Analysis Of Woodrow Wilson's Foreign Policy

Foreign policy was a principal component of American politics from the advent of the ratified Constitution, so deep-seated that the tenets of international relations concerned the founding fathers even before America won its independence from Great Britain in 1776. Initially compartmentalized under the Articles of the Confederation, foreign policy took several forms since the First Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1789, from John Quincy Adams’ “isolationism” to Thomas Jefferson’s “standing monument of example” over direct involvement in foreign affairs. While experience, geography, and focus on homeland over international security shaped foreign policy in the nineteenth-century, Woodrow Wilson’s ideals of American
After initial reservation, Franklin Roosevelt ignored Congress’ popular isolationist sentiment in the late 1930s and early 1940s by committing resources to France and Great Britain to support their war efforts against Germany. During his Four Freedoms speech in 1940, Roosevelt echoed Wilsonian idealism, citing America’s obligation to protect and defend free nations, and eventually committed the nation’s military in defense of democracy both home and abroad. The Japanese bombing at Pearl Harbor gave Roosevelt the ultimate justification for America’s declaration of war, a more Jacksonian approach to foreign policy, but Wilsonian ideals served as the broad base approach before and during the
The distinguishing factor that demonstrates Wilson’s influence is the foreign policy approaches of successive presidents who themselves were not Wilsonian, yet employed his American exceptionalism philosophy in both expression and action. While many successive presidents may have approached foreign relations under non-Wilsonian pretexts, the common theme was conversion to Wilsonian principles as a successful model for either victory or to achieve the desired result. Wilson’s ideals for advocating democracy, nation building, interventionism, and capitalism remain the core components of American foreign policy, and despite the advent of new or retitled methodologies, American presidents have more often than not reverted to his