When Presidents Lied or Misled U.S. to War-- Part 2: The Spanish-American War

James Polk followed James Madison's (War of 1812, see the Nov. 19, 2018) Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog post) agenda when he concealed his westward expansion policy.

President William McKinley wanted to go to war with Spain in the 1890s and used what was a faulty boiler causing the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor.  He even promised to free the people of Cuba from Spanish occupation.

So in 1898, we went to war at his behest without his consulting Congress or the American people.

But what it really was an attempt for an American empire.  He grabbed the Philippines from Spain and demanded the conversion of its people to Christianity.  (I thought the people of the Philippines were Catholic when the U.S. took over.)

--Cooter