Roosevelt's Foreign Policy: Stretching The Constitution's Limits

Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy stretched the limits of constitutional statesmanship in the United States. As president from 1933 to 1945, Roosevelt personally controlled US foreign policy, facing challenges such as the Great Depression, World War II, and complex relations with Latin America, Europe, and the Soviet Union. Roosevelt's actions and decisions during these crises, particularly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, shaped the role of the president as Commander-in-Chief and raised questions about the compatibility of statesmanship with constitutional government.

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Roosevelt's foreign policy was influenced by his conceptions of the US Constitution and American statesmanship

Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy was influenced by his conceptions of the US Constitution and American statesmanship. Before World War II, Roosevelt studied the successful and pragmatic politicians he aspired to emulate, such as his cousin Theodore Roosevelt and his former boss, Woodrow Wilson. As a result, Roosevelt's conception of the Constitution largely reflected Wilson's meditations on the topic, and his ideas about American statesmanship were influenced by Theodore Roosevelt's thinking.

Roosevelt's foreign policy was also influenced by his interpretation of the US Constitution, which empowered the president more than it constrained him. This interpretation allowed Roosevelt to pledge to "assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems." He called on Congress to draft legislation that he would "bring to speedy adoption."

Roosevelt's foreign policy was also influenced by his understanding of American statesmanship, which he saw as gradual steps in the right direction. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt had to prudently lead public opinion, educate citizens about threats, and co-opt his foreign policy opponents. After the attack, Roosevelt rode a wave of nationalism, ensuring that domestic politics largely stopped.

Roosevelt's foreign policy was also influenced by his desire to resolve the tensions between the demands of war and the dictates of constitutionalism. As a result, he introduced martial language and military similes that foreshadowed how he would transmit his constitutional philosophy into wartime. Roosevelt identified the Great Depression as the enemy and vowed to treat it as an emergency.

Roosevelt's foreign policy was also influenced by his understanding of the US Constitution and American statesmanship in relation to Latin America. He continued the non-interventionist policy in Latin America that had begun under Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. American forces were withdrawn from Haiti, and a new treaty with Panama ended its status as a protectorate, while continuing American control of the Panama Canal Zone. Roosevelt also wanted to disengage from Cuba, but his ambassador, Sumner Welles, became involved in the selection of a Cuban president.

The Good Neighbor Policy: a non-interventionist stance in Latin America

Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy, particularly his non-interventionist stance in Latin America, was a key initiative of his first term as president. This policy, known as the Good Neighbor Policy, was a continuation of the work started by his predecessors, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, to improve relations with Latin America.

The Good Neighbor Policy aimed to redefine how Americans perceived Latin Americans, both politically and racially, while maintaining unity in the Western Hemisphere. Roosevelt created the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) in 1940, with Nelson Rockefeller at its helm, to act as a propaganda tool to define Latin American society. The OCIAA collaborated with CBS Radio to create the "La Cadena de las Américas" (Network of the Americas) radio network, which broadcast news and cultural programs that reflected Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy and Pan-Americanism throughout Latin America during World War II.

The policy also had tangible impacts on the ground. American forces were withdrawn from Haiti, and a new treaty with Panama ended its status as a protectorate, although the US retained control of the Panama Canal Zone. Roosevelt also settled a dispute between Standard Oil and Mexican oil workers quietly in 1938, refusing to aggressively intervene in Mexican agrarian disputes to maintain trade relations.

The Good Neighbor Policy era came to an end with the ramp-up of the Cold War in 1945, as the US shifted its focus to preventing Soviet-style communism from spreading to the Western Hemisphere. The Cold War era saw a renewed period of US intervention in Latin America, with the CIA overthrowing suspected socialist or communist governments, such as the Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz in 1954.

Overall, Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy represented a significant shift in US foreign policy towards Latin America, away from interventionism and towards a non-interventionist stance that sought to foster friendly relations and mutual respect between the nations of the Americas.

Roosevelt's handling of the Mexican Repatriation and agrarian disputes

During his presidency, Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy was largely focused on addressing the Great Depression and the United States' involvement in World War II.

Now, onto the topic of Roosevelt's handling of the Mexican Repatriation and agrarian disputes:

Mexican Repatriation

The Mexican Repatriation refers to the repatriation, deportation, and expulsion of Mexicans and Mexican Americans from the United States during the Great Depression between 1929 and 1939. While the federal government supported repatriation, it was largely organized and encouraged by city and state governments, with minimal involvement from federal officials. Voluntary repatriation was far more common than formal deportation. Estimates of the number of people who moved to Mexico during this period range from 300,000 to 2 million, with most estimates placing the number between 500,000 and 1 million. The highest estimate comes from Mexican media reports at the time.

