| Year | Pres. | House | Senate | Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | R | R | R | |||
| 1904 | R | R | R | |||
| 1908 | R | R | R | |||
| 1912 | R | D | R | |||
| 1916 | D | D | D | |||
| 1920 | D | R | R | The Democratic Party favors the League of Nations as the surest, if not the only, practicable means of maintaining the permanent peace of the world and terminating the insufferable burden of great military and naval establishments. | We believe that all this can be done without the compromise of national independence, without depriving the people of the United States in advance of the right to determine for themselves what is just and fair when the occasion arises, and without involving them as participants and not as peacemakers in a multitude of quarrels, the merits of which they are unable to judge. | |
| 1924 | R | R | R | The only hope for world peace and for economic recovery lies in the organized efforts of sovereign nations co-operating to remove the causes of war and to substitute law and order for violence. | As an immediate step in this direction we endorse the permanent court of international justice and favor the adherence of the United States to this tribunal as recommended by President Coolidge. This government has definitely refused membership in the league of nations or to assume any obligations under the covenant of the league. On this we stand. | |
| 1928 | R | R | R | |||
| 1932 | R | R | R | The acceptance by America of membership in the World Court has been approved by three successive Republican Presidents and we commend this attitude of supporting in this form the settlement of international disputes by the rule of law. | ||
| 1936 | D | D | D | we pledge that America shall not become a member of the League of Nations nor of the World Court nor shall America take on any entangling alliances in foreign affairs. | ||
| 1940 | D | D | D | |||
| 1944 | D | D | D | To join with the other United Nations in the establishment of an international organization based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace loving states, open to membership by all such states, large and small, for the prevention of aggression and the maintenance of international peace and security. | ||
| 1945 | D | D | D | United Nations established | ||
| 1948 | D | R | R | We support the United Nations fully and we pledge our whole-hearted aid toward its growth and development. . .We advocate the grant of a loan to the United Nations recommended by the President, but denied by the Republican Congress, for the construction of the United Nations headquarters in this country. | We believe in collective security against aggression and in behalf of justice and freedom. We shall support the United Nations as the world’s best hope in this direction, striving to strengthen it and promote its effective evolution and use. | Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by UN |
| 1951 | D | D | D | UN headquarters opens in New York |
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| 1952 | D | D | D | We will continue our efforts to strengthen the United Nations, improve its institutions as experience requires, and foster its growth and development. | We shall support the United Nations and loyally help it to become what it was designed to be, a place where differences would be harmonized by honest discussion and a means for collective security under agreed concepts of justice. We shall seek real meaning and value for our regional security treaties, which implies that all parties shall contribute their loyal support and fair shares. | |
| 1956 | R | D | D | The United Nations is indispensable for the maintenance of world peace and for the settlement of controversies between nations small and large. | We shall continue vigorously to support the United Nations. | |
| 1960 | R | D | D | To all our fellow members of the United Nations: We shall strengthen our commitments in this, our great continuing institution for conciliation and the growth of a world community. | To this end we will continue to support and strengthen the United Nations as an instrument for peace, for international cooperation, and for the advancement of the fundamental freedoms and humane interests of mankind. | |
| 1964 | D | D | D | This Administration has failed to provide forceful, effective leadership in the United Nations. | ||
| 1968 | D | D | D | Since we recognize that the United Nations can be only as effective as the support of its members, we call upon other states to join with us in a renewed commitment to use its facilities in the great tasks of economic development, the non-military use of atomic energy, arms control and peace-keeping. | We will seek to develop law among nations and strengthen agencies to effectuate that law and cooperatively solve common problems. We will assist the United Nations to become the keystone of such agencies, and its members will be pressed to honor all charter obligations, including specifically its financial provisions. | |
| 1972 | R | D | D | The next Democratic Administration should: Re- establish the U.N. as a key forum for international activity, and assign representatives with the highest qualification for diplomacy . . . Give strong executive branch leadership for U.S. acceptance of its obligations for U.N. financing, while renegotiating arrangement for sharing U.N. costs | We will seek to improve the performance of the United Nations, including more objective leadership. We support a more equitable sharing of the costs of international organizations and have serious concerns over the delinquency of many UN members in meeting their financial obligations. | |
| 1976 | R | D | D | We cannot give expression to our national values without continuing to play a strong role in the affairs of the United Nations and its agencies. Firm and positive advocacy of our positions is essential. | Two Republican Administrations have strengthened agencies of international cooperation not only because of our humanitarian concern for others, but also because it serves United States interests to be a conscientious member of the world community. | |
