Federalist No. 8 - “to be more safe”

by Alexander Hamilton 

The effects of Internal War in producing Standing Armies, and other institutions unfriendly to liberty 

Since learning the story of our nation’s founding as as a kid, I have known in a vague sort of way that our founding fathers disfavored a “standing army.”  Federalist No. 8 is the first of the Federalist Papers to explain just how standing armies are “problematic and uncertain.” Two quick examples: “it is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority” and “the military state becomes elevated above the civil.”

That makes me wonder what the founders would think of our standing army today. Nearly 1.4 million men and women serve on active duty in the U.S. armed forces and next year’s defense budget is $842 billion.  That’s more than the next nine militaries combined.

So then, what are we doing?  Have we lost our way?  Have we abandoned the wisdom of our founding fathers?

I don’t think we have, and here’s why. First, the founders’ vision was based on a politically and geographically insulated America. It took about a month to sail the Atlantic—perhaps even longer to travel around North America’s interior. And without roads, rail, and the great canals of the 19th century, things didn’t great much better should a foreign army arrive and then need to sustain itself and maneuver in hostile territory. We were, as Hamilton put it, “a country seldom exposed by its situation to internal invasions.”

Not so much anymore. Through innovation and technology, we have shrunk time and distance: I’m writing this in Baltimore, and tomorrow I’ll fly the 1,200 miles back to Omaha in the course of a few hours. None of this nonsense:

Not only that, but we know that our adversaries today are willing and able to do us harm, whether through direct attacks as at Pearl Harbor and on 9/11, through criminal activities like the smuggling of fentanyl that kills 70,000 Americans every year, or the international theft of our intellectual property. And we know that our founders would have viewed our modern situation differently because Hamilton favorably cited the contemporaneous circumstances in Europe which necessitated standing armies:

The disciplined armies always kept on foot on the continent of Europe, though they bear a malignant aspect to liberty and economy, have, notwithstanding, been productive of the signal advantage of rendering sudden conquests impracticable, and of preventing that rapid desolation which used to mark the progress of war prior to their introduction.

Hamilton said that “If we are wise enough to preserve the Union we may for ages enjoy an advantage similar to that of an insulated situation.” For agres we did enjoy that advantage, but as a matter of fact, we don’t anymore.

But given the dangers of a large standing army, do we really need such a big one? Americans throughout the political spectrum fairly (and vigorously!) debate the trade-off in civil liberties and cost. But Hamilton knew that “Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct.” And indeed, in the context of world history, we Americans are remarkably safe. Actually, the entire world is remarkably safe today, because the United States military, strong alliances and partnerships with democracies, and a reliable nuclear assurance make it that way.

Hamilton observed that “[to] be more safe, [nations] at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.”  Undoubtedly we have paid that price through occasional intelligence overreach and wars of choice. But those abuses are outweighed by constitutional principles, laws, and values which mitigate against “institutions which have a tendency to destroy [our] civil and political rights”: a robust freedom of the press, apolitical military leaders dedicated to following their oath to the constitution, and civilian leadership of our armed forces.

So, rest easy friends. I think we are getting this one right. As George Washington put it to the New York Committee of Safety in 1776, “When the civil and military powers cooperate, and afford mutual aid to each other, there can be little doubt of things going well.”