Imperial Legacy and Cold War Credibility: Lyndon Johnson and the Panama Crisis

Focused on the 1964 Panama Canal Zone riots and the political crisis that followed them, this article explores the intersection between imperial legacies and Cold War policymaking. After describing the Panamanian context and the historical causes of the violence, it argues that Lyndon Johnson and his advisers proved incapable of understanding the way that an imperial past shaped the Cold War present. Focused on the need to maintain America’s international credibility and concerned with domestic criticism, they viewed Panamanian actions as irrational and irresponsible, considered nationalism only as a cynically wielded political weapon, and determined that any agreement to negotiate would convey a dangerous image of weakness and lack of resolve. They also solidified a way of looking at the world that foreclosed opportunities to work for peace and that eventually led to much greater tragedy.