Political Use of the United States Armed Forces, 1946-1976

The data in this collection were generated in 1976 as part of a Brookings Institution project studying the use of the United States Armed Forces as a political instrument. By the study's definition, political use of the armed forces occurs when physical actions are taken by one or more components of the uniformed military services as part of a deliberate attempt by the national authorities to influence, or to be prepared to influence, specific behavior of individuals in another nation without engaging in a contest of violence. The study yielded 226 such cases between January 1, 1946, and December 31, 1976. The data can be grouped into seven categories: dates of the events, contextual characteristics of events, types and sizes of United States Armed Forces involved, movement and readiness of forces, activities of forces, non-United States actors involved, and United States public approval of the president within two months of the event.