Foreign Policy Activism and Power in the House of Representatives: Black Members of Congress and South Africa, 1968–1986

Abstract

On 3 October 1986, the 99th Congress—acting at the behest of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)—voted to override President Ronald Reagan’s veto of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (CAAA). The passage of this bill, which placed strict economic sanctions on the white supremacist regime in South Africa, was a watershed moment in American politics for two reasons. First, veto overrides in the foreign policy-making arena are an exceedingly rare form of legislative action. More importantly, this was the first time in American history that the members of a minority group were able to use their positions within the Congress to translate a parochial desire into foreign policy against the will of a sitting president.