--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Again and again, Americans have voted for…" description: "\"Again and again, Americans have voted for a president to keep them out of a war, only to see the \"peace\" candidate elected who then brings the nation i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/howard-zinn-576_again-and-again_again-and-again-americans-have-voted-for_2892512.jpg" --- # Again and again, Americans have voted for a president to… ![“Again and again, Americans have voted for a president to keep them out of a war, only to see the "peace" candidate elected who then brings the nation into war.” quote by Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/howard-zinn-576_again-and-again_again-and-again-americans-have-voted-for_2892512.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/howard-zinn-576_again-and-again_again-and-again-americans-have-voted-for_2892512.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/howard-zinn-576_again-and-again_again-and-again-americans-have-voted-for_2892512.jpg) > “Again and again, Americans have voted for a president to keep them out of a war, only to see the "peace" candidate elected who then brings the nation into war.” [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Electing leaders promising peace can paradoxically lead to war due to complex geopolitics. **In simple terms:** Peace promises may still result in conflict. Key Takeaway Critically evaluate political promises. Themes politics war peace voter behavior Mood critical inquisitive Type historical political When to use this quote - elections - foreign policy debates - public discourse Key Concepts democracy policy cycles Questions to Reflect On - How do you assess a candidate’s true foreign policy stance? - What historical examples support this pattern? A Different Perspective Not all peace candidates cause war; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Again and again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/again-and-again/) [Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans/) [Americans Voted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans-voted-1716279/) [Candidates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candidates/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Peace Candidate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace-candidate-4070106/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) [President War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president-war-641005/) [Voted President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voted-president-1065074/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [A lot of people were ambivalent about Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson in 1964 positioned himself as the peace candidate. Once Johnson sent large amounts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/a-lot-of-people-were-ambivalent-about-vietnam-lyndon-johnson-in-1964/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [I think Donald Trump was brought to power by Americans. They voted for him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-donald-trump-was-brought-to-power-by-americans-they-voted-for/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Americans voted for Trump. A lot of people in this country feel the system of representative democracy hasn't worked for them for a long,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/americans-voted-for-trump-a-lot-of-people-in-this-country-feel-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [But the point you need to know is that no president at war cut taxes $1.5 trillion, like Bush did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaka-fattah/but-the-point-you-need-to-know-is-that-no-president-at-war-cut-taxes-2/) [Chaka Fattah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaka-fattah/) > [To be a great president, you have to have a war. All the great presidents have had their wars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adm-james-crowe/to-be-a-great-president-you-have-to-have-a-war-all-the-great/) [Adm James Crowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adm-james-crowe/) > [We had 10 years after the Cold War to build a new world order and yet we squandered them. The United States cannot tolerate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-had-10-years-after-the-cold-war-to-build-a-new-world-order-and-yet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not responding to any of the personal attacks that come from Donald Trump, because he can say whatever he wants about me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-m-not-responding-to-any-of-the-personal-attacks-that-come-from/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Americans voted for Trump in 2016 precisely because he is a pit bull, a barbarian, a gun-slinger they hired to fight the dirty left,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-devine/americans-voted-for-trump-in-2016-precisely-because-he-is-a-pit-bull/) [Miranda Devine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-devine/) > [Though the poorest Americans voted for Hillary Clinton, many relatively wealthy people voted for Trump and generally it's a mistake to think that economics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/though-the-poorest-americans-voted-for-hillary-clinton-many/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [But the point you need to know is that no president at war cut taxes $1.5 trillion, like George W. Bush did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaka-fattah/but-the-point-you-need-to-know-is-that-no-president-at-war-cut-taxes/) [Chaka Fattah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaka-fattah/) > [Every US President has to have a war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/every-us-president-has-to-have-a-war/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [Gerhard Schröder offered a clear German NEIN to an American president's war of aggression that was in violation of international law. That took courage.