The Genocide Convention and Presidential Priorities, 1948–1988

Abstract

From 1948 to 1988, the United States failed to ratify and implement the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention). In total, seven presidential administrations neglected to expend the necessary political capital to secure the Genocide Convention's passage. This article is the first comprehensive study of the presidential actions—and, more aptly, inactions—on the long road to ratification. Ultimately, of the seven presidents who failed to procure the Convention's ratification by the Senate, only three even sought the Senate's advice and consent on the important international accord, and in all cases, the presidents did so while working to ensure the act did not harm their broader legislative and foreign policy agendas. Ultimately, President Ronald Reagan oversaw the Convention's ratification, though he did so in response to the threat of a public relations disaster that his administration believed the ratification would help avert. Studying the motivations of these eight presidents deepens our understanding of why it took the United States 40 years to finally adopt the Genocide Convention.