What is the big stick policy

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The term "big-stick diplomacy" refers to President Theodore Roosevelt's corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and is taken from his famous quote, "Speak softly, and carry a big stick." Roosevelt attributed the phrase to a West African proverb, "Speak softly, and carry a big stick; you will go far," but the claim that it originated in West Africa has been disputed. Essentially, big-stick diplomacy is the idea of negotiating peacefully with other nations while simultaneously threatening them with displays of military muscle. Roosevelt first used the phrase in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 1901, 12 days before the assassination of President William McKinley, which subsequently thrust him into the presidency. As president, Roosevelt described his style of foreign policy as, "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis."

A cartoon depicting Roosevelt's big stick and naval muscle in Latin America.

The Roosevelt Corollary

The Roosevelt Corollary is an addition to the Monroe Doctrine that was articulated by President Roosevelt in his State of the Union address in 1904. The corollary states that the United States will intervene in conflicts between European nations and Latin American countries to enforce legitimate claims of the European powers, rather than having the Europeans press their claims directly. Roosevelt tied his policy to the Monroe Doctrine, and it was also consistent with his foreign policy included in his big-stick diplomacy. Roosevelt stated that in keeping with the Monroe Doctrine, the United States was justified in exercising, "international police power" to put an end to chronic unrest or wrongdoing in the Western Hemisphere. While the Monroe Doctrine had sought to prevent European intervention, the Roosevelt Corollary was used to justify U.S. intervention throughout the hemisphere.

Background: The Venezuelan Affair

In late 1902, Britain, Germany, and Italy implemented a several-month-long naval blockade against Venezuela because of the Venezuelan president's refusal to pay foreign debts and damages suffered by European citizens in a recent Venezuelan civil war. The incident was called the "Venezuela Crisis" of 1902–1903, and an international court concluded on February 22, 1904, that the blockading powers involved in the Venezuela Crisis were entitled to preferential treatment in the payment of their claims. The United States disagreed with the decision in principle, and feared that it would encourage future European intervention to gain such advantage. In order to preclude European intervention, the Roosevelt Corollary was created to assert the United States' right to intervene in order to "stabilize" the economic affairs of small states in the Caribbean and Central America if they were unable to pay their international debts.

Using the Corollary

The Roosevelt Corollary was supposed to be an addition to the Monroe Doctrine; however, it could be seen as a departure. While the Monroe Doctrine said European countries should stay out of Latin America, the Roosevelt Corollary took this further to say that the United States had the right to exercise military force in Latin American countries in order to keep European countries out. In other words, while the Monroe Doctrine sought to bar involvement by European empires, the Roosevelt Corollary announced America's intention to take their place. The Corollary rejected territorial expansion, but upheld interventionism.

U.S. presidents cited the Roosevelt Corollary as justification for U.S. intervention in Cuba (1906–1909), Nicaragua (1909–1910, 1912–1925, and 1926–1933), Haiti (1915–1934), and the Dominican Republic (1916–1924). As president from 1914–1921, Woodrow Wilson frequently intervened in Latin America using the justification of the Roosevelt Corollary.

Nicaragua and Panama Canal Affair

Roosevelt also wielded his "big stick" following the questionable diplomatic actions of the U.S. government to sponsor and pursue a canal project across Central America. Both Nicaragua and Panama experienced Roosevelt's signature diplomacy in canal-related incidents.

In 1901, Secretary of State John Hay pressed the Nicaraguan government for approval of a canal. The deal was that Nicaragua would receive $1.5 million in ratification, plus $100,000 annually, and the United States would, "provide sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity" to Nicaragua. Nicaragua then returned the contract draft with a change: Instead of an annual $100,000, they wished to receive $6 million in ratification. The United States accepted the deal, but after Congress approved the contract, the problem of court jurisdiction arose. Many anti-canal advocates argued that because the United States did not have legal jurisdiction in Nicaragua, it could not sponsor a canal project.

After Nicaragua was ruled out, Panama was the obvious choice for U.S. leaders determined to build a Central American canal. However, Panama also posed numerous logistical and political problems. As Panama was then a region of Colombia, the United States was subject to the whims of the Colombian government and of manufacturing companies that provided the construction materials at a higher price. Roosevelt refused to pay the higher than expected fees and responded with an "engineered revolution" in Colombia that aimed for the secession of Panama.

On November 3, 1903, Panama (with the support of the U.S. Navy) revolted against Colombia and declared itself a republic, receiving $10 million from the United States for the canal project. Colombia had little diplomatic recourse and was no match for U.S. military strength, so it was forced to concede Panama's independence. Panama also received an annual payment of $250,000, and a guarantee of national independence. The United States, on the other hand, gained the rights to the canal strip "in perpetuity." Roosevelt later said that he, "took the Canal, and let Congress debate" the matter after the event.

A map showing the places affected by Roosevelt's big-stick diplomacy.

