Both Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft served as US presidents consecutively. They both employed different foreign diplomacies while in power. For instance, Roosevelt was a geopolitician who believed that Americans were privileged and meant for supremacy in politics and economics (Gould and Lewis). He perceived Africans as a weak race incapable of strong governments and economic progress.
He did not advocate or bother with the rights of the small countries as he termed them as incapable of progress and success. He believed in the power balance among industrialized nations through negotiations to evade war. He barred superior powers from invading the U.S. territories. Roosevelt focused on guarding U.S. self-interest as well as ensuring world peace and progress.
William Taft was termed a dollar diplomat. He had experience in addressing imperialism from rivals such as Japan (Gould and Lewis). However, he did not grasp the balance of power, politics, and leadership capacity in foreign affairs compared to Roosevelt. Taft focused on expanding global business opportunities for the U.S. unlike Roosevelt, he did not show off U.S power but adopted more peaceful and efficient ways of ensuring peace and order. He assumed the dollar diplomacy to substitute dollars for bullets. Unlike Roosevelt, Taft showed concern for small countries and advocated for their rights. Taft was scholarly and reserved, unlike Roosevelt, a war hero and big game hunter. As opposed to Roosevelt, Taft focused on establishing an independent judiciary and lowering or no tariffs for business people. At the same time, Roosevelt pushed for high tariffs to generate high income for the country. Taft lacked diplomatic expertise as compared to Roosevelt who had expertise skills in international relations and diplomacy. Taft showed great concern for justice and morality in foreign matters, unlike Roosevelt, whose reign was unjust, especially for small countries.
Work Cited
Gould, Lewis L. The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. Univ Pr of Kansas, 1991.
Gould, Lewis L. The William Howard Taft Presidency. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2009.
