Senator J. William Fulbright Is Remembered Today Primarily for the Scholarship Program That Bears His Name
On August 1, 1946, President Truman signed the Fulbright Act into law, creating what would become one of the world’s most prestigious educational exchange programs. Eight decades later, “Fulbright” has become shorthand for international scholarship, as hundreds of thousands of students, researchers, and educators have crossed borders under its banner. But somewhere along the way, we forgot the philosophy that animated the program—a radically different vision of how the United States should engage the world.
Its architect, Senator J. William Fulbright, was one of the 20th century’s most incisive critics of American militarism. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the Cold War and the Vietnam era, Fulbright watched US global leadership grow through overwhelming military power and concentrated executive authority. Long before phrases like “forever wars” or the “national security state” entered the political lexicon, he warned that the greatest danger facing American democracy was not adversaries abroad but the gradual acceptance of militarism as the central orientation of foreign policy. That warning deserves another hearing.
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