Bill Lane Quotes
Unilateral sanctions only make foreign rivals stronger and taint us as unreliable suppliers.
Bill Lane, Chairman, USA Engage, Quoted in New York Times, July 31, 1998
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Friedman had handed the President a gift of a Cuban cigar when it was illegal to import products from Cuba as it was U. S. policy not to support the Cuban economy.
In 1980 Russian troops moved into Afghanistan, and President Jimmy Carter imposed an American grain export embargo against Russia:
France and England were at war. Each country seized American ships that were trading with their enemy. Many Americans clamored for war which President Jefferson wished to avoid. He got Congress to pass the Embargo Act which prohibited trading with either of the warring countries. However, some American traders did not obey the law and traded anyway. Napoleon needed money badly so instead of paying the captains of the ships for the goods, he just seized the goods and sold the ships. The U. S. Ambassador to France confronted Napoleon who demonstrated an ability to twist logic and morality that is rare.
The practice became extensively used and the phrase along with it during the William Howard Taft administration where the media popularized it.
Hoover and most Republicans were generally opposed to sanctions and an instrument of foreign policy. 25 years after his presidency, the Republican Party started embracing sanctions as a tool of foreign policy and by the end of the 20th century, Republicans were sanction hawks. This quotation illustrates how American political parties and their philosophies change over time.
Selwyn George "Bill" Lane E.D. R.L. (1922–2000) was an Australian amateur ornithologist who worked for the Sydney County Council for most of life until he retired in 1983.
