Big Stick Ideology

Big stick ideology, big stick diplomacy, or big stick policy refers to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy: "speak softly, and carry a big stick." Roosevelt described his style of foreign policy as "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis."

The idea of negotiating peacefully, simultaneously threatening with the "big stick", or the military, ties in heavily with the idea of Realpolitik, which implies a pursuit of political power that resembles Machiavellian ideals. It is comparable to gunboat diplomacy, as used in international politics by imperial powers.

The first known use of the phrase occurs in a private letter from Roosevelt (then Governor of New York) to Henry L. Sprague, dated January 26, 1900. Roosevelt wrote, in a bout of happiness after forcing New York's Republican committee to pull support away from a corrupt financial adviser:

I have always been fond of the West African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

In an article about an interview with Governor Roosevelt, published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on April 1, 1900, a reporter noted that "His motto, he says, he has taken from the South African people: 'Speak softly— carry a big stick— and you will go far.'"

Roosevelt would go on to be elected Vice President later that year, and subsequently used the aphorism publicly in an address to the Minnesota State Fair, entitled "National Duties", on September 2, 1901:

A good many of you are probably acquainted with the old proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick -- you will go far."

Four days later, President William McKinley was shot by an assassin; his death a further eight days later elevated Roosevelt to the presidency.

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