An American purchase of Greenland could be the deal of the century

ONEalthough America has a history of taking a commercial approach to international relations, purchases are rarely made without controversy. When Thomas Jefferson purchased Louisiana in 1803, doubling the country’s size, he had to put aside his penchant for constitutional constructivism, which would have precluded such bold federal action. Sixty-four years later, when William Seward, then Secretary of State, bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million ($162 million today), the move was dubbed “Seward’s Folly.” Today, the Alaska Treaty is seen as a masterpiece, and the Louisiana Purchase is the greatest achievement of one of America’s greatest presidents. In retrospect, both look extraordinarily good.