Taft+And+The+Dollar+Diplomacy

In the early 1900s the presidents had different ways to deal with foreign affairs. Theodore Roosevelt had his “//Big Stick//” policy. William Howard Taft (Shown Left) had his “//dollar diplomacy//”. Woodrow Wilson had the “//Moral Diplomacy//”. Taft’s “//dollar diplomacy//” was a way in which America could influence its neighbors without actually attempting to colonize and run them. His theory was that America’s economic influence was beneficial to developing countries and these countries would help the U.S in trade and bring more power to the country without to much work on the U.S.s part. His Secretary of State Philander C. Knox(Shown Below) was a big supporter of this policy.

Dollar Diplomacy worked in the short term very briefly but in the long term it failed. It was a self defeating policy. Although it sounded good in theory, it failed more times then it succeeded, mainly due to the fact that it needed the support of locals, which was not abundant. It failed to fight the instability of the economy, as well as to stem the tide of revolution in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Mexico, China, and Nicaragua.

It worked best when it was protecting American interests but the policy did not take into account the feelings of the countries themselves that the U.S. was supposedly helping. In a way it was a selfish policy for we would only help countries were certain “commercial interests” of the U.S. were present.

[|//http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTkAH8gBHeg//] //This is a video on dollar diplomacy. It is a kind of spoof on the old school house rock videos. Enjoy!//

//__Links:__// [] [] []

**__Sources:__ __The American Nation: A History of the United States__ by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes**