Question

Do you think President Roosevelt was just enforcing the Monroe Doctrine in his foreign policy or was he establishing a new course?

Answer 1

Apparently, Roosevelt was genuinely looking for a new way of doing foreign policy with the Latin American countries. That is why the expropriation of the foreign oil industry assets ordered by the government of its neighbor country, Mexico, in 1938, did not meet significant opposition from the White House. Other signs of the good will of Roosevelt with Latin America was his state visit to Monterrey, Mexico, in 1943, to meet president Avila Camacho and discuss mutual assistance of World War II, and also, the respect shown by the U.S. government when it accepted not to send armed personnel to guard a number of radar stations on the Pacific Ocean coast of Mexico since it would have meant a serious violation of the Mexican Constitution. Roosevelt himself publicly announced he would give up Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy of the "Big Stick" and turn it into one of a "Good Neighbor."

Answer 2

For many years, the Monroe Doctrine was practically a dead letter. The bold proclamation of 1823 that declared the Western Hemisphere forever free from European expansion bemused the imperial powers who knew the United States was simply too weak to enforce its claim. By 1900, the situation had changed. A bold, expanding America was spreading its wings, daring the old world order to challenge its newfound might. When Theodore Roosevelt became President, he decided to reassert Monroe's old declaration.