Waltzing With a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (exp. & upd. ed. 1988)

Traces the history of the Marcos regime, examines U.S. policy towards the Philippines, and argues that U.S. support of dictators is counterproductive Waltzing with a Dictator is the startling story of America's twenty-year partnership with the conjugal dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda. Based on 12,000 pages of previously classified U.S. documents, Raymond Bonner's account contains never-before-told details of the incredible lifestyle of Imelda Marcos; of the imprisonment and assassination of Genigno S. Aquino; of the Marcos' crony capitalism that drained the country of between $5 and $10 Billion. In the most complete account ever published of the imposition of martial law in 1972, Mr. Bonner shows the extent of the U.S. involvement and explains that the Marcos government, not the Communists, was responsible for the bombings in Manila preceding the declaration. This book also deals at length with the question of the continuing presence of the U.S. military bases in the Philippines. Mr. Bonner reveals that even some American officials believe that the installations should be relocated. This book tells the often shocking, always enlightening inside story of the Washington-Marcos alliance. Preface to the Vintage Edition xi Prologue 3 one : The Man and the Woman 9 two : Once a Colony, Always a Colony? 28 three : Debut and Conquest 45 four : Chasing Power 63 five : Countdown to Martial Law 92 six : American Acquiescence 113 seven : Embracing the Conjugal Dictators 138 eight : Human Rights: Conflict at Foggy Bottom 164 nine : The Bases 204 ten : Visitors to Manila 226 eleven : Marcos Grows Stronger 255 twelve : A New Day for Dictators 295 thirteen : The Best of Times . . . 315 fourteen : . . . and the Worst 342 fifteen : In Search of a Policy 359 sixteen : A Blunder Leads to an Election 390 seventeen : To the End 424 epilogue : The Price of the Policy 447 appendix : Assistant Secretaries of State for East 457 Asian and Pacific Affairs, 1964-1988 U.S. Ambassadors to the Philippines, 1964-1988 Author’s Note 459 Sources and Notes 465 Bibliography 531 Index 549 An account of the American twenty-year alliance with the "conjugal dictatorship" of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda. Raymond Bonner. Updated With New Material--cover. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 531-547.