Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

188 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

governmentspendingmadepossiblebythatdebtstrengthenedthecen-
tralgovernment.WhatJeffersonandtheJeffersoniansfearedwouldhap-
pennextwassimple:Thecreditorclasswoulduseitswealthtogain
effectivecontrolofanevermorepowerfulgovernment.Almosttwohun-
dredyearsbeforeEisenhower'swarningalongsimilarlines,Jeffersonians
fearedthegrowthofa military-industrial-financialcomplex.Themore
thegovernmentspent,thelargerandstrongertheclassofmilitarycon-
tractorsandotherdependentswouldbe.Thedeeperintodebtthegov-
ernmentwent,thelargerandstrongerwouldbetheclassofcreditors,
insistingthatthegovernmentuseitsmonopolyofforceanditstaxing
authoritytoextractresoutcesfromthemassofthepeopletopayoffthe
creditorclass.
TheotherreasonJeffersonhatedwarwasthatitledthestatetobuild
upits armedforces. Such buildupswereoftenassociatedwithdeficit
spendingandthereforewithincreasesinthenationaldebt,andtheyalso
putforceinthehandsofthecentralgovernment.Muchofthisfeeling
originallycameoutofreflectiononthelongstrugglebetweentheBritish
ParliamentandtheHouseofStuart.TheeffortsoftheStuartkingsto
builda Continental-styleabsolutemonarchyinBritainoftenturnedon
thequestionofstandingarmies;oncethekinghadanirresistiblestand-
ingarmyhecouldoveraweParliamentanddoexactlyashepleased.
Warrequiressecrecy,anditstrengthenstheexecutiveagainsttheleg-
islatute,thoughtJeffersonians,and theywereright.Today'simperial
presidencyistheoffspringoffiftyyearsofcrisisandofhotandcoldwar
between 1939 and 1989.In 1935 theU.S.armedforces consistedof
251,799peopleinuniformand147,188"civilianemployees.Thetotal
budgetoftheArmyandNavyDepartmentswas$924million.I2There
wasnoindependentnationalintelligenceoperation.TheUnitedStates
keptinformedaboutforeigncountriesthroughits regulardiplomatic

service, whichemployed4,47 (^1) ' 3 people.ThetotalStateDepartment
budgetwas$ 16 million. 14 Sixtyyearslaterthetotalintelligencebudget
wasclassified-thatfactinitselfa horrorforJeffersoniandemocrats.The
Pentagonemployed3.25millionpeople,includingbothciviliansand
thoseinuniform.'5Thenumberofintelligenceemployeeswasalsoclas-
sified informationandunavailableto thegeneral public,butreliable
estimates indicated that between 7°,000 and 80,000 people were
employedfroma totalbudgetofabout$27billion.,6Anestimated 15
million'7classifieddocumentsrestedingovernmentvaults,unavailable
forcitizens'inspection.Thecostsfromthelastsixtyyearsofcrisisand