Ronald Reagan Quotes
People do not make wars; governments do.
Reagan, Ronald. "Address to the Nation on United States-Soviet Relations." 16 Jan. 1984. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1984, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986, p. 43.
This was written when the United States was not a dominant military power. At the beginning of the 20th century, the U. S. had the same size military as Argentina. It was France, German, Turkey and England who had the military superiority and it was they who tended to find excuses for war. After WWII, the U. S. was dominant and was involved with a number of wars and military incursions, often with nations that had not attacked the U.S. Korns’ principle was most dramatic when the George W. Bush administration invaded Iraq on the excuse that the Iraqis were developing weapons of mass destructions and then might attack the United States. After the successful invasion, the excuse was shown to be hollow as there were no signs of sophisticated weapons development.
This is a variant of a famous Clauswitz quotation {635143}.
She and her husband, like many of the "America Firsters", believed that Hitler should be allowed to overrun Europe and Russia.
There were many who thought that the Russians would view the Mutual Security Act as aggressive and they might respond with some kind of aggressive retaliation and this could lead to war. Others felt that containment would reduce the likelihood of war.
Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and became a highly influential voice of modern conservatism. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975.
