members of foreigners journey

Foreigners Journey

The ultimate foreigner and journey tribute featuring american idol rudy cardenas, do you have an event coming up.

At one point not too long ago, they toured the world as a one-two combination, but don’t count on it happening again. Luckily, you can count on Foreigners Journey, a veritable tribute-band supergroup, to deliver the unforgettable experience of seeing both bands in one knockout show.

Foreigners Journey comprises veteran members of the music scene, guys who’ve made it with their own original music. But since 2014 they’ve also dedicated themselves to something larger, a supergroup intent on bringing the sounds, sights, and emotional thrills of two of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest bands to eager fans around the Northeast and beyond.

Featuring American Idol Rudy Cardenas on Lead Vocals. Keyboardist Paul Kochanski, Bassist Joe Pettengill and Drummer Art Mambuca (and his sprawling double kick-drum kit) all played together in the Journey tribute band Captured. And, rounding out the band is hotshot Guitarist Kevin Herrera.

Their repertoire of note-for-note classics by Foreigner and Journey provide a crowd-pleasing night of unforgettable music, ready for singing along, jumping out of your seat to bounce and sway, or maybe even slow dancing (for those nostalgic for high school in the ‘80s). From power ballads like “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” and “Open Arms” to anthems like “Hot Blooded,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and “Any Way You Want It,” Foreigners Journey are more than a tribute band. They’re a time machine, and their energy is infectious.

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Interview: Constantine Maroulis of FOREIGNERS JOURNEY at Axelrod PAC

The Tony Award nominated actor, musician and American Idol alum will play hits from Foreigner, Journey, Queen, Toto and his own material at the Deal Park avenue Aug. 18.

Constantine Maroulis to Play Music of Foreigner, Journey and More at Axelrod Performing Arts Center

It's hot out there and, well, so are us hot-blooded humans.

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard. Yearning to know true love and wanting that special someone you've been harboring feelings for to show you.

Losing a love who suddenly resurfaces and shamelessly welcoming them back with open arms. Or, looking too hard and waiting too long for a girl like you.

This isn't the summer of love, but a foreigner's journey nonetheless, merging - you guessed it-the music of two of rock's powerhouses, Foreigner and Journey, re-imagined by a powerhouse performer in his own right, musician and Broadway star Constantine Maroulis .

On Thursday, Aug. 18, the Axelrod Performing Arts Center will welcome the New Jerseyan and American Idol alum turned Tony Award-nominated "Rock of Ages" sensation to the namesake show for what promises to be an unforgettable evening playing the music of these classic rock heroes, plus a little Queen, Toto and Maroulis' original material.

"I love these catalogs," said Maroulis, who spent this past weekend in the serene oasis of Upstate New York to see outlaw country legend Willie Nelson live for the first time. "Going to high school in the '90s, the grunge on the radio, '70s arena rock- those voices always lept off the radio into my face. As a musical theater guy, I had an ear for rock opera. Jesus Christ Superstar, The Who's "Tommy" changed my world. Led Zeppelin , The Grateful Dead. Those arena sounds felt like a musical in a way. This show, this classic rock celebration, is an extension of Rock of Ages for which I'm best known, and helped elevate this wonderful worldwide brand. To be recognized by my community is a dream come true."

The Brooklyn-born Maroulis, who grew up in Wyckoff, a suburb in upper Bergen County, recalls being a 5-year-old circa 1980, unstrapped in the backseat of his Greek-American parents' 1970 Chrysler belting out the "ear candy" hits of the day to the so-called crunchiness of the radio. As he got older, despite intense stage fright, Maroulis' mellifluous singing voice and vocal range couldn't escape his place in choral ensembles in school. His middle and high school years were the first times he set foot in front of a rock band, jamming in garages after dark, experimenting with music, and bouncing off encouragement and good vibes from his peers at school. He eventually earned his spot in musicals as a junior and senior at Ramapo High School.

