George Washington was twice unanimously elected on the strength of his unique leadership in war and in the establishment of a constitutional republic. Although he could have continued in office beyond eight years, his refusal of a third term set the stage for the first contested Presidential election in 1796.
England or France?The bitter campaign of former colleagues John Adams versus Thomas Jefferson had the former's Federalist supporters labeling Jefferson's Democrats as sympathizers of the bloody French Revolution
while the Democrats painted their opponents as monarchist-leaning Anglophiles. Adams won, but his anti-French policies and his attempted suppression of dissent through the Alien and Sedition Acts sank his reelection bid and brought Jefferson to office four years later.
The Napoleonic Wars impacted the young United States because of British enforcement of a naval blockade and the seizure of American seamen to serve on their ships. These conflicts culminated in the War of 1812 under President Madison. Basically fought to a draw, the war enabled the U.S. to focus its attention on the development of the continent to the exclusion of international issues.
The next time foreign policy was a significant issue, the Democrats led by Speaker of the House James K. Polk were advocating annexation of the Oregon Territory in the face of a British claim and, more important, the admission to the Union of the Republic of Texas , a former Mexican province. Polk won, fought a successful war against Mexico over Texas, and the U.S eventually compromised with England over Oregon.
The intensifying conflict over slavery absorbed the nation's attention until after the Civil War, and the subsequent development of the West and industrialization made domestic issues dominant until World War I.
An International Role
While Woodrow Wilson narrowly won a second term in 1916 with the slogan, "He Kept Us Out of War," German U-Boat warfare propelled us into that war early in 1917. At its conclusion, Wilson joined with the other victors to craft the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. His failure to secure ratification in the Senate made the 1920 election in large part a referendum on the new American international role, resulting in a resounding return to isolationism with the election of Republican Warren Harding.
Foreign issues remained secondary through the prosperity of the 20's and the Depression of the 30's. Some Republicans, opposing Franklin D. Roosevelt's unprecedented third term bid in 1940, characterized him as a war monger backing Britain early in World War II. But they were undercut by their own nominee, Wendell Willkie, who also expressed support for the British against Nazi Germany. By 1944, GOP candidate Governor Thomas E. Dewey was allowing his principal international advisor, John Foster Dulles, to work with the Roosevelt Administration in formulating a post-war bipartisan foreign policy, including the establishment of the United Nations.
Dewey's second campaign, in 1948 against President Harry Truman, was also fought on domestic issues.
When the Republicans nominated the avowedly internationalist General Dwight D. Eisenhower over isolationist Senator robert Taft in 1952, many believed that the now well-estalished bipartisan foreign policy would not be an issue. But an unpopular war was being fought in Korea, and Ike's pledge to "go to Korea" was largely responsible for his landslide victory.
The next election featuring an unpopular war in Asia was in 1968. It had already forced President Lyndon Johnson to abandon a reelection bid and, although Republican Richard Nixon did not campaign against the war, the Democratic Administration's prosecution of it clearly helped him to his narrow win. Ironically, the isolationist stance of his Democratic opponent in 1972, Senator George McGovern, conributed greatly to Nixon's overwhelming reelection.
The pattern of bipartisanship in foreign affairs alongside bitter domestic differences was predominantly back in vogue for the rest of the 20th century. President George W. Bush had a close call in 2004 over his handling of the Iraq War, and it remains to be seen how its current state will impact theongoing campaign.
