaining terms
of their predecessors as acting presidents, and then each was only
ELECTED to one term of office. Truman was elected in 1948, followed by
Eisenhower in 1952. Johnson was elected in 1964, and decided not to seek
re-election to a 2nd term in 1968, when Nixon was elected.
>Each of them initiated American involvement in the four major
>wars of this century: World War I World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam
>conflicts.
Bull.
WWI had been going on for 4 years before the U.S. got involved, for more
convoluted reasons than the personal desire of Wilson.
Most people would argue that Hitler's invasion of various European
countries and especially Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor led to American
involvement.
And the U.S. first became involved in Vietnam during Eisenhower's
administration, escalating during Kennedy's and Johnson's terms...
>Over the years, various Republicans have been ridiculed for noting this Democrat-
>war connection.
Funny...all I've ever heard from Republicans is ridicule of Democrats for
being 'soft' on the enemy, whomever that enemy is....
Are you saying that the U.S. should NOT have gotten involved in, say,
WWII?
>But those Republicans had a point. During the first 92 years of
>this century, there were five multi-term Republican presidents, and Republicans
>held the White House for a total of 56 years, or 61% of that period. Not one of
>them started a major war (as measured by the number of Americans killed).
Not strictly true. As I pointed out above, Eisenhower initiated American
nvolvement in Vietnam.
Using your own figures, one can argue that Republicans display a blatant
lack of patriotism, and only Democrats are willing to fight for the
American Way.... ;-)
>Is
>there in fact something about Democrats that makes them more likely to start
>wars? Of course, there is.
Patriotism, perhaps? ;-)
>The most important common trait is that all these Democrats had the support of
>and were beholden to powerful internationals.
Show me a Republican who hasn't been, either.
In fact, one can show that the explosive growth of 'powerful
internationals' in fact occurred during REPUBLICAN administrations of the
latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th.
Grant and Harding particularly come to mind...
>the Great War's grand crusade for democracy. And FDR, who radically extended
>federal power and cynically tried to pack the Supreme Court,
As did Ronald Reagan....
>is now known to have
>seen World War II as a means to end the nation's economic problems. Historians
>now say that FDR also allowed America to be "surprised" by the Japanese at
>Pearl Harbor, in order to rouse a public that was anti-war.
Perhaps. But he didn't MAKE the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor...their own
militarism caused that. Neither did Roosevelt create Hitler.
>Then came Harry Truman, who fought for wage, price, and rent controls.
Which were sorely needed. (and still are, at least rent control)
>South Korea in 1950. And Lyndon Johnson, who rammed his expansive Great
>Society program through Congress in 1964-65, simultaneously increased
>American military involvement in Vietnam.
But again, he didn't INITIATE that involvement...the Republican
Eisenhower did....
And it's now known that Johnson's escalation of the war was based on
deliberately falsified figures given to him by the military command in
Vietnam...so if you are going to blame the escalation on anyone, blame it
on the military who deliberately sought to mislead Johnson...
>In recent deacdes, it has become clear that these same internationalists back
>Republicans. Republican wars in the 20th century have killed far fewer
>Americans (witness the Gulf War, where American deaths were measured in
>the hundreds).
First off, one can argue that there shouldn't have been ANY American
involvement in that. Secondly, what was accomplished? Saddam Hussein is
still in power, and still rattling sabres....
At least it would seem that Democrats get involved in wars with clear cut
goals, even if such goals are set due to faulty data or outright lies...
Desert Storm was solely for the Bush family to regain control of the Bush
family's oil fields in Kuwait....
If America's young have to die in a war, I'd much rather they die for a
lofty ideal like 'freedom' than die to maintain an oil conglomerate's
monopoly....
June
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