While growing up during the birth of MTV, Maroulis recalls the new wave bands like Blondie, The Smiths and The Cars peaking in popularity and '80s-goth groups like The Cure and other pop acts like David Bowie , Madonna and Michael Jackson dominating the era. As the 1990s emerged, so did Guns 'N' Roses and the Seattle scene from Alice in Chains to Nirvana, that little band that disrupted, no, violently shook, the music industry, much like The Beatles did in the turbulent 1960s. In the midst of today's synth-pop resurgence with hits from Ellie Goulding and not to mention, Harry Styles ' infectious song of summer 2022, "As It Was," following in the footsteps their 1980s predecessors, it's the bands that make him nostalgic.

"I love advances in technology, but there's nothing like plugging in a guitar and putting a band together," he said. "I miss the band scene. I remember the early 2000s... the Strokes, the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, the Hives, The Vines, Jet. That energy was the coolest shit."

On the indie rock scene, he cites fellow New Jerseyan Jimmy Gnecco's band Ours, Damien Rice and Elliott Smith , who was nominated for an Oscar for his 1997 hit "Miss Misery" for the motion picture Good Will Hunting, as his other inspirations.

With Foreigners Journey, Maroulis is looking to imbue that same energy from 1970s hard rock to the early 2000s garage rock and post-punk revival into his set.

"Bands like Foreigner and Journey were commercial, but they weren't afraid to write about a failed relationship and were more literal than abstract," explained Maroulis. "There is no other voice than the recorded voice of Steve Perry . Journey tapped into this early '80s glee. This freedom of, 'We're in the '80s. It's almost the end of the millennium. It's boy-meets-girl, middle-America.' It's commercial safe rock 'n' roll; they can rock, but they were not afraid to display amazing musicianship and sing about love and heartache. They didn't feel they needed to be overly artistic about it."

Maroulis performed with Meat Loaf at the Songwriters Hall of Fame when Jim Steinman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012. That evening, Foreigner's past member, Lou Gramm, reunited with frontman Mick Jones for the first time in years.

"They were so incredible together," recalled Maroulis. "I was blown away at the diversity of their catalog."

Maroulis will put his own spin on the hits of Journey and Foreigner, Rock of Ages and Idol-style, while exploring Bohemian Rhapsody and playing seductive songs off his latest album, "Until I'm Wanted," which he recorded following the pandemic.

"Those are rock stars that will never walk the earth again," he said of Jones and Perry. "I'm blessed to bring my energy as a performer and bring something new to what they do."

Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door. Groups of 10 or more are $38. Visit axelrodartscenter.com to purchase or call 732-531-9160, ext. 14.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Axelrod PAC and Constantine Maroulis

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Foreigners Journey

Foreigners journey authentically performs the music of two of rock & roll’s most iconic acts, foreigner and journey..

Foreigners Journey is a unique top national touring act dedicated to authentically performing the music of two of rock and roll’s most iconic acts, Foreigner and Journey. Beyond these two epic acts, Foreigners Journey also performs other rock and roll acts from the 70s & 80s .

According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), Foreigner is hailed as one of the most popular rock acts with album sales that exceed 80 million. Journey is the 25th bestselling band with worldwide sales of close to 90 million albums making them two of the best-selling bands of all time.

The Foreigners Journey show combines the music of these two, powerhouse acts with legendary songs such as ‘Feels Like The First Time’, ‘Hot Blooded’, ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’, ‘Separate Ways’, ‘Anyway You Want It’ and ‘Don’t Stop Believing’. Surely no mean feat. To accomplish this tribute requires some of the best talents the country has to offer.

One of the top Tribute shows in the nation, Foreigners Journey has mounds of raw talent, decades of experience, and frequently repeats performances at theaters and festivals for tens of thousands of fans.

About the Lead Singer of Foreigners Journey :

Keith Carmichael Few singers can transform their voice to parallel the duplex of the top singers in the business and even fewer would begin to try however Carmichael does it in spectacular fashion, with near limitless range and identic tone.

