I read a post on a conservative blog last night that claimed, essentially, that liberals would not start or fight wars. I think it important that every liberal know how to respond to such an accusation, so here it is: liberals have been our traditional fighters, we just don't like to fight UNNECESSARY wars.

Wars fought by conservative presidents:
John Adams, Franco-American War (1797-99)
William McKinley, Spanish-American War (1898-99)
George H.W. Bush, Persian Gulf War (1990-91)
George W. Bush, War in Afghanistan (2002-present)
George W. Bush, Iraqi Occupation (2003-present)

Wars fought by liberal presidents:
Thomas Jefferson-James Monroe, Barbary Wars (1802-18)
James Monroe, War of 1812 (1812-15)
James K. Polk, Mexican-American War (1846-48)
Abraham Lincoln, Civil War (1860-65)
Woodrow Wilson, WWI (1917-19)
Woodrow Wilson, Invasions of Mexico during Revolution (1914-17)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, WWII (1941-45)
Harry S. Truman, Korean War (1950-54)
JFK-LBJ, Vietnam War (1963-72)

The last two wars were ended by Conservative Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, but most of the fighting happened during liberal administrations.

You may add, if you like, that Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt, liberal presidents by any measure, did more to extend US imperialism over the Caribbean in the 20th century than anyone else. (Wilson, the super-liberal who created the League of Nations, has the odd distinction of having ordered more invasions than any other president in American history.)

You may also add that it was Harry Truman's use of the Atom Bomb and race for the Hydrogen Bomb that really got the Cold War going, and that it was JFK who created the Army Special Forces.

 Edit: I received some more war in the comments.

Conservative presidents:

Reagan - Grenada (1983)
Reagan - Libya (1986)

Liberal presidents:

Clinton - Iraq (1998)
Clinton - Yugoslavia (1999)