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

12 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

bleexceptionsofSwitzerland,Sweden,andVaticanCity,hasdonebetter
thantheUnitedStatesinthetwentiethcentury;mosthavedonemuch,
muchworse.Itmaybethatwehavelessonstolearn;whatis notsocer-
tainisthatEuropeistheplacewemustlookforourteachers.

N

otonlyhasAmericanforeignpolicybeenmoresuccessfulthan

theconventionalwisdomacknowledges,ithasplayedamuch

morecentralrolethroughoutAmericanhistorythanmanyAmericans

believe.TheleadingstatesmenoftheUnitedStatesoftendevotedmore

oftheirattentiontoforeignpolicyquestionsbeforeandduringtheCivil

Warthantheydidduringthetwentieth-centuryColdWar.Indeed,of

thefirstninepresidentsoftheUnitedStates,sixhadpreviouslyserved

assecretaryofstate,and sevenasministersabroad. Fourofthefirst

twelve-Washington,Jackson,WilliamHenryHarrison,andZachary

Taylor-wonfameforcommandingAmericantroopsinthefield,fame

thatwasineachcase themostimportantsinglefactor intheirgain-

ingthepresidency.SixofthefifteenAmericanpresidentswhoserved

beforeLincolnhadbeenboth secretaryofstateandministertoGreat

Britain;a seventh,Jefferson,hadbeensecretaryofstateandministerto

France;andaneighth,JohnAdams,hadbeenministertobothBritain

andFrance.

ThegreatestmindsandthemostpowerfulpoliticiansintheUnited

Stateswereeagertoserveassecretaryofstateinthenineteenthcentury.

Onlythepresidencyitselfstoodhigherinprecedence,inpower,andin

politicalvisibility.Successinforeignpolicywasconsideredoneofthe

strongestpossiblequalificationsfora presidentialcandidate, andsuch

greatleadersasHenryClay,JohnCalhoun,and DanielWebsterdistin-

guishedthemselvesinthisoffice.Throughoutthenineteenthcenturythe

Americandiplomaticandconsularserviceincludedsomeofthegreatest

namesinpoliticsandletters.WriterslikeWashingtonIrving,George

Bancroft,NathanielHawthorne,JohnLothropMotley,andGeorgeWash-

ingtonWilliams'2representedtheircountryabroad;in 1902 thepoliti-

calcartoonistThomasNastservedasaUnitedStatesconsulinEcuador.

Formidablepoliticalfigures,includingWilliamSeward,CharlesFrancis

Adams,JamesG.Blaine,andJohnHay,regardedtheirdiplomaticser-

viceasthepeakoftheircareers.

ItwasnoaccidentthatsomanyAmericanpoliticalleadersdevotedso

muchattentiontoforeignpolicyintheso-calledisolationistperiod.The

prosperityandhappinessoftheaverageAmericanfamilywerevisibly