Woodrow Wilson Foreign Policy Analysis

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“Speak softly and carry a big stick- you will go far.” Those are the famous words of President Roosevelt whose words would later on become the motto of his Big Stick Diplomacy. He was one of three presidents to implement these policies in order to secure the United States economic and social power in the Americas. The presidents that followed President Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson, also put into similar policies into action. All three of the diplomacies had different ideas behind them, but each one had a common purpose; to protect US interests overseas. On the other hand, not all three of the diplomacies had equal success. President Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy proved to be the most successful out of the three as he …show more content…

His disagreed with both Roosevelt and Taft’s ideas behind their policies. Wilson believed that the United States had to be the lead in spreading democracy and peace across every country. He based his diplomacy on economic power and would only give support to countries who had moral beliefs similar to those of the United States (Moral diplomacy 1). In 1913, Victoriano Huerta took control of Mexico and President Wilson would not recognize him as president since he illegally seized power. When several American sailors were arrested for wandering into a prohibited zone, Wilson used the incident to give reason for sending US Navy ships to the port city of Veracruz. The president’s orders aided in Huerta losing control of his position and he eventually abandoned it to Venustiano Carranza. President Wilson had no issues recognizing Carranza as president since he obtained his position legally (Moral diplomacy 1). Wilson’s policy did help bring stability back to Mexico and also protected American interests in the country. In return, both the United States and Mexico benefitted from President Wilson’s diplomacy. Although Moral Diplomacy was looked at as a success, I do not believe it was as effective as Roosevelt’s. Roosevelt was not only able to expand American markets and influence, many other countries benefited from his policies as well. Roosevelt was able to find bigger ventures for Americans like with the Panama Canal where Wilson only sought to spread democracy and moral values. Despite Wilson wanting to spread peace as well, it is hard to say whether or not he really did

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