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

180 SPECIAl PROVIDENCE

federalpowervis-a.-visthestates.That"right"Jeffersoniansand"left"
Jeffersonianscometogetheronforeignpolicyissues-that,forexample,
the Cato Institute supports a limited-objective foreign policy and
opposes humanitarianinterventions-indicatesthestrengthand con-
tinuingvitalityofJeffersonianthoughtinforeignpolicy.
Inthelongsweepofhistory,neithertheJeffersoniansnortheHamil-
tonianshavehadeverythingtheirownway.HamiltonianshavehadQhe
satisfactionofwatchingthegrowthoffederalpower,theestablishment
ofa professionalmilitaryandcivilpublicservice,andoftwocenturiesof
tradeandfinancialpolicyorganizedlargelyinwaysthatgenerallyaccQrd
withtheinterestsoftheleadingbusinessinterestsoftheday.Jeffersoni-
ans,ontheotherhand,haveseensuffrageextendedprogressivelytoall
adultmen,towomen,andtoracialminorities.TheBillofRightshas
preservedindividuallibertydespitethegrowingstrengthofthefederal
government.

TheDefenseofLiberty

TheJeffersonianviewoftheUnitedStatesasa revolutionarynation

witha revolutionarymissionrunsdeep.TheJeffersonianpartylooksat

theAmericanRevolutionwithsomethingofthesameemotionwilth

whichgoodBolsheviksonceviewe?Lenin'sOctoberrevolution.InJef-

fersonianeyes,theAmericanRevolutionwasmorethana breakwitha

blunderingkinganda usurpingParliament;itwasthestartofa newera

intheworld.

The original Jeffersonians were steeped in the rich tradition of

EnglishandScottishdissent.TheyoftensawtheAmericanRevolution

asthelatest-sometimesasasecular-stepintheBritishReformation,

andthey sawthemselves as CromwellianRoundheadsattemptingto

completethatReformationagainsttheoppositionoftheHamiltonian

Cavaliers.TheemancipationoftheBritishpeoplefrom themedieval

superstitionoftheRomanCatholicChurchand(soPuritanscharged)the

onlyslightlylesssuperstitiouspatchworkoftheChurchofEnglandhad

beentheprogramoftheradicalchurchreformersinEnglandandSCOt-

land.JustasthehalfheartedofficialreformersinEnglandhadloppedoff

thepopebutotherwiseretainedthepanoplyofpapistry-bishops,sacna-

ments,divine-rightmonarchy-sothehalfheartedHamiltonianswanted

togetridofthekingofEnglandbutsetupa socialorderintheUnited

StatesthatwouldbeasmuchliketheoldBritishversionaspossible.