Sorry, I was just thinking of WWII in general - the Japanese should have been included in that. But my point was that the only thorough defeat was under a Dem president, which I think is rather hard to explain.
"thorough defeat [of Germany] was under a Dem president, which I think is rather hard to explain"
Maybe not so hard if you accept the notion that the Republican party of today IS the Democratic party of pre-1970. JFK's 'ask not' is a mantra for small government and individual responsibility. The Democratic party of today is a Labor party.
I suppose under that scenario, the only real conservatives of today are the paleos, ala, Barry Goldwater and Ron Paul, which leans into the realm of libertarianism... But that's just speculation.