ABSTRACT
The original advance of this geographic imperative is traced to the Manifest Destiny theory of the mid-nineteenth-century publicist, John O'Sullivan, whose compelling rhetoric on behalf of "destiny" became a beacon which led millions of Americans westward across prairies and mountains. The military war with Spain was abrupt and short, but the war against the Philippine insurrectos that followed was long, costly, and divisive. By its control over the Caribbean after 1898 and the beginnings of construction on the Panama Canal in 1904, the United States gradually developed—in the best tradition of realpolitik—a true sphere of influence over Central America and surrounding waters. The outcry against the Nicaraguan adventure, in particular, developed into a chorus of criticism, both at home and throughout Latin America and Europe. As Coolidge's private emissary to Nicaragua in 1927, Stimson originated the call for an occupation and issued wildly overconfident cables as to the lack of opposition.