A performer since the age of 13 Carmichael has toured all throughout the USA with various acts and recently posted a video performing the Journey classic ‘Faithfully’ which has received close to one million views and climbing. “My goal is to combine the music of these two iconic bands into one amazing show for our fans and fans of Foreigner and Journey music. To give them an experience they will never forget” exclaims the frontman of Foreigners Journey .

Foreigners Journey is a unique rock & roll experience for your ears!

From heartwarming power ballads to anthems, Foreigners Journey is more than a tribute band –  they’re a time machine with evocative vocals and infectious energy.

Act Type: Rock & Roll

Production Style: Mainstage

Duration: up to 4 hours [40-minute sets – 20-minute breaks]

Highlights:

• Other 70s & 80s Bands

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Foreigners Journey

• $30 Advance // $35 Day of Show
• All Tickets GA
• Doors 7pm, Music 8pm

About Foreigners Journey

Almost any music fan who came of age in the 1980s will cite Foreigner and Journey

as bands that sound tracked their young life, bands that are forever lodged in their

mind. Back then, the two acts might have been separated by an ocean, but together

they helped define the "magic era" of classic rock.

Foreigners Journey comprises veteran members of the music scene, guys who've

made it with their own original music. But since 2014 they've also dedicated

themselves to something larger, a supergroup intent on bringing the sounds, sights,

and emotional thrills of two of rock ‘n' roll's greatest bands to eager fans around the

Northeast and beyond.

Featuring American Idol finalist, Rudy Cardenas on Lead Vocals. Keyboardist Paul

Kochanski, Bassist Joe Pettengill and Drummer Art Mambuca (and his sprawling

double kick-drum kit) all played together in the Journey tribute band Captured. And,

rounding out the band is hotshot Guitarist Kevin Alexander Herrera and Adam Tese

on Saxophone.

Their repertoire of classics hits by Foreigner and Journey and a few surprises

provides a crowd-pleasing night of unforgettable music.

From power ballads like "I Want to Know What Love Is," and "Faithfully" to anthems

like "Jukebox Hero," “Stone In Love,” “Cold As Ice,” "Separate Ways," and "Don't

Stop Believin'." Foreigners Journey are more than a tribute band. They're a time

machine, and their energy is infectious.

www.FOREIGNERSJOURNEY.com

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Foreigners Journey

FOREIGNERS JOURNEY amazes audiences world-wide with their HIGH-ENERGY authentic tribute to Rock and Roll’s iconic bands, Foreigner and Journey. Fusing the music of these two BEST-SELLING rock acts, a FOREIGNERS JOURNEY show packs a double punch for fans of both bands.

Featuring legendary top hits and power ballads such as, “Feels Like the First Time,” “Hot Blooded,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Separate Ways,” “Anyway You Want It,” and “Don’t Stop Believing” to name a few.

All images by Marci Kay Photography

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St. Petersburg, FL, United States

850-240-8595 . Email us

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Foreigners Journey

FOREIGNERS JOURNEY featuring special guest Constantine Maroulis

Doors: 6:00pm     show: 7:30     ages: 13+.

Presented by The Flying Monkey

ADDRESS 39 Main St Plymouth, NH 03264

EVENT INFORMATION Phone: 603-536-2551

TICKET INFORMATION Phone: 603-536-2551

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What Happened To Steve Perry's Daughter? The Truth About The Journey Members Personal Life

Steve Perry was never married, but he had a daughter who he raised with an ultra-private lifestyle.

• Journey's Perry, known for his music, had a hidden personal life, including a daughter who was kept out of the public eye.
• Despite being private, photos surfaced of Perry's daughter Shamela, hinting at the singer's private fatherhood.
• Perry found love in late Kellie Nash, inspiring his music comeback after years of isolation and personal struggles.

Steve Perry’s life in public mostly revolved around his music during the peak years of his career. The veteran rocker made a name for himself as the revered frontman of the iconic band Journey. However, away from his musical prowess and success, Perry had a complicated music career with Journey and a personal life that included a daughter with whom he had a strained relationship.

