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Many Americans feared and distrusted the idea of a standing army into the first half of the nineteenth century.—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 25 May 2026 The Framers warned us about the dangers of a standing army in a democratic republic and its potential misuse in domestic affairs.—Angus King, Time, 7 Apr. 2026 Within days, President Abraham Lincoln called on states loyal to the Union to send troops to bolster a standing army of only 16,000 and put down the South's growing rebellion.—Bill Steiden, Des Moines Register, 24 Mar. 2026 How a country founded in fear of a standing army came to think of its military as a bulwark of American democracy is the subject of my work.—Kori Schake, The Atlantic, 22 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for standing army