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The Eisenhower administration's policy toward Latin America is typically viewed as a failure. The general view is that by ignoring calls for increased economic aid and undermining governments suspected of harboring Communist sympathies, U.S. policymakers allowed relations with Latin American countries to deteriorate so much that Vice President Richard Nixon was almost killed during a goodwill tour. Belated efforts were then made to improve relations, but only the rise of Fidel Castro in Cuba and the Kennedy administration's embrace of modernization theory—the argument goes—saw a genuine change in U.S. attitudes. Using a wide variety of sources, including rarely studied personal papers and newly released oral histories, this article demonstrates that even before the Nixon trip a small group of experts on Latin America were determined to adjust attitudes in Washington. Understanding their impact and achievements casts fresh light on the policies of the Eisenhower administration and the nature of hemispheric relations in the subsequent decade.

The Eisenhower administration's policy toward Latin America is typically viewed as a failure. The general view is that by ignoring calls for increased economic aid and undermining governments suspected of harboring Communist sympathies, U.S. policymakers allowed relations with Latin American countries to deteriorate so much that Vice President Richard Nixon was almost killed during a goodwill tour. Belated efforts were then made to improve relations, but only the rise of Fidel Castro in Cuba and the Kennedy administration's embrace of modernization theory -- the argument goes -- saw a genuine change in U.S. attitudes. Using a wide variety of sources, including rarely studied personal papers and newly released oral histories, this article demonstrates that even before the Nixon trip a small group of experts on Latin America were determined to adjust attitudes in Washington. Understanding their impact and achievements casts fresh light on the policies of the Eisenhower administration and the nature of hemispheric relations in the subsequent decade. Adapted from the source document.

This document offers reviews and discussion of Thomas C. Field, Jr.'s book From Development to Dictatorship: Bolivia and the Alliance for Progress in the Kennedy Era. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-8014-5260-4 (hardcover, $45.00).

What do we remember about US Presidents, and how do we come to commemorate their legacies?Few personalities loom larger than the President of the United States. Their accomplishments and failures are forensically documented, and their personal lives are under constant scrutiny from the media. But how does a president's legacy emerge, and how to do we come to commemorate it? In Constructing Presidential Legacy, world-leading experts take a multi-disciplinary approach to explore how presidents are remembered. They look at multiple presidents, including Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Eisenhower, Reagan, Obama and Trump. Discover how presidential legacies are constructed during and after their time in the Whitehouse, and how they are portrayed in media such as film, museums, public art, political invocations, pop culture, literature and evolving technological advancements.ContributorsH. W. Brands, University of Texas at Austin, USAEmily J. Charnock, University of Cambridge, UK.Kristin A. Cook, SOAS, University of London, UK.Michael Patrick Cullinane, University of Roehampton, UK.Richard V. Damms, Mississippi State University, Meridian, USA. Sylvia Ellis, University of Roehampton, UKGregory Frame, Bangor University, Wales, UK. Patrick Hagopian, Lancaster University, UK. Benjamin Hufbauer, University of Louisville, USA.Mark McLay, University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, UK.Thomas Tunstall-Allcock, University of Manchester, UK