| 1980 | D | D | D | The United Nations remains the only forum where rich and poor, East and West, and neutral nations can come together to air their grievances, participate in respected forums of world opinion, and find mechanisms to resolve disputes without resort to force. | ||
| 1984 | R | D | R | A Democratic President will work to see the power and prestige of the U.S. fully committed to the reform and strengthening of the United Nations and other international agencies in the pursuit of their original purposes—peace, economic and social welfare, education, and human rights. | Americans cannot count on the international organizations to guarantee our security or adequately protect our interests. The United States hosts the headquarters of the United Nations, pays a fourth of its budget, and is proportionally the largest contributor to most international organizations; but many members consistently vote against us. As Soviet influence in these organizations has grown, cynicism and the double standard have become their way of life. | |
| 1988 | R | D | D | |||
| 1992 | R | D | D | |||
| 1996 | D | R | R | Republicans put the interests of our country over those of other nations – and of the United Nations. . . We will insist on an end to waste, mismanagement, and fraud at the United Nations. We will ensure American interests are pursued and defended at the United Nations, will not tolerate any international taxation by the organization, nor will we permit any international court to seize, try, or punish American citizens. . . We will ensure that our future relations with international organizations not infringe upon either the sovereignty of the United States or the earnings of the American taxpayer. | ||
| 2000 | R | R | R | We believe that the United Nations can play an integral role in our policy of Forward Engagement. We understand that the institution needs both resources and reform if it is to play that role, and we pledge to take the lead on both fronts. | The United Nations can provide a valuable forum for nations to peacefully resolve their differences, and it can help monitor international agreements and organize international humanitarian assistance. The United States will pay a fair, not disproportionate, share of dues to the United Nations once it has reformed its management and taken steps to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. All funds that the U.S. contributes for operations, conferences, and peacekeeping should count against these dues. | |
| 2004 | R | R | R | The United Nations can provide a valuable forum for nations to peacefully resolve their differences, and it can help monitor international agreements and organize international humanitarian assistance. Under Republican leadership, the United States will pay a fair, not disproportionate, share of dues to the United Nations, which must continue to reform its management and take steps to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. All funds that the U.S. contributes for operations, conferences, and peacekeeping should count against these dues. | ||
| 2008 | R | D | D | To enhance global cooperation on issues from weapons proliferation to climate change, we need stronger international institutions. We believe that the United Nations is indispensable but requires far- reaching reform. | The United States participates in various international organizations which can, at times, serve the cause of peace and prosperity, but those organizations must never serve as a substitute for principled American leadership. Nor should our participation in them prevent our joining with other democracies to protect our vital national interests. . . At the United Nations, our country will pay a fair, but not disproportionate, share of dues, but we will never support a UN-imposed tax. | |
| 2012 | D | R | D | We have restored America’s leadership at the UN by cooperating with our partners there when we can and respectfully disagreeing with them when we must, reversing the previous administration’s disdain for the UN. | Since the end of World War II, the United States, through the founding of the United Nations and NATO, has participated in a wide range of international organizations which can, but sometimes do not, serve the cause of peace and prosperity. . . The United Nations remains in dire need of reform, starting with full transparency in the financial operations of its overpaid bureaucrats. | |
| 2016 | D | R | R | Democrats believe that global institutions—most prominently the United Nations—and multilateral organizations have a powerful role to play and are an important amplifier of American strength and influence. Many of these organizations need reform and updating, but it would be reckless to follow Donald Trump and turn our back on the international system that our country built. It has provided decades of stability and economic growth for the world and for America. | Our continued participation in the United Nations should be contingent upon the enactment of long- overdue changes in the way that institution functions. American taxpayers, the chief funders of the U.N., deserve full transparency in the financial operations of its overpaid bureaucrats. | |
| 2020 | R | D | R | We believe the system of international institutions we built and led over the past seven decades has generated an enormous return on our investment. And in today’s more competitive world, its renovation is a critical diplomatic priority. . . Instead of walking away, Democrats believe the United States should lead the way and mobilize our partners to work in common cause. We will rejoin and reform the WHO, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the United Nations Population Fund, because in a global public health crisis and a global democratic recession, American leadership is needed more than ever. | ||
| 2024 | D | R | D |