American Foreign Policy Term Paper

United States Presidents in the 1890s [...] which president conducted American Foreign policy more skillfully in the 1890's, McKinley or Cleveland? Why?

William McKinley favored an imperialistic worldview, and brought the United States into the Spanish-American War, which ultimately added the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States. He favored American intervention into foreign politics, especially when this intervention would benefit the U.S. In fact, McKinley's dominant imperialistic foreign policies dominated his presidency, and he is most remembered for the war and its' ultimate gain of territories for the United States. McKinley's foreign policy was anything but skillful. He listened to the American people, whose opinion was dominated by the "yellow press," rather than world sentiment. McKinley's foreign policy was domineering and imperialistic, and left America looking like a bully.

President Grover Cleveland, on the other hand, handled foreign policy with a "big stick," but a lack of imperialistic tendencies. Cleveland faced three major foreign policy problems during his presidency. One was the Venezuelan boundary crisis, in which he took a strong stand…