No to Teddy Roosevelt and Imperialism

A big part of Roosevelt’s nationalism was his unapologetic advocacy for empire and a colonial empire at that.

Josh Hawley wants Republicans to be more like Teddy Roosevelt in their foreign policy. His account of Roosevelt’s record is missing quite a lot:

Roosevelt advocated a robust, realistic American nationalism. He believed in the nation-state, and in the American nation above all. He didn’t seek to outsource US sovereignty (like the liberals) or make all the world a client of America (like the neocons). Instead, he worked to secure a balance of power among independent nations that kept America safe and prosperous. His aim was to prevent any one nation from becoming so strong that it might dominate the United States, threatening our liberty and prosperity.

This summary leaves out a lot of what distinguished Roosevelt’s foreign policy during his presidency, and what he does have to say about Roosevelt’s views is so generic that it doesn’t tell us very much. Yes, Roosevelt was a nationalist, but the same could have been said about almost all of his contemporaries and his successors. A big part of Roosevelt’s nationalism was his unapologetic advocacy for empire and a colonial empire at that. It is not surprising that Hawley leaves this out, because it shows just how dangerous Roosevelt’s kind of nationalism could be.