President Obama will be in Cuba for the Tampa Bay Rays’ exhibition baseball game against the Cuban National Team later this month. While that may not be the main reason for his trip, his visit will be only the second one by a sitting U.S. President—but it’s no doubt the first visit to include a baseball game. (Former President Jimmy Carter has traveled twice to Cuba, once in 2002, and again in 2011.)
To the great surprise of absolutely no one, White House hopefuls and Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have both expressed their indignation that the president is visiting Cuba before it is “free.” Apparently, they both think that freedom can only exist under an anti-Communist dictatorship, which is what ruled Cuba before the 1959 revolution that led to Fidel Castro’s long reign.
Our history with this neighbor predates that revolution, although we are unlikely to hear much about our relationship prior to 1928, when President Calvin Coolidge visited the island. But our nation’s desire for Cuba arose long before the sinking of the USS Maine, the Spanish-American war of 1898, and Teddy Roosevelt’s charge up San Juan Hill.