Why did the U.S. Senate delay the ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?
On 1 July 1968 the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the treaty, along with fifty-nine other countries. American President Lyndon Johnson submitted the treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification on 9 July 1968, but after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on 20–21 August 1968, the Senate was unwilling to approve any treaty with Moscow. As tensions between the superpowers cooled in early 1969, newly inaugurated President Richard Nixon resubmitted the treaty to the Senate. The Senate ratified the treaty on 13 March 1969, and Nixon signed it into law on 24 November 1969. In March 1970, the treaty took effect as international law.
Related Questions
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- What is the purpose of the recent Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference?
- Why did the U.S. Senate delay the ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?