For the longest time, fans had no idea that the singer could have fathered a child because he was never married. Steve Perry had his personal reserve against marriage , and he made it public. However, the star made headlines in 2018 when he shared that he had a daughter, although he refused to speak further about her. This article will take a look at who Steve Perry’s daughter is, her life, and his personal life outside of fame.

A Look Into The Private Life Of Steve Perry’s Daughter

Steve Perry caught fans of his 80s rock music off guard in 2019 when he revealed in an interview that he fathered a child. The Journey lead rocker made his reveal while speaking with American journalist Dan Rather. The news was even more surprising because it came out years after Perry decided to return to the music world. During the eye-opening interview, the music star briefly spoke about his grown daughter’s life, adding that he was also a grandfather.

The “After All These Years” singer, however, relayed that he was not willing to divulge more information about his daughter’s life as he preferred to keep her identity hidden. He further told the interviewer that her privacy was of the essence. Steve Perry stated:

“I do have a child, but in the essence of protecting her, I kinda don't want to get into that...and I have grandchildren too."

The Reason Steve Perry Decided To Leave His Journey Band Members

However, the identity of Steve Perry’s only daughter appeared to surface in 2016 after eagle-eyed fans spotted and photographed her during a family outing. On Facebook, a fan page dedicated to Steve Perry showed two snapshots of the young lady and her family . Describing her as Shamela in the caption, the fan page presented the singer’s daughter looking happy with her children at an amusement park. The second image was an up-close photograph of Shamela posing with her superstar dad. The caption read:

Steve has a daughter and two grandsons. Her name is Shamela. No one knows what his grandsons’ names are because he protects them from public life…”

According to Tuko, Steve Perry welcomed his daughter with a woman he briefly dated in the 90s. The short-lived romance was private, leading up to their daughter’s birth. This ultimately led the former lovers to raise their child away from the limelight. It was also amid his fatherhood journey that Steve Perry noticeably drew away from the spotlight.

Since then, there haven't been any other public sightings caught on camera or shared on the internet. It is safe to say that the musician upheld his penchant for privacy at that time. It is noteworthy that he also hit a rough patch with his former bandmates around the same time. After decades of retreating to a very private life, Steve Perry reemerged in 2018, bearing a comeback album titled "Traces."

Steve Perry Is Still Making Millions From Journey, Even Though He Quit The Band In 1998

What happened to Steve Perry? During the years, he was missing in action, the Journey lead vocalist channeled a spiritual life and became enlightened on theological matters . Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2018, Perry opened up on how he learned to become open-minded about religions, although he did not actually become religious.

Steve Perry's career profile and net worth per Celebrity Net Worth:

Inside Steve Perry's Personal Life And Relationship

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer got his big break alongside other members of Journey in the late 1970s after introducing music fans to their electrifying rock sound. Perry was known for his unique singing style, and it earned him a moniker from Jon Bon Jovi. Between his body of work with Journey and his solo career, Perry was known as "the Voice." Many years later, his evergreen music and name were immortalized in Billboard's Top 50 list of best rock singer band lead vocalists of all time.

During the years of his peak stardom, part of Steve Perry's love life played out in public, particularly his memorable relationship with Sherrie Swafford . The duo was known as one of the IT couples in the 1980s, and as a sign of his love, Perry dedicated his hit song, "Oh Sherrie" to her. The song came off his first solo album "Street Talk," which was released in 1984.

However, their romance did not stand the test of time due to Steve Perry's busy lifestyle. The singer was always on the road, doing so many tours, that this eventually drove a wedge between them. Following their breakup, Sherrie Swafford retreated from the spotlight until 2013, when Marc Tyler Nobleman of Nobelamania blog caught up with her. Swafford revealed to him that she had become an esthetician with a love for animals and yoga. She revealed that she never got married, but unlike Steve Perry, she never had kids.

Is Steve Perry Still Feuding With The Rest Of Journey?

Steve Perry found love again in 2011 when he met the late Kellie Nash . She was a cancer survivor at the time, and they hit it right off from the start. During an interview with the New York Times, Perry revealed that his relationship with her was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. The lovers were together for one year and a half before Nash passed on in 2012.

