Reagan Supports Philippine Dictator Marcos Despite Massive Kleptocracy

President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan welcome Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos to the White House in September 1982, demonstrating strong support for the Philippine dictator despite his regime’s notorious corruption, extravagance, and brutality. The Reagans maintain a personal friendship with the Marcos couple, willing to overlook massive kleptocracy in exchange for an anti-Communist bulwark in Southeast Asia and continued access to strategically important U.S. military bases in the Philippines.

When Marcos became president in 1965, the Philippines’ total debt was $600 million; by 1986 when he is ousted, it has ballooned to $26 billion—a staggering 4,300% increase. The Philippine Commission on Good Government later maintains that the Marcos family stole billions of dollars from the Philippines between 1965 and 1986. In April 1986, the Commission on Audit accuses Marcos of diverting U.S. aid funds, including 236 million pesos from the Economic Support Fund illegally classified as “confidential.”

Marcos’s dictatorial regime becomes infamous for systematic human rights violations, including the torture and murder of political opponents, journalists, and activists. Despite clear evidence of corruption and brutality, the Reagan administration continues military and economic aid, prioritizing Cold War strategic interests over democratic values and human rights. The U.S. government’s willingness to support the Marcos kleptocracy demonstrates how anti-communist ideology was used to justify backing authoritarian regimes engaged in wholesale theft of public resources.

Only after Marcos flagrantly steals the February 7, 1986 election does Reagan finally abandon his ally. Following massive public protests during the People Power Revolution, Reagan sends word through Senator Paul Laxalt that it is time to “cut, and cut cleanly,” signaling that Marcos no longer has U.S. backing. Marcos flees to Hawaii, where he lives in exile until his death in 1989, leaving the Philippines with crushing debt and plundered institutions.