3 The Diplomacy of The Dollar 1909 1920

The Diplomacy of the Dollar, 1909–1920
2023
One reform-minded author, Scott Nearing, wrote a book called

Dollar Diplomacy to prove how Taft and Wilson had boosted the
fortunes of selfish Wall Street plutocrats at the expense of the people
of China, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean
Abstract
In the 1920s, the term dollar diplomacy became a curse mouthed by liberals, radicals, and
muckrakers who damned the foreign policies of William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson.
One reform-minded author, Scott Nearing, wrote a book called Dollar Diplomacy to prove
how Taft and Wilson had boosted the fortunes of selfish Wall Street plutocrats at the
expense of the people of China, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Critics even
discovered forgotten virtues in the nationalism of Theodore Roosevelt. If the flamboyant
Rough Rider had been bombastic, at least he was fun to watch. Taft, with his countinghouse
mentality, appeared dull, and Wilson, with his sermons to foreigners who did not want to
listen, seemed a hypocrite.
Scholarcy Highlights
 In the 1920s, the term dollar diplomacy became a curse mouthed by liberals, radicals,
and muckrakers who damned the foreign policies of William Howard Taft and Woodrow
Wilson
 One reform-minded author, Scott Nearing, wrote a book called Dollar Diplomacy to
prove how Taft and Wilson had boosted the fortunes of selfish Wall Street plutocrats at
the expense of the people of China, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean
 Self-satisfied and good-natured, William Howard Taft never seemed bothered by the
criticism
 Dollar diplomacy recalled the earliest traditions of American foreign policy
 One of the reasons the United States had separated from Great Britain and Europe was
an American suspicion that the Europeans spent too much time on war and peace and
too little effort on commerce
Scholarcy Summary
CHAPTER THREE
In the 1920s, the term dollar diplomacy became a curse mouthed by liberals, radicals, and
muckrakers who damned the foreign policies of William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson.
One of the reasons the United States had separated from Great Britain and Europe was an
American suspicion that the Europeans spent too much time on war and peace and too little
effort on commerce.
Under Taft, the government tried to make certain that United States traders would be
welcomed alongside those of every other nation and American bankers got their share of
the booming market for foreign loans.
Taft and Knox paid more attention than had TR to Straight, who returned to Washington to
become chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs, and Huntington Wilson, the first
assistant secretary of state
Both men detested Japan and promoted China.
Despite Lansing’s protests, Japan got its way from 1915 to 1919
INTERVENTION AND DOLLAR DIPLOMACY IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE

CARIBBEAN
The United States government had an easier time getting its way through dollar diplomacy
closer to home where it had less competition from imperial rivals.
Taft and Knox sent the American marines to occupy Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic,
took over the custom receipts of Guatemala and Honduras, and meddled in Mexico.
Under the terms of this agreement, Europeans had control over the customs revenues, and
their governments could intervene directly should the Central American country default on
its debt.
All of the Central American countries except El Salvador had defaulted on their debts to
Europeans
Knox reasoned that these creditors might seize control of the customs houses unless some
arrangements were made to refund debts.
The State Department worked out a treaty giving the United States effective control over
Santo Domingo’s tax collections and spending
Even this was not enough for a worried President Wilson, who feared German intervention
in the country.
CONFRONTING REVOLUTIONARY NATIONALISM IN MEXICO
The Mexican Revolution of 1910–1917 caused an earthquake in United States foreign
policy.
Led by Lord Cowdray, local representative of a British oil firm, British minister Sir Francis
Strong, and Henry Lane Wilson, the United States minister to Mexico, they plotted with
disgruntled officers to oust the government of Francisco Madero
The man they selected to lead the assault on the Constitutionalist government was
Victoriano Huerta, one of Díaz’s trusted generals who had grown disgusted with the
government’s hostility to the armed forces.
These businesses had originally supported Huerta, but that the United States refused to
extend recognition, investors believed that something had to be done to secure official
American backing.
While the United States sometimes opposed reactionary governments and demanded that
European nations stay out of the internal affairs of revolutionary states, Washington
insisted that revolutionaries follow a model of “development” based on that of the United
States

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The Diplomacy of the Dollar, 1909–1920

One reform-minded author, Scott Nearing, wrote a book called

Both men detested Japan and promoted China.

INTERVENTION AND DOLLAR DIPLOMACY IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE

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