"It was a test of Woodrow Wilson's vision of countries banding together to resist aggression that drove the Gulf War policies of George Bush," says Hugh Sidey.  As vice president under Ronald Reagan, Bush was elected to continue the conservative policies of his predecessor.  While his approval ratings soared after the successful campaign that followed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, his domestic policy proved his undoing.  An unfortunate campaign pledge of "no new taxes" came back to haunt him, and the nation was unnerved by the fallout of the savings and loan financial crisis.  Ultimately, the patrician Bush, a reserved candidate, was simply out-campaigned by Bill Clinton of Arkansas and was denied a second term.

In Brief Biography                      Campaign and Election Information

THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT
Program 6: "The World Stage"

Foreign affairs activate the strongest elements in the president's powers under the Constitution, and the elements with which he has the most liberty to influence public opinion," says Harvard presidential scholar Richard Neustadt.  Almost from the beginning, foreign policy has been one of the primary determinants of a president's historical impact.  Whether to protect American interests, expand the nation's sphere of influence, or take arms against its enemies, the exercise of national power on an international scale is an act that is uniquely presidential.  Each of the four men profiled in this hour used this power to define or expand America's role on the world stage.

A word about this show from the producers.

For lesson plans developed for this program, go to Lessons on the Series.
For discussion questions on the featured presidents in this program, go to Issues to Ponder.

America's fifth president, a hero of the Revolution, looked beyond the new nation's borders in a way that none of his predecessors had.  After hundreds of years of European colonization and exploitation of the Americas, Monroe declared the Western Hemisphere off limits, either to further colonization or to European interference with the new nations struggling for existence.  The Monroe Doctrine was direct and unequivocal: "The American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers."  By issuing the doctrine, Monroe established a fundamental element of American foreign policy and set an important precedent.  "He had spoken out as if the United States was a world power," says narrator and Time magazine White House correspondent Hugh Sidey, "and by doing so, it began to become one."

Brief Biography                         Campaign and Election Information

McKinley, the first president of the 20th century, was also the last Civil War veteran to hold the office.  He entered the White House, says Richard Neustadt, "uninterested in foreign policy as any president we've ever had."  When Cuba sought to cast off Spanish rule, however, McKinley saw that Cuba's interests were also America's.  American forces demonstrated that they were capable of defeating the forces of an established European power.  Furthermore, the short, decisive war with Spain gave America control of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico—the nation's first "colonies."  The electorate returned McKinley to office, but he was killed only six months later by an anarchist.

Brief Biography                       Campaign and Election Information

A southern minister's son who referred to himself as a "remote, severe schoolmaster," Wilson did not even mention foreign policy in his inaugural address.  When World War I erupted in Europe, he struggled to keep America out of it, and was elected to a second term in part because of his success in doing so.  A year later, however, American participation was no longer avoidable.  Wilson parlayed victory into American world leadership.  He declared the Monroe Doctrine as "the doctrine of the world" and advocated "self-determination" for the peoples in Europe.  Wilson envisioned a forum for global governance and struggled to set up the League of Nations, a fore-runner of the modern United Nations.

Brief Biography                       Campaign and Election Information

James Monroe (1817–25):  A Vision for the Hemisphere

William McKinley (1897–1901):  Reluctant Apostle

Woodrow Wilson (1913–21):  American Idealist

George Bush (1989–93):  Personal Contact