Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

ChangingtheParadigms 93

Fathers.Wedonotneedtoreformourselvesathome;wecanandshould
attempttospreadthevaluesandpracticesofAmericansocietyasthey
currentlyexistthroughtheworld.Manyneoconservativesfall intothis
camp.RadicalWilsoniansbelievethattheUnitedStatesis farfromliv-
inguptothetruevaluesofthenation.Wemustsimultaneouslyactto
reformourselveswhileweseektoreformothers.RightWilsoniansmay
disagreewithHamiltoniansoverprioritiesandpoliciesinspecificcases,
butingeneralrightWilsonians see few problemswiththeexisting
financialandcorporatestructureoftheUnitedStatesandbelievethat
partofthevaluesystemweshouldbeexportingincludestheAmerican
wayofbusiness.RadicalWilsonianscouldnotdisagreemore,believing
thatAmericanandmultinationalcorporationsandeverythingtheystand
forareamongthechiefobstaclestothespreadoftruevaluesbothat
homeandabroad.
MydiscussionoftheHamiltoniantraditionlargelydealswithonly
oneofseveralsuchcurrentsinHamiltonianthought.I haveomittedan
accountof,amongothers,thesouthernbranchoftheHamiltonianschool.
ThesouthernHamiltoniansincludeearlyFederalistleaderslikeGeorge
WashingtonaswellasmenlikeJohnC.Calhounbeforehisdefectionto
DavisonianismandCordellHull,secretaryofstateunderFranklinRoo-
sevelt.SouthernHamiltoniansagreedwithnorthernHamiltoniansthat
nationaleconomicdevelopmentwasthekeytonationalpower,butthey
did notconfuse national developmentwith thesectional interest of
NewEnglandorthefinancialinterestofWallStreet.Oneofthegreat
tragediesofSouthernhistoryisthatmostSouthernersfollowedCalhoun
outofHamiltonianismintothewildernessofDavisonianfutility.After
theCivilWar,Southernunionistsslowlybegantorebuildthetradition
thatcalledforfreetrade,militaryspendingintheinterestsofbothmili-
tarystrengthandnationaleconomicdevelopment,andfederalspending
onpublicworksandinfrastructureprojects. Therebirthofsouthern
Hamiltonianismwasoneofthemostimportantdevelopmentsofthe
twentiethcentury,andsouthernHamiltonianshaverepeatedlysupplied
thekeycongressionalsupportforactiveAmericanforeignpolicy.
Beyondclearlyrecognizablesubgroupslikethese,itisalsopossibleto
dividetheschoolsintopuristsandsynthesizers.As anexample,some
synthesizingHamiltonianstaketheirideasofthebenevolenceofcom-
merceandtheimportanceofinternationallawsofarintotheempyrean
thattheyapproacha fusionwithsomeofthepragmaticWilsonians.Her-
bertHooverwasonesuchman.