Old Frenemies: A Timeline of US-Philippine Relations

Relations between the United States and the Philippines have come a long way since William Howard Taft, the first U.S. governor-general of the island nation and eventual U.S. president, described the archipelago’s inhabitants as “our little brown brothers.” The signing of a new defense pact this week brings the two closer together — but relations haven’t always been so rosy. In this interactive timeline, FP charts the ups and downs of a relationship that has been pivotal to America’s presence in the Pacific and to the modern history of the Philippines.