ABSTRACT

This chapter reviews biographies that have contributed to the history and historiography of American foreign relations. It examines the “great white men” making many diplomatic decisions in American history, the recent scholarship on the ground-breaking advances by women and minorities in the previously exclusive sphere of foreign relations, and the dissenters challenging policies of the powerful elites. The generations of men who founded and governed the early United States have received enormous attention in scholarly and popular literature. Published in 1956, Howard K. Beale’s intricately researched biography focuses on Roosevelt’s foreign relations during his presidency. Thompson also introduces Roosevelt as one of the first leaders to practice public diplomacy. Roosevelt was hardly alone in his American exceptionalism. Woodrow Wilson cast his long shadow over the history of American foreign relations.