Historians have given their highest ratings to the U.S. presidents who have involved the nation in the wars that have claimed the most American lives. Their standards of presidential greatness have encouraged presidents to fight unnecessary wars, even though the vast majority of Americans would be better off if peace were maintained.

David R. Henderson is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, an Associate Professor of Economics at the Naval Postgraduate School, and a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Zachary Gochenour is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and a Fellow in the Department of Economics at George Mason University.
American HistoryDemocracyGovernment and PoliticsGovernment PowerGovernment Waste/PorkLaw and LibertyPhilosophy and Religion
Other Independent Review articles by David R. Henderson
Summer 2018 Why We Fight: A Study of U.S. Government War-Making Propaganda
Fall 2016 An Economist’s Case for a Noninterventionist Foreign Policy
Winter 2015/16 The Economy in 2065: Predictions and Cautions
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