What became of Steve Perry's career after exiting Journey? On her deathbed, Kellie Nash made the Dream After Dream singer promise he would never retreat to isolation again. This ultimately geared his return to the music world. Steve Perry never had a wife due to how he witnessed the failed marriages of some of his friends, but it is safe to say that he experienced life-changing and wholesome romances.

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Shy Janitor Richard Goodall Crying After Getting Heidi's Golden Buzzer Is So Emotional

Richard Goodall had never been on a plane before, but that didn't stop him from chasing his dreams on AGT Season 19.

America’s Got Talent is a place for people with immense talent, but with sometimes limited access to a grand stage to showcase it. Perhaps no one embodied that more than Season 19 premiere superstar, Richard Goodall. 

How to Watch

Watch America’s Got Talent Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock . 

The humble janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana closed out the premiere episode by kicking the already high talent bar up another notch with a vocal performance you simply had to hear to believe. In fact, it was so good it earned one of the coveted Golden Buzzers from a Judge who was just as moved by his song as everyone in the crowd. 

How Richard Goodall made it to AGT

Before he took the stage, Goodall noted he grew up loving music and listening to it endlessly as a kid. When he got older, he needed money so he took a job as a janitor at a middle school just three blocks from where he lived. To pass the long hours, he would often belt out some jams in the hallways, much to the delight of the students. 

RELATED:  Where You Can Watch AGT 19 This Season

Eventually, he believed them when they told him he had talent, which prompted Goodall to get on a plane for the first time in his life and audition for AGT  19 — and it's a good thing he did! 

What song did Richard Goodall sing for his AGT  audition? 

When he took the stage to answer some of Simon Cowell’s preliminary questions, it was clear to anyone watching that Goodall was shy and a little nervous to perform in what was doubtlessly his biggest crowd ever.

However, all nerves seemingly fell away when he hit the first note of Journey’s 1981 classic “Don’t Stop Believin’.” The Judges and the audience were shocked to hear this quiet janitor suddenly hit the song’s notes with the talent of a seasoned professional singer. It didn’t take long before the crowd was on its feet, with some even being moved to tears.

Heidi Klum awards Richard Goodall her first Golden Buzzer of the season

Perhaps Cowell said it best (and most matter-of-factly) when he told Goodall he was his hero. 

“That was special, genuinely special,” he added. “I think America is going to love you.” 

Sofia Vergara agreed, saying: “I mean that was spectacular, that was fun. This was an amazing surprise. I think you are perfect to come to AGT because you made our night.”

Howie Mandel told the singer he “cleaned up” and called him “amazing” before speculating that all his students watching at home were probably screaming for him. 

However, it was Heidi Klum who gave the highest praise in the form of one of her two Golden Buzzers of the season. 

RELATED:  Heidi Klum's Got Talent: Watch the AGT Judge Yodel a German Son

“Richard, Richard, Richard, you knocked me off my feet,” she said. “I mean we all had the best time with you up on that stage. I really feel something with you up there and I hear you up there… and now, this is what I’m going to do for you, because I love you.” 

With that, she pressed her Golden Buzzer and instantly moved Richard to tears. 

“I’ve never even been on plane,” he said as golden confetti rained down on him. “This was not on my radar to come to California, this was a dream come true.”

After coming up on stage to hug him, Klum accompanied Goodall backstage where he called his fiancée to tell her the good news. While she was clearly proud of him, it was clear she wasn’t surprised his smooth voice earned him a Golden Buzzer. 

Watch all-new episodes of America’s Got Talent, airing Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC and streaming the next day on Peacock .

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A Cuban immigrant’s journey to U.S. citizenship in Chattanooga

May 29, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. | Updated May 29, 2024 at 10:20 p.m.

by William D'Urso

Mercy Rodriguez-Kealey had a lot to smile about Wednesday, and she wore the grin like a badge as she strutted the stage to receive her long-awaited citizenship.

