The Courage to be Free, by Ron DeSantis: on Foreign Policy


Bill Clinton: Promised to move US Embassy to Jerusalem, but did not

During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump promised that, if elected, he would move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. US law since the 1990s identified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and, as a result, the proper site of the US Embassy, but the law included a waiver provision (in classic DC style) that allowed presidents over two decades to punt on relocation of our embassy every six months--even though Presidents Clinton and Bush had promised to move it.

After his election, I believed that President Trump, unlike Bush and Clinton, would follow through with his promise.

Prior to the 2017 waiver deadline, I convened a subcommittee hearing to press the movement of our embassy to Jerusalem. The next month, Pres. Trump announced that the US would be relocating its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The formal ceremony in May 2018 was a major event, which I attended in person. Did the relocation of our embassy to Jerusalem lead to a massive conflict, as the Beltway experts predicted? Not at all.

Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 33 Feb 28, 2023

George W. Bush: Support the growth of democratic movements in every nation

Our liberty depends on success of liberty in other lands [President George W. Bush]sketched out a view for American foreign policy that constituted Wilsonianism on steroids. "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands," Bush declared. "It is the policy of promote democracy, by force, if necessary, around the world--was grounded in Wilsonian moralism, not in a clear-eyed view of American interests. Policy resting on such an impulse was as undesirable as it was unsustainable.

This impulse also represented a disregard for the principles of our Founding Fathers. The Founders would not have thought of forcibly removing a dictator and then having a society governed by the mere whims of the majority as "liberty."

Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 33 Feb 28, 2023

Ron DeSantis: Too much blood and treasure to impose democracy abroad

[President George W. Bush declared], "It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

I remember being stunned. Does the survival of American liberty depend on whether liberty succeeds in Djibouti? Are we going to try to impose democracy in societies where most people are hostile to US interests? What would the cost in American blood and treasure be if we ended tyranny in our world? Is it possible to end tyranny in our world?

This messianic impulse [meant] that the US had both the right and the obligation to promote democracy, by force, if necessary, around the world.

The Founding Fathers would not have thought of forcibly removing a dictator and then having a society governed by the mere whims of the majority as "liberty." They knew that liberty could be squelched by a runaway majority just as easily as it could be by a single tyrant.

Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 33 Feb 28, 2023

Ron DeSantis: Pushed successfully to move US Embassy to Jerusalem

During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump promised that, if elected, he would move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. In May 2017, however, he signed the waiver to punt the issue for another six months. Countries all over the world, particularly European and Arab states, pressed him not to move our embassy. Such a move, they ominously warned, would unleash a massive wave of conflict in the Middle East. Because of these concerns, moving our embassy, while very popular with the American public, was much easier said than done.

In 2017, I led a small mission to Israel to scout our possible sites in Jerusalem for new US embassy. In December 2017, President Trump announced that the United States would be relocating its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The formal ceremony in May 2018 was a major event, which I attended in person. Did the relocation of our embassy to Jerusalem lead to a massive conflict, as the Beltway experts predicted? Not at all.

Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 59-61 Feb 28, 2023

  • The above quotations are from The Courage to be Free
    Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival
    Gov. Ron DeSantis    .
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