As our latest book shows, US President Donald Trump has taken the Economic Hit Man approach of using fear, debt, insufficiency, and the old divide-and-conquer game to manipulate and control others for profit to a new and flagrant level.
But did such hit men always operate so brazenly? Not often, but history does provide this list of five predecessors who came pretty dang close:
1. Philander C. Knox — (Active 1909–1913)
As secretary of state under William Howard Taft, Knox developed “Dollar Diplomacy,” using American loans and private investment to extend U.S. influence abroad. The policy was particularly active in Central America and the Caribbean, where financial control was sometimes backed by military intervention.
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2. Evelyn Baring, Lord Cromer — (Active 1877–1880 and 1883–1907)
Baring was sent to Egypt in 1877 to represent British bondholders after the country’s 1876 bankruptcy. He helped take control of Egyptian finances and returned in 1883 as British consul-general. Until 1907, he effectively governed Egypt during the British occupation—an unusually clear example of foreign debt leading to foreign political control.
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3. Minor C. Keith — (Active 1883–1884)
Keith negotiated his agreement with Costa Rica in 1883; it received final congressional approval on April 21, 1884. In exchange for restructuring the country’s foreign debt and completing its railway, Keith obtained a 99-year lease on the railway, extensive tax privileges, and 800,000 acres of public land. He later helped establish the United Fruit Company.
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4. Samuel Zemurray — (Active 1911–1912)
Zemurray helped finance and organize a rebellion against Honduran President Miguel Dávila in 1911. The successful operation returned Manuel Bonilla to power in February 1912. Bonilla’s government subsequently granted Zemurray highly favorable land and tax concessions for his banana business.
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5. Cecil Rhodes — (Active 1888–1890)
On October 30, 1888, agents working for Rhodes obtained the Rudd Concession, giving them extensive mining rights in what is now Zimbabwe. Rhodes used it to secure a royal charter for the British South Africa Company on October 29, 1889. In September 1890, the company’s Pioneer Column occupied Mashonaland, transforming a commercial concession into territorial and political control.
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Unfortunately, there will now be many more such examples.
