The Cost of National Defense

This data table is a list of National Defense Expenditures by year by President. The third and fourth columns are used to show if the year in question was a time of war for the United States and lists which war.  This will help to explain spikes in National Defense costs from the typical/gradual increase in spending.  The fifth column shows the percentage of the year’s budget spent on National Defense.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (1789-1939) & U.S. Government Printing Office (1940-2017)