Root’s Watchful Waiting and the Venezuelan Controversy

Abstract

Elihu Root, Secretary of State from 1905 to 1909 under President Theodore Roosevelt, ranks as one of the most successful secretaries in dealing with Latin America before the coming of the Good Neighbor policy. His approach, the product of a practical statesman in a period of growing reaction to diplomatic adventure, concerned the means rather than the ends of inter-American relations. While the Secretary did not renounce the role of hemispheric policeman proclaimed by President Roosevelt in 1904, he did attempt to stress the benevolent character of America’s Caribbean interests and to sub-ordinate the policing aspect. Root held a special concern for Latin America and labored assiduously to improve relations and to promote the solidarity of the Western Hemisphere. When the Secretary retired in 1909 he bequeathed his successor a legacy of kindly feeling that he had successfully cultivated.