How and when did the US go from a Nation with a deep distrust for a standing army, to having one of the largest and most expensive on earth?

how has the US managed to keep military influence in politics to basically zero?

That may be a very successfully hidden modern myth. The sort of traditional idea of military influence in politics is that of the simple coup d'etat or putsch, resulting in a dictatorship or junta. There are more nuanced views of the overlapping spheres of military, political and economic influence, but it would take separate posts to do it justice. Suffice it to say the Military Industrial Congressional complex is possibly stronger and more camouflaged than ever. With this in mind your question becomes how has the US avoided coup d'etats?

It's a hard question to answer satisfactorily, because there's many complicating factors involved, but they usually occur during periods of economic contraction. It's similar to asking why a nation, an army or police force isn't corrupt. A somewhat glib answer is when they're well paid. In the US the 'natural aristocracy' or 'the principal nobility and gentry' of the country, the business class, keeps them that way. Abundant examples from Roman times are often cited as proof. This also helps explain pervasive corruption in poorer countries.

There's been at least one major 'alleged' attempt on the US, the business plot in 1933. During the great depression, thousands of WW1 Veterans demanding dues owed called the Bonus Army, menaced Hoovers Washington. He ordered the Cavalry under MacArthur to destroy their camps in 32. FDR then got elected with promises to take unpopular economic measures, considered socialist or communist by some prominent businessmen, like ending the gold standard. The alleged agitators attempted to organize a coup to remove FDR by approaching some prominent military leaders and promising financial backing, presumably intelligently through proxies. The Bonus army organized a second demonstration in May 1933 and FDR sent his wife to talk with them. Sadly another will have to tell you details here, what happened, but there wasn't a coup. Officially there was a committee in 34 about the plot but they 'chose not to publish these allegations because they were hearsay'. It seems reasonable to conclude prominent business interests were intelligent and influential enough to protect themselves from any serious public repurcussions.

/r/AskHistorians Thread Parent