The United States' policy on foreign affairs is that there really is no foreign policy. Controversy and mixed opinions have surrounded this area of politics since the beginning of the country's existence. Each presidential administration has had its own perception as to what this policy should be. Some Americans feel that the United States should return to the isolationist country that it once was. With all the expense and effort needed to have a world presence, it is a belief that the United States should not involve itself in the affairs and conflicts of other countries.
             "The idea that the United States should avoid all foreign political commitments stems from the earliest days of the republic." (Dulles 2) This idea has been around well before Washington or Jefferson gave their countrymen advice about becoming involved with foreign affairs. John Adams had given a similar warning that, "we should separate ourselves...as far as possible and as long as possible, from all European politics and wars." (Dulles 2) During the remainder of the eighteenth century, the leaders of the United States were determined to "establish their country's complete freedom, not only from the political control of Great Britain, but from any sort of dependence on foreign countries." (Dulles 2) The United States kept this form of isolationism for most of the nineteenth century. Without a dominating military or need to have a presence around the world, the United States maintained a low profile in the global community. "From 1865 to 1898, the United States foreign policy w!
             as determined principally by the attitudes and
             actions of foreign governments." (The Gilded Age pa 15) However, with the start of the Spanish American War in 1898, the United States' policy would never be the same.
             "As a result of the Spanish American War... the United States acquired territorial possessions outside...