Moments before, Chief U.S. District Judge Travis R. McDonough had welcomed them with warm remarks: "Without immigrants like you, there is no America."

(PHOTOS: Naturalization ceremony in Chattanooga)

The strong scent of buttered popcorn reached the stage, and small children ran about, issuing forth excited, high-pitched yelps.

Rodriguez-Kealey's friends and family were among them. As she left the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium stage, she paused on the way down the steps. She lifted one foot, which wore an American flag-themed 6-inch stiletto and gave it a slight wiggle.

And then she stepped to flat ground, wobbled and fell like an unsteady bowling pin. The nearly 400 others there to receive citizenship and the hundreds of family members and friends besides let out a collective "oof." Mike Kealey made sure to immortalize the moment of his wife's mishap on camera, and the following return to her feet.

The smile remained, a shrug followed.

Across a 57-year-long quest for citizenship, she's known her share of setbacks.

( SIGN UP: Get today's Chattanooga area news, sports and entertainment directly to your inbox. Sign up for our free newsletters at timesfreepress.com/newsletters. )

Even now, she remembers when she left Cuba. She was only four-and-a-half, clutching a doll, worrying as her father was led away. He was interrogated the whole night as Rodriguez-Kealey clutched her doll; one last piece of home, one small comfort.

Until it was taken by the Fidel Castro militia, victors in their struggle against dictator Fulgencio Batista.

"I watched them pull her arms and legs apart, and toss the pieces at me," she said in an interview.

They were searching for money or whatever other contraband the Castro regime might see fit to seize. The clarity of time and age would help Rodriguez-Kealey understand, in the years to come, that she was a woman without a country. She felt it to be true as a little girl, as she made the journey across the water to Miami during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But she and her family were allowed to leave as some 1.4 million Cubans fled to the United States and more to Europe. Rodriguez-Kealey and her family landed in Miami at the famed freedom tower, a treasure to the Cuban community there. And among the crowd was her uncle holding a welcome gift: a new doll.

It was a first taste of a new life, but it was also the beginning of a journey to belong that would last decades. She felt American before it became official, traveling abroad on a Permanent Resident Card. That means she was legally allowed to live and work in the United States. Better known as a green card, holders may be excluded from some jobs and can't vote in elections. She was a celebrated colleague who would have three children. But something was unfinished.

Nearly 23 years ago, Rodriguez-Kealey thought the final step was close at hand. She was about to become a citizen, she thought. Her bosses at the University of Miami had sponsored her, and the paperwork was complete. Then, the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened. The U.S. State Department double-clutched on past policy and promises. The dream to replace her old, voided passport with a fresh one stalled.

(READ MORE: US citizenship test changes are coming, raising concerns for those with low English skills)

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A cuban immigrant’s journey to u.s. citizenship.

The pandemic inspired the 62-year-old to rethink things.

Airlines made it more difficult to cross international boundaries, forcing Rodriguez-Kealey to take the scenic route for a work trip to Canada for her job as director of tuition assistance and enrollment planning at the McCallie School. So she began the lengthy process of securing her citizenship.

Finally, the day was at hand, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Chorus was there in force to sing the National Anthem and "God Bless America," and stone-faced immigration officials and robed judges were there to make it official.

Tennessee state Rep. Greg Vital, R-Harrison, had stopped in to witness the ceremony.

"I think the naturalization process, and study ..." he was interrupted by Rodriguez-Kealey's tumble, and the roar of the spectators. "The studying and years of moving through a bureaucratic process show their dedication."

Back at her seat among a crowd of her co-workers, Rodriguez-Kealey had gathered herself. Her husband dialed up the video of the fall for a laugh.

She was grateful, she said.

"I wanted to do this for myself," she said. "Now I have."

Contact William D'Urso at [email protected] or 423-757-6125 .

