Marcos| Arrival Ceremony for President Marcos on September 16, 1982 #marcos #presidentialelection
Channel: Classic TV
Date: 2022-02-20

On the morning of September 16, 1982, on the South Lawn of the White House, President Ronald Reagan, and First Lady Nancy Reagan welcomed Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos to the United States capital. Ferdinand Marcos, along with his wife Imelda, had presided over the Philippines since 1965. Though democratically elected in 1965 and 1969, Marcos declared martial law in 1972 and changed the constitution in 1973, which allowed him to continue in power until the People Power mobilizations of 1986. This particular state welcomes the Philippine leader operated as a show of support to the beleaguered President of the Philippines. Filipino opposition media outlets and political leaders increasingly opposed the Marcoses in public. Rumors of Marcos’s ill-health had triggered succession controversies, and the regime had been repeatedly challenged in the international sphere for corruption and human rights abuses. As the national anthems for the United States and the Philippines played in the background, Ferdinand Marcos – attired in a Philippine barong – made small talk with the U.S. President on stage, suggesting an air of camaraderie between the two state leaders. Indeed, Marcos and Reagan were friendly on a personal level. However, this friendly banter also functioned to publicly reinforce the closeness of the two nations. The State Department had placed a high priority on establishing a strong personal rapport with the Philippine leader during this visit. A public display of intimacy between Reagan and Marcos would appease an important ally and help uphold foreign policy aims of stability in the region.