The Arsenal of Democracy
The History of U.S. Military Vehicles 

by Ben J. Shehadi

On December 29, 1940, President Roosevelt gave his national security speech, called “The Arsenal of Democracy.” In it, he urged the nation to resist the violent aggression of Hitler and the Axis powers. Since WWII, the goal of the US military has been to promote democracy and stability around the world. America’s crusade for liberty began with the Greatest Generation, who defeated the evil empires of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. In the 1950s, the world again fell into crisis when North Korea invaded its southern neighbor. The US responded with decisive action. It led an international coalition to stop the violence, liberating half of the peninsula. 

After Korea, the controversial Vietnam War became the next battleground for America’s war against communist tyranny. After the US withdrew, the Khmer Rouge massacred nearly 25% of Cambodia’s population. Thanks to sustained American action, the iron curtain of Soviet totalitarianism finally collapsed in 1991. As the tide of liberty swept across the former Eastern Bloc, there was a new cradle of despotism forming elsewhere: the Middle East. 

In 1986, President Reagan warned about Muammar Gaddafi, a man he called the “Mad Dog of the Middle East,” who was attempting to foment an Islamic fundamentalist revolution across the Arab world. In Iraq, Ba’athist dictator Saddam Hussein waged a genocidal jihad against the Kurds in the Anfal campaign, even using chemical weapons against civilians. In 1990, the US led a vast international coalition to liberate Kuwait from Saddam’s grip. Although the growing threat of terrorism in Afghanistan was ignored by the Clinton administration, the September 11 attacks became a wake-up call. In response, the US waged a global War on Terror to stamp out radical jihadist networks, beginning with the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. 

Today, America’s global leadership has never been more sorely needed. The 21st century remains more dangerous than ever. Modern threats to global security include Marxist China, a revanchist Russia, an Islamist Iran, and a totalitarian North Korea. Included in this book is a brief history of over 50 different planes, tanks, and helicopters used in America’s conflicts since WWII.  

Pages: 58, Illustrated

ISBN: 978-1-62249-674-7