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The Long, Sordid History of Foreign Governments Courting Members of Congress

T he relationship between foreign governments and members of Congress is generating headlines and drawing scrutiny. First, on May 3 , the Department of Justice charged Texas Representative Henry Cuellar with bribery, money laundering, and doing work on behalf of a foreign government. Then on May 15, the trial began for New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, who stands charged with using his office to facilitate favorable deals and agreements involving select businesspeople and the Egyptian and Qatari governments. The Menendez case has produced sensational and salacious details — ranging from stacks of cash to gold bars found in the Senator’s residence — attracting a massive media spotlight. Cuellar has said he is innocent and Menendez has pleaded not guilty.

Yet, while the two cases are grabbing headlines, they are far from the first time foreign governments may have courted members of Congress. Such efforts — often illegal — have long been a way to shape American policy so that it benefits other countries. Foreign governments frequently pursue a dual track strategy in which they court policymakers through lobbying and other means, while also working to shape American public opinion to limit the options for members of Congress and the President. These strategies have paid great dividends in the past, even as they have also at times resulted in scandal.

Perhaps the most significant case of a disreputable regime moving to shape American policy began when dictator Rafael Trujillo seized control of the Dominican Republic in 1930. Trujillo quickly endeared himself to segments of his nation’s population by reconstructing the capital after the 1930 San Zenón hurricane, paying off the Dominican Republic’s foreign debts, and adopting anti-Black policies. American State Department officials could not overlook that Trujillo assassinated opponents and their family members while demanding loyalty to his political party and payments from almost every enterprise in his country.

To counteract such views and obtain U.S. armaments, Trujillo spent the next three decades trying to mold U.S. public opinion and policy in his favor. To do so, he used lobbying, public relations, and other strategies, setting the standards for regimes seeking to cultivate beneficial relationships with members of Congress for years to come.

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Trujillo’s agents first identified Congress as a necessary instrument to shape U.S. foreign policy in the late 1930s. In October 1937, the dictator encouraged the widespread slaughter of hundreds of Haitian workers and civilians during what became known as the Parsley Massacre . These atrocities sparked a wave of backlash that temporarily isolated the Dominican regime from the international community.

In an effort to stifle the cries coming from the U.S., Trujillo’s officials ordered diplomats to compare his racist, anti-Black policies to racism and segregation in the U.S. and used the lobbying services of Joseph Davies, a close friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Still, this did little to silence the passionate denunciations coming from, among others, New York Representative Hamilton Fish, Jr., and Massachusetts Senator David Walsh.

To silence such criticism, Trujillo’s officials established beneficial connections with Fish and Walsh that involved exchanges of money and goods. Fish received at least $25,000 from the dictator’s agents under the pretense of an oil-related investment, but the New York Representative spent the next years denying allegations of bribery . 

Walsh’s treatment differed a bit. Weeks after the Parsley Massacre, Trujillo welcomed him to the Caribbean nation. There, Walsh received what he estimated was at least $1,000 in cases of liquor and mahogany furniture. Far more valuable, though, were six mosaic tiles torn off the walls of the Iglesia de San Nicolás de Barí, built in 1503 as one of the Western Hemisphere’s first Catholic churches. More than trinkets and celebrations, religion was the perfect means through which the dictator could win over the Catholic Walsh. 

This courtship worked. While they had once called him a genocidal despot, Fish and Walsh flipped to adamantly defending Trujillo as a Christian statesman, and they would continue to do so until their deaths.

Because observers questioned such relationships, Trujillo’s agents refined their formula and turned to more acceptable forms of lobbying in the hopes of maintaining a favorable image in Congress. For decades, the Dominican government obtained the services of former members of Congress from both parties, including New York Representative William Pheiffer and Montana Senator Burton Wheeler. 

Wheeler — whose firm had a $12,500 contract with the Compañía Dominicana de Aviación — demonstrated the value of such ties in 1948. He assured Dominican officials that it was his words to President Harry S. Truman that facilitated the replacement of U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic George Butler, a critic of Trujillo, with the more amenable Ralph Ackerman.

