George H. W. Bush

==== Invasion of Panama ====
{{Main|United States invasion of Panama}}

Through the late 1980s, the U.S. provided aid to [[Manuel Noriega]], the anti-Communist leader of Panama. Noriega had long-standing ties to United States intelligence agencies, including during Bush's tenure as Director of Central Intelligence, and was also deeply involved in drug trafficking.<ref>{{cite book| last=Dinges| first=John| title=Our Man in Panama| date=1990| url=https://archive.org/details/ourmaninpanamaho00ding| url-access=registration| pages=50, 88| publisher=Random House| location=New York City| isbn=978-0-8129-1950-9| via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In May 1989, Noriega annulled the results of a democratic presidential election in which [[Guillermo Endara]] had been elected. Bush objected to the annulment of the election and worried about the status of the [[Panama Canal]] with Noriega still in office.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=226–227}} Bush dispatched 2,000 soldiers to the country, where they began conducting regular military exercises violating prior treaties.<ref name="rutgers">{{cite web|url=http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~hbf/panama.htm|title=Panama: Background and Buildup to Invasion of 1989|access-date=April 11, 2008|author=Franklin, Jane|year=2001|publisher=Rutgers University|archive-date=July 4, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704195428/http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~hbf/panama.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> After Panamanian forces shot a U.S. serviceman in December 1989, Bush ordered the [[United States invasion of Panama]], known as "Operation Just Cause". The invasion was the first large-scale American military operation unrelated to the Cold War in more than 40 years. American forces quickly took control of the Panama Canal Zone and [[Panama City]]. Noriega surrendered on January 3, 1990, and was quickly transported to a prison in the United States. Twenty-three Americans died in the operation, while another 394 were wounded. Noriega was convicted and imprisoned on racketeering and drug trafficking charges in April 1992.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=226–227}} Historian Stewart Brewer argues that the invasion "represented a new era in American foreign policy" because Bush did not justify the invasion under the [[Monroe Doctrine]] or the threat of Communism, but rather because it was in the best interests of the United States.<ref>{{cite book|first=Stewart|last=Brewer|title=Borders and Bridges: A History of U.S.-Latin American Relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HPod9HcYUJ4C&pg=PA146|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood |page=146|isbn=9780275982041}}</ref>