[3] The first US president, George Washington, enunciated a policy of peace through strength in his fifth annual message to Congress, the 1793 State of the Union Address.
24, Alexander Hamilton argued for peace through strength by stating that strong garrisons in the west and a navy in the east would help to deter potential conflicts with Britain, Spain and various Native American peoples.
Peace Through Strength (1952) is the title of a book about a defense plan by Bernard Baruch, a World War II adviser to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, published by Farrar, Straus and Young.
[11] In 1980, Ronald Reagan, who had campaigned for Goldwater in 1964, used the phrase during his election challenge against Jimmy Carter by accusing the incumbent of weak, vacillating leadership that invited enemies to attack the United States and its allies.
"[15]The approach has been credited for forcing the Soviet Union to lose the arms race and end the Cold War.
[16] "Peace Through Strength" is the official motto of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76).
[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] On assuming office in January 2017, Donald Trump cited the idea of "Peace Through Strength" as central to his overall "America First" foreign policy.
[31] As such the introduction to US National Defense Strategy of 2018 states: The US force posture combined with the allies will "preserve peace through strength."
[38] During Reagan's presidency, the non-profit American Security Council Foundation (ASCF) and its for-profit direct-mail provider, Communications Corporation of America, sought to influence United States foreign policy by promoting the idea, but after the Soviet collapse of 1991, ASCF fell into obscurity, and other organizations continued to promote the slogan.