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Incumbent president and Republican candidate Theodore Roosevelt, having succeeded to the presidency upon the assassination of William McKinley in September 1901, was elected to a term in his own right during the election of 1904. During the election campaign, Republicans emphasized Roosevelt's success in foreign affairs and his record of firmness against monopolies. The nominee of the Democratic Party was Alton B. Parker, chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. As there was little difference between the candidates' positions, the race largely was based on their personalities. Roosevelt easily defeated Parker, sweeping every region in the nation except the South. In doing so, he became the first incumbent president to win election to a term in his own right after having ascended to the presidency (from the vice presidency) upon the death of his predecessor.

In this presidential-election results map, blue denotes states won by Parker/Davis, and red denotes states won by Roosevelt/Fairbanks. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to each state. Broadly speaking, Parker won all of the southern states including Texas, while Roosevelt won the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific states.

The election of 1904 was significant because it was the first election in which the Socialist Party of America (a loose coalition of local parties) participated, with considerable success in industrial centers, in rural mining areas in the West, and among German and Finnish communities. The Socialists nominated Eugene Debs as their presidential candidate. The nominee of the Democratic Party, Alton B. Parker, called for an end to "the rule of individual caprice" and the "usurpation of authority" by president Roosevelt.

When the Republicans convened in Chicago June 21–23, 1904, Roosevelt's nomination was assured. Following the McKinley assassination, from 1902–1903, Roosevelt had effectively maneuvered into control of the Republican Party to ensure that he would have enough supporters to seek reelection. Earlier in the year, several republicans attempted to secure the candidacy of Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio, but Hanna's death a few months before the convention effectively removed any real opposition to Roosevelt's candidacy, and in the convention, he was nominated unanimously on the first ballot with 994 votes. The Republican platform insisted on maintaining the protective tariff, called for increased foreign trade, pledged to uphold the gold standard, favored expansion of the merchant marine, and promoted the development of a strong navy.

A Roosevelt/Fairbanks (Republican Party candidates) election campaign poster.

The Democratic platform, united behind Parker, called for a reduction in government expenditures, condemned monopolies, pledged an end to government contracts with companies violating antitrust laws, opposed imperialism, insisted on independence for the Philippines, and opposed the protective tariff. The Democrats favored strict enforcement of the eight-hour workday, construction of a Panama Canal, the direct election of senators, statehood for the western territories, cuts in the army's size and budget, and enforcement of the civil-service laws. Parker's campaign accused the Roosevelt administration of being, "spasmodic, erratic, sensational, spectacular, and arbitrary."

A Parker/Davis (Democratic Party candidates) election campaign poster.

Roosevelt won a landslide victory, taking every northern and western state, as well as Missouri (making him the first Republican to carry that state since 1868). He also won more than 2.5 million popular votes. Parker carried only 1,107 counties, a smaller number than any Democratic candidate in the Fourth Party System had carried except Al Smith in 1928. This poor performance prompted many contemporaries to believe that the Democratic Party could dissolve in the near future.

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Theodore Roosevelt is credited with many achievements, but he was proudest of his work conserving natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt was a prominent conservationist, putting the issue at the forefront of the national agenda. He worked with all of the major figures of the movement, especially his chief advisor on the matter, Gifford Pinchot. Roosevelt was deeply committed to conserving natural resources, and historians largely consider him to be the nation's first conservation president. He encouraged the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902 to promote federal construction of dams to irrigate small farms and placed 230 million acres under federal protection. By the time he left office in 1908, Roosevelt had set aside more federal land, national parks, and nature preserves than all of his predecessors combined.

Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five national parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he designated 18 new U.S. national monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, 4 game preserves, and 150 national forests, including the nation's first, Shoshone National Forest. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately 230,000,000 acres.

Gifford Pinchot had been appointed by McKinley as chief of Division of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture. In 1905, his department gained control of the national forest reserves. Pinchot promoted private use (for a fee) under federal supervision. In 1907, Roosevelt designated 16 million acres of new national forests just minutes before a deadline.

In May 1908, Roosevelt sponsored the Conference of Governors held in the White House, with a focus on natural resources and their most efficient use. Roosevelt delivered the opening address: "Conservation as a National Duty."

In 1903, Roosevelt toured the Yosemite Valley with John Muir, and tried to minimize commercial use of water resources and forests. Working through the Sierra Club, Muir succeeded in having Congress transfer the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley to the federal government by 1905. While Muir wanted nature preserved for the sake of beauty, Roosevelt subscribed to Pinchot's formulation, "to make the forest produce the largest amount of whatever crop or service will be most useful, and keep on producing it for generation after generation of men and trees." In effect, Roosevelt's conservationism embodied the Progressive ideal of efficiency: to protect nature in order to render it serviceable to the needs and uses of man for successive generations.

This cartoon shows President Roosevelt as forester pointing to a sign that reads, "Protect and preserve the remaining forests upon public lands from devastation and destruction, which have been the fate of those in forest sections of the country."