In a longshot bid to shape the views of Michigan Senator Arthur Vandenberg, known for his moral rectitude, Trujillo sponsored William A. Morgan, a respected physician well known among Washington politicos who tried arranging Caribbean sojourns for Vandenberg’s family members. These efforts failed. Morgan ended up only providing friendly medical advice in the months before Vandenberg died in 1951.

But this didn’t deter Trujillo. He redirected the doctor to courting other members of Congress due to a shared interest in the favorite sport of Washington politicos, golf. 

One of Trujillo’s most valuable allies, former U.S. Attorney General Homer Cummings, hosted a biannual golf tournament in Pinehurst, N.C. After the dictator hired Cummings, he began inviting other Dominican allies like Morgan to the tournament in addition to providing the dictator with legal advice and priceless connections. The tournaments enabled those who championed Trujillo to play alongside the most powerful figures in both politics and industry. Over drinks in the clubhouse or roaming the fairways, members of Congress and Truman’s close friend Leslie Biffle, among others, heard laudatory descriptions of the Dominican dictator’s achievements.

Unsurprisingly, given this courtship, a group of members in both parties and both houses of Congress — including Wisconsin Representative Gardner Withrow, South Carolina Senator Olin Johnston, Mississippi Senator James Eastland, and Florida Senator George Smathers — consistently dismissed the dictator’s involvement in the murders and disappearances of his critics on U.S. soil. This was made all the more easy because, during the Cold War, Trujillo regularly backed the U.S. over the Soviet Union. Once Fidel Castro took power next door in Cuba in 1959, those members of Congress held up Trujillo as a necessary and reliable anti-communist ally in the tumultuous Caribbean Basin. Despite these justifications, even after the dictator’s death in 1961, rumors swirled that these and other members of Congress had received tens of thousands of dollars in bribes — though nothing was ever proved.

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To avoid such negative attention in the media, other regimes with unfavorable reputations often relied more on acceptable forms of lobbying to reshape U.S. public opinion and pressure those in the halls of Congress. In the 1950s for example, Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar retained the public relations powerhouse George Peabody and Associates while the Overseas Companies of Portugal and the Boston-based Portuguese-American Committee on Foreign Affairs distributed tracts and booklets whose pages appeared in local outlets and the Congressional Record . 

In the mid-1960s, Rhodesia (today, Zimbabwe) pursued a more bombastic strategy as it tried to maintain its white supremacist system. Trying to undo a U.N.-directed embargo and end American trade sanctions, Rhodesian officials unleashed a barrage of racist propaganda in the U.S. and networked with a range of right-wing organizations from Young Americans for Freedom to the John Birch Society. They also sponsored “Friends of Rhodesian Independence” chapters across the U.S. whose members inundated congresspeople with letters and petitions. 

These efforts bore fruit. Virginia Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr., supported by a bipartisan, conservative coalition, successfully enacted an amendment in 1971 that forced the U.S. government to circumvent the U.N. and continue importing chrome from Rhodesia. For half a dozen years, myriad conservative and right-wing organizations championed the provision as a blow against the Soviet Union and international communism — even as it propped up the white supremacist regime. 

This history reveals that what Cuellar and Menendez are accused of is far from unusual. Lobbying by foreign governments is pervasive, routine, and often happens below the radar. These governments have spent — and will continue to invest — millions in an effort to gain allies in Congress, as well as to shape American public opinion in their favor. In the 21st century, these governments can also use a modernized version of the Rhodesian strategy, one that involves social media manipulation.

These governments understand that courting members of Congress and retaining the services of those who have access to top policymakers in the executive branch can pay real dividends, as they did for Trujillo and the Rhodesian officials working to save their white supremacist regime. 

While most of these cases won’t rise to the level of criminal charges or grab the spotlight, they will have enormous impact over American policy, and can twist it in directions that aren’t in the U.S.’s best interests.

Aaron Coy Moulton is associate professor of Latin American history at Stephen F. Austin State University and visiting scholar at the Center for Right-Wing Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here . Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors .

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Write to Aaron Coy Moulton / Made by History at [email protected]