In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson said that the United States should steer clear of “entangling alliances” with other nations. For almost a hundred years, the country followed that advice.
However, by the time Theodore Roosevelt was president, the U.S. was becoming a world power. Winning the Spanish-American War had left the nation in control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. They were all former colonies of Spain. Roosevelt believed the U.S. should take its place as a world leader. He did everything in his power to make that happen.
