Daily Inspiration Quote by Robert Higgs

Higgs lands the charge with a historian’s long view and an economist’s suspicion of incentives: war isn’t just sold, it’s marketed. The line “since the end of the nineteenth century, if not earlier” is doing quiet but heavy work. It widens the indictment beyond any single administration, implying a structural pattern rather than a few bad actors. The hedge (“if not earlier”) also signals methodological caution while still tightening the noose: even the cautious version of the claim is damning.

The key verb is “misled,” not “lied.” That choice matters. “Misled” captures the whole toolkit of modern state persuasion: selective disclosure, inflated threats, purified language (“liberation,” “police action”), and the strategic use of secrecy. It frames presidential war messaging as a calibrated practice, shaped by what voters will tolerate and what Congress can be nudged into funding.

“Motives” and “intentions” split the crime in two. Motives are the real drivers (strategic advantage, domestic politics, alliance management, economic interests). Intentions are the promised outcomes (quick victory, limited scope, moral clarity). Higgs suggests both are routinely laundered for public consumption, because the public’s consent is the scarce resource in democracies: you can’t draft bodies and dollars without a story that feels clean.

Contextually, he’s pointing to the turn to mass politics and mass media: the Spanish-American War, World War I propaganda, Vietnam’s credibility gap, post-9/11 intelligence claims. The subtext isn’t “presidents are uniquely evil.” It’s bleaker: the office, paired with wartime powers, rewards narrative manipulation, and punishes candor.