Since the early nineteenth century Irish-Americans have sought to persuade the White House and Congress to intervene in the politics of Ireland and, after Partition, Northern Ireland. On all occasions they were singularly unsuccessful. There were three reasons for this failure. First, the White House claimed not to intervene in the internal affairs of another sovereign country, a principle of international relations often honoured more in the breach than in the observance by successive US governments. In the case of the United Kingdom, however, it was invariably honoured. In the nineteenth century and until the outbreak of the Second World War, the British Empire was the largest in the world and, following the Second World War, Britain with its ‘special relationship’ was the United States' most important NATO ally. When questioned about Northern Ireland, the White House religiously echoed the refrain of ‘non-interference in the internal affairs in another country’ and generally supported British policy in Ireland and, later, in Northern Ireland.

The second reason was that initiatives taken in Congress, mainly in the House of Representatives, were unsuccessful. In the early 1980s several attempts at legislative action were made by members of the Ad Hoc Congressional Committee for Irish Affairs, supported by the Irish National Caucus. They failed because successive speakers of the House and leaders of the Senate controlled the business on the floor of each House and they saw to it that no progress was made on the bills.