Open Skies became the official policy of the United States thirty years ago. On March 31, 1992, then-Transportation Secretary Andrew Card announced that the U.S. would pursue agreements with Europen countries that would, in turn, allow free access to their aviation markets.
Since then the U.S. has entered into agreements with 120 countries to allow airlines based in those countries to fly here, and giving U.S. airlines the opportunity to operate to each foreign country. This was visionary, it was great policy, and it was politically risky because protectionism almost always polls better.