The purpose of this thesis is to examine the support of Congressman Charles Wilson, D-TX, for the Nicaraguan government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle from March 1977 to July 1979. A narrative of Wilson's actions and motivations it relies heavily on his congressional papers for primary sources. This work argues that Wilson was motivated by his personal anti-Communist beliefs to challenge the perceived biased application of the Carter Administration's human rights policy against the Somoza regime. He saw the administration's abandonment of Nicaragua, a traditional Cold War ally after four decades of loyal support, as directly contributing to the rise of a Communist regime following Somoza’s fall. It also explores the role of Congress in influencing American foreign policy. Furthermore, it proves that Wilson was a committed anti-Communist with an interest in foreign policy before his adventures in the mountains of Afghanistan during the 1980s for which he has become famous
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this thesis is to examine the support of Congressman Charles Wilson, D-TX, for the Nicaraguan government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle from March 1977 to July 1979. A narrative of Wilson's actions and motivations it relies heavily on his congressional papers for primary sources. This work argues that Wilson was motivated by his personal anti-Communist beliefs to challenge the perceived biased application of the Carter Administration's human rights policy against the Somoza regime. He saw the administration's abandonment of Nicaragua, a traditional Cold War ally after four decades of loyal support, as directly contributing to the rise of a Communist regime following Somoza’s fall. It also explores the role of Congress in influencing American foreign policy. Furthermore, it proves that Wilson was a committed anti-Communist with an interest in foreign policy before his adventures in the mountains of Afghanistan during the 1980s for which he has become famous</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sadler, Sherman J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - History","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Aaron Moulton","Dr. Scott Sosebee","Dr. Philip Catton"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:22Z","subjects":["Rep. Charlie Wilson","anti-communism","human rights","Anastasio Somoa Debayle","Nicaragua","Diplomatic History","Latin American History","Political History","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/248","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Aaron Moulton","Dr. Scott Sosebee","Dr. Philip Catton"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sadler, Sherman J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-08-16T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts - History"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Rep. Charlie Wilson","anti-communism","human rights","Anastasio Somoa Debayle","Nicaragua","Diplomatic History","Latin American History","Political History","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/248"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this thesis is to examine the support of Congressman Charles Wilson, D-TX, for the Nicaraguan government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle from March 1977 to July 1979. A narrative of Wilson's actions and motivations it relies heavily on his congressional papers for primary sources. This work argues that Wilson was motivated by his personal anti-Communist beliefs to challenge the perceived biased application of the Carter Administration's human rights policy against the Somoza regime. He saw the administration's abandonment of Nicaragua, a traditional Cold War ally after four decades of loyal support, as directly contributing to the rise of a Communist regime following Somoza’s fall. It also explores the role of Congress in influencing American foreign policy. Furthermore, it proves that Wilson was a committed anti-Communist with an interest in foreign policy before his adventures in the mountains of Afghanistan during the 1980s for which he has become famous
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