Name: The surprising history of the Monroe Doctrine
Uploaded: 2026-01-11T15:49:38.770Z
Duration: 3 min 23 s
Description: In 1823, President James Monroe called for European powers to stay out of the Americas. What came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine would influence U.S. foreign policy for generations, and lead to military interventions across the Western Hemisphere.

In 1823, President James Monroe called for European powers to stay out of the Americas. What came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine would influence U.S. foreign policy for generations, and lead to military interventions across the Western Hemisphere.

Washington

The Monroe Doctrine, originally a brief statement by President James Monroe in 1823 warning European powers to stay out of the Americas, has been repeatedly invoked throughout U.S. history to justify actions in Latin America. Over time, it evolved from a presidential message to a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, notably expanded by President Teddy Roosevelt and used to justify military interventions and protect American business interests.

After periods of both prominence and obscurity, including its use during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the doctrine has recently reemerged in political discussions, particularly following U.S. involvement in Venezuela. The doctrine's legacy continues to influence American policy and perceptions in the Western Hemisphere.

The surprising history of the Monroe Doctrine

resurgence of the Monroe Doctrine. It's not every day that a 202-year-old address to Congress goes viral. And going all the way back to James Monroe and the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine. Well, go back to the couple of hundred-year-old Monroe Doctrine. Yes, the Monroe Doctrine, that thing you learned about in high school, is suddenly a hot topic. You wrote a book on the Monroe Doctrine. Yes, I did. Has your phone been blowing up? My five minutes of fame turned into a week of fame. University of Missouri's Jay Sexton wrote about how just three paragraphs in an 1823 address by President James Monroe have been used to justify U.S. actions in Latin America ever since. Monroe's original message was to Europe, stay out of the Americas. It wasn't a pronouncement of law or statute. It was simply a statement made by a president to Congress about what foreign powers could not do in the Western Hemisphere. That's it. It was decades before that statement would be ordained a doctrine and invoked by President James K. Polk to justify war with Mexico and expand the U.S. by nearly half. Cut to 1904 and President Teddy Roosevelt brandishing his big stick and proclaiming his own corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. He's the key figure. And when Roosevelt looks at the Caribbean and Central America, he sees instability. He sees concerns that the European rivals might intervene. And he says, in order to prevent that from happening, the United States needed to take preemptive action of its own. Is part of the justification, well, we kept the Europeans out of this hemisphere, so you have to keep your house in order or we'll do it for you. That's very much how Roosevelt put it. The Marines return to the trouble spot, this time in force. Enter the U.S. Marines, who by the 1920s were boots on the ground in half a dozen Latin American and Caribbean countries, attempting to stabilize them, and this is crucial, protect U.S. business interests, from bananas in Honduras to banks in Haiti. But these occupations soon became bloody quagmires with hundreds of military and tens of thousands of civilian casualties. They're known as the Banana Wars. These are the forever wars of their era. They begin to become very, very unpopular. The Banana Wars ended with U.S. withdrawal from Haiti in 1934. After World War II, the Monroe Doctrine was barely mentioned. Constitutes an explicit threat to the peace and security of all the Americas. In 1962, when the Soviets sent missiles into Cuba, President John F. Kennedy had this to say. He said, the Monroe Doctrine, what the hell is that? But now it's back. Since last week's incursion into Venezuela, President Trump has cloaked his foreign policy in a once again revived Monroe Doctrine. Monroe Doctrine, we sort of forgot about it. It was very important, but we forgot about it. We don't forget about it anymore.

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