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Curated playlist

History of the foreign relations of the United States

  • Restatement of Policy on GermanyA 1946 speech named for hope alarmed Poland. US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes questioned its new borders.
  • Reykjavík SummitReagan asked Gorbachev if he would refuse a historic chance over a single word. The 1986 Reykjavík Summit then ended.
  • Reagan DoctrineThe Reagan Doctrine began as a blunt idea that Ronald Reagan put to Richard V. Allen in January 1977. Allen would later serve as his National Security Advisor, but at that point Reagan was not yet president. Reagan called his view of…
  • Truman DoctrineAn eighteen-minute speech to Congress in March 1947 launched the Truman Doctrine.
  • Evil Empire speechStaffers kept crossing out "evil empire" in a Reagan speech, and his speechwriter kept putting it back.
  • Mexican–American WarOn the 25th of April 1846, a Mexican cavalry force of 2,000 men attacked a patrol of 70 American soldiers led by Captain Seth Thornton. The patrol was routed. Eleven Americans were killed and 52 were captured. The clash took place in…
  • Monroe DoctrineThe Monroe Doctrine had no name until 1850. President Monroe's 1823 warning to Europe came first.
  • American imperialismGeorge Washington called the young United States an "infant empire" in 1786. Was it foreign policy or empire?
  • William H. SewardWilliam H. Seward led the 1860 first ballot for president, then lost to Lincoln. Lincoln made him Secretary of State.
  • Trent AffairA Union warship fired two shots at a British mail steamer in 1861. Sailors then seized two Confederate diplomats aboard.
  • ContrasOn January 4, 1982, Reagan signed a secret order to arm the Contras. It gave the CIA $19 million in military aid.
  • Tear down this wall!Aides called Reagan's Berlin Wall line "unpresidential", but he kept it. He told them, "I think we'll leave it in."
  • Iran hostage crisisThe Iran hostage crisis began with a pair of metal cutters hidden beneath a student's chador outside the American embassy in Tehran. The cutters were meant for the chains on the embassy gates, and the date was the 4th of November 1979. The…
  • 1953 Iranian coup d'étatA tank fired one shell into Iran's prime minister's home in 1953. Mohammad Mosaddegh fled, then surrendered to the army.
  • Domino theoryThe domino theory began as a casual image offered at a news conference on the 7th of April 1954. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had been asked about communism in Indochina. He answered by describing a row of dominoes set on end. Knock over…
  • National Security ArchiveA small nonprofit sued the White House over email and won. The National Security Archive saved over a billion messages.

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