Conventional wisdom tells us that Democrats spend less on defense than Republicans. But is this true? A review of historical defense budget trends shows there is more at play in determining overall investments in defense than just which party is in the White House.

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To see how the budget for the Department of Defense (DoD) shifts as administrations come and go, this analysis converts the first and last defense budgets of each administration into fiscal year 2021 dollars to support a comparison of 15 budgets. It starts with the first defense budget crafted by the Carter administration in 1978 and includes seven budgets from Democratic administrations and eight from Republican administrations.