Free World (World War II) - "Leader of The Free World"

"Leader of The Free World"

The "Leader of the Free World" is a colloquialism, first used during the Cold War, to describe either the United States or the President of the United States. The term, when used in this context, suggests that the United States is the principal democratic superpower, and the U.S. President is, by extension, the leader of the world's democratic states, i.e. the "Free World". The phrase had its origin in the late 1940s, and has become more widely used since the early 1950s. It was heavily referenced in American foreign policy up until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, and has since fallen out of use, in part due to its usage in anti-American rhetoric.

Read more about this topic:  Free World (World War II)

Famous quotes containing the words leader of, leader, free and/or world:

    If you would be a leader of men you must lead your own generation, not the next. Your playing must be good now, while the play is on the boards and the audience in the seats.... It will not get you the repute of a good actor to have excellencies discovered in you afterwards.
    Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

    To be a leader of men one must turn one’s back on men.
    Havelock Ellis (1859–1939)

    I struck the board, and cried, “No more.
    I will abroad.”
    What? Shall I ever sigh and pine?
    My lines and life are free; free as the road,
    Loose as the wind, as large as store.
    Shall I be still in suit?
    George Herbert (1593–1633)

    If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.
    Rachel Carson (20th century)