The Folly of Empire: What George W. Bush Could Learn from Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson

257 Pages·2006·1.98 MB·English

by  John B. Judis

Praise for The Folly of Empire
“A sobering read during Iraq’s current wallow.”
— George F. Will, The Washington Post
“An enlightening interpretation of American history.”
— James Chace, The New York Times Book Review
“[A] valuable appraisal of the Bush presidency, bringing to bear
the weight of U.S. history to make a convincing case.”
—The New York Times
“Judis has done a valuable service in reminding us that we have
been in—and through—this ‘quagmire’ before.”
—Charles A. Kupchan, The New York Sun
Also by John B. Judis
The Emerging Democratic Majority
(with Ruy Teixeira)
The Paradox of American Democracy:
Elites, Special Interests, and the Betrayal of Public Trust
William F. Buckley Jr.:
Patron Saint of the Conservatives
Grand Illusion:
Critics and Champions of the American Century
T H E F O L LY
O F E M PI R E
WHAT GEORGE W. BUSH COULD LEARN
FROM THEODORE ROOSEVELT
AND WOODROW WILSON
John B. Judis
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Copyright © 2004 by John B. Judis
First published by Scribner, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 2006
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www.oup.com
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-530902-7
ISBN-10: 0-19-530902-2
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Judis, John B.
The folly of empire : what George W. Bush could learn from
Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson / John B. Judis.
p. cm.
Originally published: New York : Scribner, ©2004.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-530902-7 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-19-530902-2 (pbk.)
1. United States—Foreign relations—2001–
2. United States—Foreign relations—20th century.
3. United States—Politics and government—20th century.
4. Presidents—United States—History—20th century.
5. Imperialism.
6. Imperialism—History—20th century.
7. Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946–
8. Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858–1919.
9. Wilson, Woodrow, 1856–1924.
I. Title.
E902.J83 2006
327.73009'04—dc22 2005036119
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Jorgen Dragsdahl and David Moberg
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A new age has come which no man may forecast. But the past
is the key to it; and the past of America lies at the center of
modern history.
—Woodrow Wilson,
Preface to The Harper’s Encyclopedia
of the United States,1901
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contents
Introduction 1
I. An Empire of Liberty: The Framework of American
Foreign Policy 11
II. America’s Imperial Moment 29
III. Theodore Roosevelt and the Heel of Achilles 51
IV. Woodrow Wilson and the Way to Liberty 75
V. Woodrow Wilson and the Conscience of the World 95
VI. Franklin Roosevelt and the Four Freedoms 119
VII. Cold War Liberalism from Truman to Reagan 131
VIII. Bush, Clinton, and the Triumph of Wilsonianism 149
IX. George W. Bush Sees Evil 165
X. George W. Bush and the Illusion of Omnipotence 185
Conclusion 201
Notes 213
Acknowledgments 231
Index 233
ix