Alex Gray broke down the long history of U.S. presidents pursuing Greenland
Alex Gray traces U.S. presidents’ obsession with Greenland since 1867, from Andrew Johnson’s early bids to Franklin Roosevelt’s WWII occupation and Harry Truman’s failed purchase attempts, driven by shifting threats—Britain, Germany, then the Soviets. A 1951 treaty secured military bases, still operational today, as Arctic ice melts and China’s submarines near the North Pole threaten U.S. shipping lanes. Greenland’s 1,000-mile proximity to Maine makes it a dagger aimed at America, ensuring its strategic grip remains unbroken. [Automatically generated summary]
And well, maybe actually, let me backtrack a little bit.
Why is it a big issue at all?
Sure.
So to start with, why does it matter?
Why is it a big issue?
I think what people have misunderstood is that this is somehow a President Donald Trump issue, and it's not.
President Trump has just been extremely focused on it for reasons we can talk about and that make good sound strategic sense.
But presidents from 1867, the Andrew Johnson administration was the first administration to try and acquire Greenland.
Woodrow Wilson tried to acquire it in the First World War.
Franklin Roosevelt sent troops to occupy it in the Second World War.
Harry Truman tried to buy it.
Dwight Eisenhower considered buying it.
This is a long-standing, important piece of American strategic thought.
And what I always tell people is, you start in 1867 and work to today.
The strategic logic of why Greenland matters to us has not changed because geography doesn't change.
The only thing that's changed is the American president and the adversary that we're trying to counter.
So in the beginning of this history, it was Great Britain.
We were worried about Britain gaining control of Greenland and then threatening us and post-Civil War.
Then in World War I, obviously, we worried about German U-boat bases being built in Greenland.
In World War II, Denmark was occupied.
The colonial master in Greenland was occupied.
We were very concerned, and they actually did land, German raider parties landed in Greenland, set up radar stations, and they were actively planning to build U-boat bases to menace U.S. shipping that was doing Lin-Lease convoys to the Soviet Union.
Again, then, of course, the Soviets in the Cold War.
This led to the famous 1951 treaty that we signed with Denmark, which was still in effect today, which gives us bases and pretty extensive military access to Greenland.
The bottom line, when you think about why have we done this, why does this all matter?
Why is this across competitions, across adversaries?
Strategic Sea Lanes Threatened00:01:15
Greenland is a thousand miles or so, as the crow flies, from Maine.
If you fly from Greenland to Maine, it's very close.
More importantly than that, it's the strategic sea lanes, the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap.
This is where the Soviet submarines would come down from northern Russia during the Cold War, stay off the eastern coast of the United States, and threaten us from a nuclear perspective.
Now, the Wall Street Journal reported just a couple weeks ago that the Chinese are moving submarines regularly up to the North Pole.
And as the Arctic ice melts, that passage between Greenland and the Arctic and northern Canada is going to be an incredibly important strategic location.
All this to say, whoever controls Greenland or exerts coercive influence over Greenland is going to have a pivotal role in the security of the Arctic, in the North Atlantic, and in the passage between all of these critical geographies.
And that's why it's so important, as it was in 1867.
That's why it's so important today to make sure that no outside power has the ability to keep Greenland pointed, a dagger pointed at the United States.