The vast majority of repatriations occurred between 1930 and 1933, with the peak year in 1931. By 1934, up to one-third of all Mexicans in the US had been repatriated. This period also saw an increase in racial discrimination and persecution of Mexicans and African Americans by city officials, as was the case in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Agrarian Disputes

During the Great Depression, farmers in the United States faced severe economic challenges due to overproduction and shrinking international markets, which drove down agricultural prices. Soon after taking office in March 1933, Roosevelt called the Hundred Days Congress into session to address the crumbling economy. This led to the creation of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, which replaced the Federal Farm Board.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act aimed to restore farm purchasing power and fair exchange value for agricultural commodities. The Secretary of Agriculture was authorized to secure voluntary reductions in acreage for basic crops through agreements with producers and direct payments for participation in acreage control programs. Additionally, they were tasked with regulating marketing practices, licensing processors and handlers of agricultural commodities, and eliminating unfair practices and charges. Roosevelt also worked to increase the government's control over monetary policy, as seen in his use of the Thomas Amendment to decrease the gold content of the dollar.

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Roosevelt's use of presidential authority to normalise relations with the Soviet Union

Franklin D. Roosevelt's use of presidential authority to normalise relations with the Soviet Union was a significant departure from the previous administration's policy of non-recognition. Roosevelt's decision was influenced by several factors, including the hope that recognition would serve American commercial interests and limit Japanese expansionism in Asia.

Roosevelt dispatched businessman Joseph E. Davies to Moscow in 1936 to improve relations, but Davies' dismissive attitude towards the Soviet purges alienated other American diplomats. It was not until October 1933 that Roosevelt made a more direct approach, sending two personal intermediaries, Henry Morgenthau and William C. Bullitt, to negotiate with the Soviets.

The "Roosevelt-Litvinov Conversations" resulted in a "gentleman's agreement" on November 15, 1933, in which the Soviets pledged to participate in future talks to settle their outstanding financial debt to the United States and refrain from interfering in American domestic affairs. Roosevelt used his presidential authority to normalise relations in November 1933, and there were few complaints about the move.

Roosevelt's normalisation of relations with the Soviet Union was part of his broader foreign policy strategy during his first term, which included a non-interventionist stance in Latin America known as the Good Neighbor Policy. Roosevelt's decision to normalise relations with the Soviet Union was also influenced by the fact that the United States was the only major power still withholding official recognition, and he believed it would serve American strategic and commercial interests.

Roosevelt's decision to normalise relations with the Soviet Union set the stage for further cooperation during World War II. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Roosevelt agreed to extend the Lend-Lease program to the Soviets, committing the United States to the Allied side. Roosevelt also succeeded in getting Stalin to commit to entering the war against Japan, which Roosevelt believed would help cement relations among the "Big Four" Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China.

The Roosevelt Corollary: justification for US intervention in Latin America

Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy was largely controlled by the president himself during his four terms in office, from 1933 to 1945. The key foreign policy initiative of Roosevelt's first term was the Good Neighbor Policy, which continued the move towards a non-interventionist policy in Latin America. This policy saw the withdrawal of American forces from Haiti and a new treaty with Panama that ended its status as a protectorate, while the US maintained control of the Panama Canal Zone. Roosevelt also wanted to disengage from Cuba, but his first ambassador, Sumner Welles, became involved in the selection of a Cuban president.

However, Roosevelt's foreign policy also stretched the constitution in certain ways. The Roosevelt Corollary of December 1904 stated that the US would intervene as a last resort to ensure that nations in the Western Hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to international creditors and did not violate US rights or invite "foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations". In practice, this often meant the use of military force to restore internal stability in nations across the region, including Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Roosevelt justified this use of power by declaring that the US might ""exercise international police power in 'flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence'".

Roosevelt also took a more interventionist approach in other parts of the world. In response to the aggressive actions of Nazi Germany, Japan, and Italy, Roosevelt provided aid to China, Britain, and France, despite public opinion opposing the use of the American military. After the Fall of France in 1940, he increased aid to Britain and began rapidly building up air power. Roosevelt's leadership during World War II gave the presidential role of Commander-in-Chief a new meaning, with the president now responsible for leading the collective security against aggression.

In addition, Roosevelt normalized relations with the Soviet Union in 1933, despite old fears of Communist threats, and he was eager for large-scale trade and debt repayment. However, there was little progress on the debt issue, and the Kremlin soon established an active espionage program. Roosevelt also quietly settled a dispute between Standard Oil and Mexican workers, refusing to aggressively intervene in Mexican agrarian disputes to maintain trade relations.

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