"america first" and isolationism

Hearing the words "America First", in Trump's Inauguration speech, brought to mind many events in American History where uneducated people who think, because we live between two oceans we can retreat from the rest of the world. Not to mention those in the Midwest who feel themselves even more "insulated" from the rest of world.

I'll never forget, maybe 20 years ago, reading a letter to the editor in the local newspaper which suggested that we should be "Fortress America".  That we are so lucky we have two oceans between us and that we should build a giant wall all around the country. Obviously my first thoughts were that this person has no clue about how the US is so inter-connected with the rest of the world for trade, resources, security, our standard of living and so much more.  Can someone be truly so close-minded and ignorant of reality?

American isolationism in the 1930s and the "America First" committee is the most recent and stark example. The fact is that the Great Depression and the losses in WWI (especially that the Versailles Treaty to end WWI only guaranteed another World War) tilted US public opinion and policy towards isolationism. That meant non-involvement in Asian and European conflicts and also in International Politics.

In 1937 as the situation in Europe continued to grow worse and the Second Sino-Japanese War began in Asia,  President Roosevelt likened international aggression to a disease that other nations must work to “quarantine.”  

Enter the America First Committee (AFC) in 1940 which strongly opposed America's involvement in WW II. By that time  Hitler had invaded Poland (Sept 1939), and was marching through Europe.  The allies (Britain and France) were unable to resist the Nazi military. France had already capitulated. Russia had a non-aggression pact with Germany which allowed it to pursue its own expansionist interests. The majority of American opposed American entry in the war to help Britain.  The AFC opposed FDR and his lend-lease program which was to to help Britain with equipment but could not do much else with the current political climate.

There were several hundred chapters of the AFC in the US of which the great majority (2/3) would be in the Midwest. Charles Lindbergh served as the committee's principal spokesman.



This is from a speech Lindbergh gave at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Sept 11, 1941. He said that the forces pulling America into the war were the British, FDR's administration and the Jews. He stated that Jews posed a threat to the U.S. because of their influence in motion pictures, radio, the press, and the government.

"It is not difficult to understand that Jewish people desire the overthrow of Nazi Germany The persecution they suffered in Germany would be sufficient to make bitter enemies of any race. No person with a sense of the dignity of mankind can condone the persecution the Jewish race suffered in Germany. But no person of honesty and vision can look on their pro-war policy here today without seeing the dangers involved in such a policy, both for us and for them.

Instead of agitating for war the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way, for they will be among the first to feel its consequences. Tolerance is a virtue that depends upon peace and strength. History shows that it cannot survive war and devastation. A few farsighted Jewish people realize this and stand opposed to intervention. But the majority still do not. Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government.^"

Public opinion, by that time, shifted from favoring complete neutrality to supporting limited U.S. aid to the Allies short of actual intervention in the war.  The AFC opposed Lend-Lease.

With the attack on Pearl Harbor on  7-Dec-1941 the AFC decided to disband. The majority of Americans finally approved of the US entering the war on the side of the allies.

It is easy to look back on history, and with hindsight, say what we should have done.
But in this case, by 1940, Britain was hanging by a thread.  FDR and his advisers were doing everything short of going to war to save Britain. If Britain fell the Western Hemisphere would be in gave danger.  
 
"Tolerance is a virtue that depends upon peace and strength. History shows that it cannot survive war and devastation" - America First Committee- Charles Lindbergh principal spokesman

Tolerance?  Of whom? The Nazis?  By this time the Final Solution was in full swing with Jews being murdered by the tens of thousands. Peace and Strength? Meaning surrender to the Nazis because we will not fight a war for freedom and liberty? There are times when we MUST fight against the forces of evil to preserve freedom and civilization. This was clearly one.

The first half of the 20th century was all about two major world wars which began in Europe. WWI planted the seeds of WW II. The structure of peace, since then, had been maintained by NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 

"NATO's obsolete" Trump famously asserted during his run for the Republican nomination, and he’ll get along well with Russia and its president. As to Europe, that’s on one side of the ocean, America’s on the other, and America comes first.   

This is so radical and reckless and shows an utter lack of historical knowledge and perspective.

Also, this is not about "business".  Yes, we want our allies to pay their share. But ensuring a structure of world peace is well worth the price. Putin must really be enjoying this.

Lastly, the leaders of isolationist movements throughout history always refer To George Washington's Farewell Address to support their position.

"The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities." - President Washington's Farewell Address (1797).

The world is a far different place now that it was then.  For nearly a century, after Washington's retirement, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans allowed the US to remain detached from conflicts in Europe. The US did NOT truly become a world power until WW I (The Spanish-American War aside.)

President Woodrow Wilson, during and after WWI made the argument for US interest in maintaining a peaceful world order. The League of Nations. The Republican Congress declined membership because of the requirement in the charter which committed the US to defend any League member in the event of an attack. 

Of course the NATO charter specific that the US will come to the aid of a fellow member in the event of an attack. This has been a successful deterrent all throughout the cold war and after.

ISIS, which seems to be Trump's bogeyman, is NOT a threat to the US Homeland.

Andrea Nicole Baker