Foreign Policy

FOREIGN POLICY IS a major campaign issue for both candidates and voters. Military involvement has especially been the focus of many party platforms, and an issue of concern to a large percentage of the American public. However, foreign policy as a campaign issue is truly a modern phenomenon only rising to the forefront in the 1950s. There are two main reasons for this: first, foreign policy itself was not a major concern to Americans during the Early Republic, and second, there were no formal political campaigns until 1832. Although it took over a century to develop, foreign policy is now a key component in any national (and some regional) campaigns.

When the Constitution was crafted over 200 years ago, the founders did not believe foreign affairs to be a primary concern for the budding nation. It was a commonly held notion that the United States would be able to remain largely uninvolved and isolated from international affairs once independence was achieved. George Washington warned his countrymen to avoid becoming unnecessarily involved in foreign affairs. He cautioned that partisanship in international relations should be avoided at all costs.

Generally, Americans remained unconcerned with foreign affairs during the early years. The first political platform appeared in the 1832 presidential campaign. The National Republicans (later known as Whigs) nominated Henry Clay, and crafted a document criticizing the opponent Andrew lackson's domestic and foreign polices. Foreign policy would not be a major campaign issue again until the election of 1848, when lames K. Polk ran his campaign with a four-issue platform. Polk called for two domestic reforms (tariff reduction and an independent treasury) and two issues that could be considered foreign (the reoccupation of Oregon and the reannexation of Texas).

The next time foreign affairs were a major campaign issue was during the Civil War. There is still debate [Page 253]among scholars over whether or not relations between the north and south can truly be considered foreign relations; however, that is how Americans during the 1860s viewed the situation. The war was the key issue in the 1864 presidential contest; for a while, it was not clear if the incumbent Abraham Lincoln would be able to retain the office. His opponent was General George McClellan, who decided to enter the race after being relieved of his command by Lincoln.

However, McClellan made the error of adding to his platform a peace plank, drafted by the well-known Copperhead, Clement Vallandigham. During the campaign, many soldiers spoke out against the peace plank, radicals disliked McClellan, and generals William Sherman and Philip Sheridan achieved key military victories that cinched Lincoln's re-election.