Echoes of the Founding fathers

Abstract

American Foreign Policy studies have always been dictated by two clear approaches: isolationism and interventionism. Thus, presidents have been characterized according to their beliefs on where their office stood in this said spectrum. The spectrum, however, has an underlying ‘system of beliefs’ which can be traced back to America’s foundation and early years. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson represent, in a simplistic way, the debates surrounding the divergent and contrasting paths leading to the ideologies now used to define American Foreign Policy. Their political impact was such that their opinions and beliefs are still current today. This thesis attempts to observe and trace possible continuities and ruptures between an Alexander Hamilton and a Woodrow Wilson, a Harry Truman and a Thomas Jefferson, or a James Madison and a George H.W Bush.