Theodore Roosevelt

After the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt inherited a growing empire when he took office in 1901. The U.S. had annexed Hawaii in 1898 and Spanish-American War granted the U.S. control of the Philippines. It also led the U.S. to establish a protectorate over Cuba and grant territorial status for Puerto Rico. By taking on the Philippine Islands as an American colony after the Spanish-American War he had ended the U.S.'s isolation from international politics. Theodore Roosevelt believed that nations should pursue a strenuous life and do their part to maintain peace and order. It was also a belief that civilized nations had the duty of modernizing the barbarous ones. He also pushed for a bigger army and navy and by the end of his presidency he had built the U.S. Navy into a major force at sea.

Roosevelt shaped the legacy of expansionism that he inherited from McKinley into a new imperialism. Roosevelt's reinterpretation was dedicated to the idea of order in world affairs, rather than occupation or colonization, eventual independence for undeveloped or developing nations once they had conformed to the American model of government, and a world in which international disputes would be settled by negotiation instead of war. The new world order that Roosevelt envisioned was broad in that it would open foreign markets to American values and products.

New imperialism viewed the world as divided between the developed nations and the undeveloped regions of the world. Roosevelt used this concept to justify U.S. involvement in world affairs. He reasoned that America's superior morals and mission was in contrast to that of the corrupt 'barbaric regions of the non-Western world." To carry out new imperialism, Roosevelt needed to equip the country with the proper ideals and programs. He realized that his foreign policy needed a strong commitment to the supervision of international disputes in Central America. His justification came by stating his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine clearly stated

"Not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to consider the government de facto as the legitimate government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it,... It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness,...It is still the true policy of the United States to leave the parties to themselves, in hope that other powers will pursue the same course."#

But Roosevelt's corollary stated "All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous. Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States."# Roosevelt believed that a powerful chief executive must be willing to use force when necessary while practicing the art of persuasion. When possible, he said, "speak softly

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