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/gerhard-schr-der-offered-a-clear-german-nein-to-an-american-president/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [We Americans only voted for George Bush to prove to the British that Americans understand irony. Unfortunately, it kinda backfired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-capurro/we-americans-only-voted-for-george-bush-to-prove-to-the-british-that/) [Scott Capurro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-capurro/) > [On the contrary, I tried on numerous occasions to convince the American president not to go to war. I did what was within my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvio-berlusconi/on-the-contrary-i-tried-on-numerous-occasions-to-convince-the/) [Silvio Berlusconi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvio-berlusconi/) > [I would flip this the other way and say over 90 percent of African-Americans voted against Donald Trump.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/i-would-flip-this-the-other-way-and-say-over-90-percent-of-african/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) ## More by Howard Zinn > [“A black man, Benjamin Banneker, who taught himself mathematics and astronomy, predicted accurately a solar eclipse, and was appointed to plan the new city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-black-man-benjamin-banneker-who-taught-himself-mathematics-and/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/there-is-no-flag-large-enough-to-cover-the-shame-of-killing-innocent/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“a good education is a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, because each enrich the other. The accumulation of knowledge, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-good-education-is-a-synthesis-of-book-learning-and-involvement-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction-so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-mountain-of-history-books-under-which-we-all-stand-leans-so/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Let's face a historical truth: we have never had a "free market", we have always had government intervention in the economy, and indeed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/let-s-face-a-historical-truth-we-have-never-had-a-free-market-we-have/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [I can UNDERSTAND pessimism, but I don't BELIEVE in it. It's not simply a matter of faith, but of historical EVIDENCE. Not overwhelming evidence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-can-understand-pessimism-but-i-don-t-believe-in-it-it-s-not-simply/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. It is a corrective to the sluggishness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/protest-beyond-the-law-is-not-a-departure-from-democracy-it-is/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Now I have been studying very closely what happens every day in the courts in Boston, Massachusetts. You would be astounded--maybe you wouldn't, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/now-i-have-been-studying-very-closely-what-happens-every-day-in-the/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [They were not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, they were absent in the Constitution and they were invisible in the new political democracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/they-were-not-mentioned-in-the-declaration-of-independence-they-were/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Sexual purity was to be the special virtue of a woman. It was assumed that men, as a matter of biological nature, would sin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/sexual-purity-was-to-be-the-special-virtue-of-a-woman-it-was-assumed/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Middle-class Americans might be invited to join a new elite by attacks against the corruption of the established rich. The New Yorker Cadwallader Colden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/middle-class-americans-might-be-invited-to-join-a-new-elite-by/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/if-those-in-charge-of-our-society-politicians-corporate-executives/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/we-were-not-born-critical-of-existing-society-there-was-a-moment-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Behind the deceptive words designed to entice people into supporting violence -- words like democracy, freedom, self-defense, national security -- there is the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/behind-the-deceptive-words-designed-to-entice-people-into-supporting/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“George Washington had turned down the requests of blacks, seeking freedom, to fight in the Revolutionary army. So when the British military commander in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/george-washington-had-turned-down-the-requests-of-blacks-seeking/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) [Explore all 461 Howard Zinn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## More Again and again quotes > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [As in any machine, all the wires must be connected to the mains through one main wire. 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Go on closing the chapters that you have read; there is no need to go back again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/don-t-be-unnecessarily-burdened-by-the-past-go-on-closing-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [The difference between a winner and a loser - they both failed, but the winner gets back up and does it again and again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-plitt/the-difference-between-a-winner-and-a-loser-they-both-failed-but-the/) [Greg Plitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-plitt/) > [Owning the intellectual property is like owning land: You need to keep investing in it again and again to get a payoff; you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-dyson/owning-the-intellectual-property-is-like-owning-land-you-need-to-keep/) [Esther Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-dyson/) > [The key to longevity is to keep doing what you do better than anyone else. We work real hard at that. 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