Anglo-American relations could not be termed as particularly ‘special’ during the 1970s. This was a decade of overall decline in the Special Relationship. The relationship ebbed and flowed and experienced moments of improved cooperation and development, but these were largely overshadowed by diverging political and economic interests, growing US isolationism and a decline in British influence in world affairs. It can come as no surprise that the Latin American region held little importance to wider Anglo-American relations at this time. In fact, the region was marginalised by both the US and the UK governments in the 1970s as various domestic issues came to the fore. There was one exception, and that was Chile; US–UK relations with Chile were predicated upon a desire to closely monitor the regime of General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte.

This chapter will examine the tone of Anglo-American relations in the 1970s as a benchmark from which to appreciate the importance of the subsequent Reagan–Thatcher relationship. It will also briefly examine relations between Thatcher and Carter from 1979 to 1981 as a period of indifferent quality in bilateral relations. By assessing the general temper of US–UK relations during the 1970s, the chapter will highlight the often competing concerns of both countries and their impact on the evolution of Anglo-American relations. Secondly, the chapter will examine the central thrust of US–UK relations with Latin America during this time with a particular emphasis on both countries’ relations with Chile. In doing so, it will help to contextualise the significance of the book's forthcoming Latin American case studies and their impacts, both positive and otherwise, upon the Anglo-American Special Relationship throughout the 1980s.

A decline in Anglo-American specialness

Anglo-American relations during the 1970s did not enjoy the same elevated status as they did under the previous leaderships of Churchill and Roosevelt, Macmillan and Eisenhower or Macmillan and Kennedy. President Richard M. Nixon was initially inclined to look favourably upon the concept of a Special Relationship with the UK. His British counterpart, Prime Minister Harold Wilson, was not entirely helpful and Anglo-American relations failed to experience any significant renewal. Wilson's call for a general election in the UK resulted in the surprise victory by Wilson's long-standing rival, the Conservative Edward Heath, on 18 June 1970.