Presidential Administrations
From WolfWikis
Drug War Presidents
NIXON (1969-1974)
- President Nixon first coined the term "war on drugs" on the campaign trail for his 1968 election.
- Declared that drugs were America's number one enemy in 1971.
- Created the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 1973.
- Congress passes the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.
CARTER (1977-1981)
- Campaigned in favor for legalization of marijuana
- Cocaine was becoming more prevalent in United States
- Medellin cartel was coming into power in Colombia, creating a billion dollar family-organized cocaine industry
- Carter began to play a stronger role in the "war on drugs"
REAGAN(1981-1989)
- In the mid-1980's, crack cocaine exploded onto the drug scene
- At this time there was also a rise in drug related violence in inner cities
- In 1988 he created the Office of National Drug Control Policy
- Involved in the Iran-Contra Affair
- Nancy Reagan lead the "Just Say No!" campaign to fight domestic drug use.
- Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 created a higher penalty for crack than powder cocaine.
- Coined the term "narco-terrorism"
GEORGE H. BUSH(1989-1993)
- To combat the continuing problem of cocaine in America, President Bush launched the Andean Initiative
- The Andean Initiative focused on cutting off drugs at the source and required increased military presence in the Andean region.
- Initiated Operation Just Cause, which sent 25,000 American troops into Panama to arrest dictator and drug trafficker Manuel Noriega.
BILL CLINTON(1993-2001)
- Did not continue with Bush's plan for the Andean Initiative
- Allowed a moderate decrease in both military and economic aid for the program
- However, in 2000, the administration coordinated with Colombian President Andres Pastrana on Plan Colombia, supplying $1.3 billion in regional aid.
GEORGE W. BUSH (2001-Present)
- After September 11, began to draw parallels between Colombia's armed groups such as FARC and Middle Eastern terrorist organizations like Al-Queda.
- Continues to supply hundreds of millions of dollars to the region in aid.
Plan Columbia Video [1]