Editing Ferdinand Marcos (section)

=== The US–Marcos relationship ===
[[File:The Marcoses and the Johnsons dancing.jpg|thumb|Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos with the Johnsons in 1966]]
[[File:Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos with the Nixons.jpg|thumb|Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos with the Nixons in 1969]]

All five American presidents from 1965 to 1985 maintained the US–Marcos relationship, mainly to protect and retain access of the US military bases. However, the Philippines was just one of many US allies, while the US was the Philippines' only patron. Marcos worked to maintain close relations with the US. He relied on this connection to sustain his regime.<ref name=":10">{{cite journal|last=Kessler|first=Richard J.|date=1986|title=Marcos and the Americans|journal=Foreign Policy|issue=63|pages=40–57|doi=10.2307/1148755|issn=0015-7228|jstor=1148755}}</ref>

Marcos strengthened his ties to the US government by actions such as sending two engineer battalions to the US in the Vietnam War. After South Vietnam fell, President Ford sought better security assistance from allies, such as the Philippines, while President Carter wanted to retain US military bases in the Philippines to guard the West's oil supply line from the Middle East.<ref name=":10" />

To obtain additional aid, Marcos often leveraged threats that caught US attention. To secure aid for his campaign, Marcos threatened to search every visiting American naval vessel. The US responded by assisting his campaign indirectly, injecting millions into the government banking system.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Leifer|first1=Michael|last2=Thompson|first2=W. Scott|date=1977|title=Unequal Partners. Philippine and Thai Relations With the United States, 1965–75|journal=Pacific Affairs|volume=50|issue=1|pages=168|doi=10.2307/2756162|issn=0030-851X|jstor=2756162}}</ref>

In another instance, when US military bases became an issue in the Philippines in1969, Marcos secretly assured the US he had no desire for an American withdrawal. He had received warnings from the Philippine embassy that US aid was at risk in the Congress. Marcos returned to implied threats. In one speech, he stated that the bases were a threat to regional peace and security, while reminding the US of its "solemn obligation" to continue aid.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Presidential Speeches |year=1979 |location=Manila |pages=275–277|chapter=Speech by Ferdinand E. Marcos before the UP Law Alumni Association}}</ref> In the last weeks of the Ford administration, Marcos rejected the US offer of $1 billion in mixed grants and loans as too small.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}