President Obama signed a proposed treaty with Russia on Thursday that will reduce the potency of the American military. It is a proposal that will undermine US security in the opinion of this writer. But, what do I know? More instructive are the opinions of former presidents. Let's read their words, working backward through time....

So in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to resist the temptation of pride-the temptation blithely to declare yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an Evil Empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil.

[and]

We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent.
--Ronald W. Reagan

Or, perhaps, we need a Democrat's perspective:

It is unfortunate that we secure peace only through preparing for war.
--Jack Kennedy

Eight years before JFK, there was another Democrat president with a firm understanding of national security:

The atom bomb was no great decision. It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.
--Harry S. Truman

How about Franklin D. Roosevelt:

When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him.

[and]

We must be the great arsenal of democracy.

[and]

The American people want their government to act, and not merely talk, whenever and wherever there is a threat to world peace.

What did the early Progressives think about national defense policy? Let's ask Teddy Roosevelt:

I want to see you shoot the way you shout.

The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife.

The first Republican president sought any advantage in war that he could find:

Tell me what brand of whiskey Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel to my other generals.
--Abraham Lincoln

The Founding Fathers set the tone for each of the leaders quoted above. The personal philosophies of the first three presidents diverged on numerous points, but each of them would disagree with Obama's proposed treaty:

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.
--John Adams

The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country in danger, are of higher obligation.
--Thomas Jefferson

There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

[and]

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
--George Washington

Originally, the jury in this article was comprised of nine former presidents from both sides of the fence. Unfortunately, Mr. Carter had to be excused due to his intellectual instability.

The final verdict on nuclear disarmament is....?

John Peeples