At the top of that list are the rights enumerated in the first ten amendments to the Constitution — the Bill of Rights. Americans are fond of contrasting the protections that freedom of speech, due process of law, equal protection of the law, and other fundamental rights enjoy in the United States, with their absence in many other nations. The historical record shows, however, that U.S. political leaders and much of the public have been extremely quick to sacrifice such liberties during apparent national-security crises. Three episodes over the past century illustrate that unfortunate tendency.

The weak commitment to liberty during times of stress became glaringly apparent during World War I. Although a majority of Americans probably supported U.S. entry into that conflict when Woodrow Wilson sent his war message to Congress in April 1917, most initially seemed to do so with reluctance. Sizable pockets of anti-war sentiment remained among certain ethnic (especially German-American and Irish-American) communities and committed socialists.