ABSTRACT
This chapter integrates three strands to offer a more robust way of understanding the passage of Hughes-Ryan. The first strand is the oppositional relationship of institutional development, whereby friction between the executive and legislative branches of government leads to institutional development. A second strand considers congressional behaviour regarding foreign policy, particularly after direct United States (US) involvement in the Vietnam War ended in 1973 and the foreign policy consensus that had existed since the beginning of the Cold War began to erode. A third strand investigates what slows the process of institutional change. In March 1972, columnist Jack Anderson uncovered information about communications between the Nixon administration and the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (IT&T) regarding the company’s interest in financially supporting potential attempts to prevent the inauguration of the democratically elected Chilean president, Salvador Allende.
