The first neoconservative was Theodore Roosevelt. In 1904,when Santo Domingo defaulted on its loans from three great powers in Europe, he sent in the Navy, seized control of the Customs Houses and paid off the debts, preventing the intervention of Europe in the affairs of this hemisphere, chaos, or war.

As PBS put it, “Roosevelt recognized that it had become a very small world, and he was concerned … to prevent chaos or serious instability in any part of the world” that might threaten his own country’s interests. Paul Johnson wrote later, “It was Roosevelt’s view that America had a right, not exactly God-given…to operate as a hemispheric policeman … to uphold democratic republicanism and good government in the interest of all.”