American Foreign Policy

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at the origins of the President's foreign policy powers as enumerated under the Constitution and examines the foreign policy acts of Thomas Jefferson. The paper then focuses on the Monroe Doctrine, reviews the salient features of U.S. foreign policy throughout the nineteenth century, considers the foreign policy doctrines of both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, as well as Woodrow Wilson and ends by looking at the modern-day, post-world war II presidencies of Truman, Nixon, Reagan and George W. Bush. The paper argues that the foreign policy doctrines of U.S. presidents - whether in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first - have fundamentally revolved around the projection, expansion and consolidation of American power beyond its borders.

From the Paper:

"In the words of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., the oldest doctrine and/or tradition in American foreign policy was - and is - the doctrine of unilateralism. Specifically, American leaders have always been reluctant to engage in foreign policy alignments - an attitude neatly encapsulated in the inaugural addresses of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (Schlesinger 3-4). According to the historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., even the Monroe Doctrine, perhaps the first "great" presidential doctrine vis-a-vis foreign affairs, was prompted by a desire to not only seal off South America from European control, but to remind Europeans that America had no desire to involve itself in European matters and would not do so as long as "hemispheric affairs" in the Americas were not meddled in by the European powers (5). In effect, the Monroe Doctrine was really about keeping the diplomatic intrigues and political machinations of Europe firmly located in Europe and/or in remote parts of the world of no (direct) interest to America."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Arms and the Congress." New Republic 21 Aug. 1971: 7-9.
• Chiodo, John J. "Teaching about Manifest Destiny: Clarifying the Concept." Social Studies 91.5 (2000): 203-206.
• Crossen, Cynthia. "In 1901 Philippines, Peace Cost More Lives than Were Lost in War." Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition) 2 July 2003: B1.
• "Good Neighbor Policy." U-S-History.com: Foreign Affairs. 2005. U-S-History.com. 14 Dec. 2006 <http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1646.html>.
• Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It (Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973.

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