ABSTRACT
President George Bush's defense of free trade was aimed primarily at Republican challenger Pat Buchanan, but it just as easily could be targeted at most Democratic challengers for the White House in the 1980s. The story of party switching on trade policy is ultimately an amalgam of interests and ideas, but not according to the terms of either societal advocates or institutionalists. The Republicans briefly and partially shifted direction in 1908 under Theodore Roosevelt. Woodrow Wilson was the first President to make the linkage between free trade and an expanding international economy. The United States emerged as a net creditor in the world economy and the international economy became more integrated. In the United States the President is uniquely favored as the central figure in international politics, as the leader of a political party, and as the only official with veto power in national politics.
