6. America First!

It’s 1991 in New Hampshire and a cheerfully pugnacious TV pundit and political insider is announcing his campaign for the Republican nomination. His name is Pat Buchanan and what he is about to say will shock the room.

Not only does he challenge sitting President George H W Bush, but the entire post-war order, the vision of America that has persisted for the past half century - America at the head of a free world. Instead, Pat Buchanan says, “It will be time for a new foreign policy that looks out for America first, but not only America first, but also America second and third as well.”

This is the story of the idea that governs America’s new vision of its role in the world — America First — and what it really means.

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Redzi Bernard
Sound Design: Jeff Emtman
Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Story Editor: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4