II.

Domestic Focus

Early American presidents kept foreign policy squarely focused on issues of immediate concern to the young nation. In his Farewell Address of 1796, George Washington advised the nation to preserve its unique advantages by avoiding 'permanent alliances' that would limit trade options and drag the young country into distant conflicts. In 1807, after the United States was nearly drawn into the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), President Thomas Jefferson reaffirmed Washington’s stand with his own warning against 'entangling alliances.'