Political cartoon by Dr. Seuss deriding isolationism (1941)

America First refers to an isolationist policy stance in the United States that generally emphasizes American exceptionalism, non-interventionism, and American nationalism.[1] The term was coined by President Woodrow Wilson[2] in his 1916 campaign that pledged to keep America neutral in World War I. A more isolationist approach gained prominence in the interwar period (1918–1939); it was also advocated by the America First Committee, a non-interventionist pressure group against U.S. entry into World War II.[3]

Decades later, Donald Trump used the slogan in his 2016 presidential campaign and presidency (2017–2021), emphasizing the U.S.'s withdrawal from international treaties and organizations in the administration's foreign policy.[4][5][6] Media critics have derided Trump's use of the America First policy as "America Alone".[7][8][9]

History

Origins

As a slogan in American political discourse, "America First" originated from the nativist American Party in the 1850s.[10] The motto has been used by both Democratic and Republican politicians in the United States. At the outbreak of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson used the slogan to define his version of neutrality, as did newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.[11] The motto was also chosen by Republican Senator Warren G. Harding during the 1920 presidential election, which he won.[12]

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) used the phrase at the organization's peak in the 1920s, when racist, xenophobic sentiment was widespread;[13][14] it informed many of their members who ran for political office.[15] The Immigration Act of 1924 sponsored by Washington U.S. representative Albert Johnson proved to legislate xenophobia and white supremacy, excluding immigrants on the basis of ethnicity and national origin in an effort to preserve white racial demographics.[16] Johnson's leading role in the immigration restriction bill elicited strong support from the KKK.[17]

America First is best known as the slogan and foreign policy advocated by the America First Committee, a non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II, which emphasized American nationalism and unilateralism in international relations. The America First Committee's membership peaked at 800,000 paying members in 450 chapters, and it popularized the slogan "America First".[3] While the America First Committee had a variety of supporters in the U.S., the movement was muddled with anti-Semitic and fascist rhetoric.[18] Notable Americans who supported "America First" causes include Elizabeth Dilling, Gerald L. K. Smith,[19][20] and Charles Lindbergh,[21] while Dr. Seuss derided the policy in a number of political cartoons, linking it to Nazism.[22]

In later periods, the slogan was used by Pat Buchanan, who praised the non-interventionist WWII America First Committee and said "the achievements of that organization are monumental."[23] Buchanan's "call for an America First foreign policy has been compared with the America First Committee."[24]

Donald Trump

Donald Trump, who had run against Pat Buchanan in the 2000 Reform Party presidential primaries, first revived the slogan in a November 2015 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.[25] In its early going, the Trump campaign publicized an article by Jeff Kuhner on the World Tribune praising the candidate as a "nationalist who seeks to put America first";[26] campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (who later published a book with the title)[27] promoted Trump with the phrase;[28][29] and both Sarah Palin[30] and Chris Christie[31] featured it in their endorsements of Trump. Trump later incorporated the slogan into his daily repertoire following a suggestion and historical comparison by David E. Sanger during an interview with The New York Times in March 2016.[32][33] In subsequent months, without referencing Pat Buchanan's prior usage or the America First Committee, candidate Trump promised that "'America First' would be the major and overriding theme" of his administration, and advocated nationalist, anti-interventionist positions.[34][33]

Following his election to the presidency, "America First" became the official foreign policy doctrine of the Trump administration.[35] It was a theme of Trump's inaugural address, and a Politico/Morning Consult poll released on January 25, 2017, stated that 65% of Americans responded positively to President Trump's "America First" inaugural message, with 39% viewing the speech as poor.[36] Trump embraced American unilateralism abroad and introduced policies aimed at undermining transnational organizations such as the European Union, and often critiquing them on economic terms.[37] In 2017, the administration proposed a federal budget for 2018 with both Make America Great Again and America First in its title, with the latter referencing its increases to military, homeland security, and veteran spending, cuts to spending that goes towards foreign countries, and 10-year objective of achieving a balanced budget.[38]

The administration branded its 2017 National Security Strategy of the U.S. as "an America First National Security Strategy". The introduction to that document reads "This National Security Strategy puts America first. An America First National Security Strategy is based on American principles, a clear-eyed assessment of U.S. interests, and a determination to tackle the challenges that we face. It is a strategy of principled realism that is guided by outcomes, not ideology."[39]

Trump's use of the slogan was criticized by some for carrying comparisons to the America First Committee;[40] however, Trump denied being an isolationist, and said, "I like the expression."[41] A number of scholars (such as Deborah Dash Moore), commentators (such as Bill Kristol) and Jewish organizations (including the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Council for Public Affairs) criticized Trump's use of the slogan because of its historical association with nativism and antisemitism.[41][42] Others have argued that Trump was never a non-interventionist.[43] Columnist Daniel Larison from The American Conservative wrote that "Trump was quick to denounce previous wars as disasters, but his complaint about these wars was that the U.S. wasn't 'getting' anything tangible from them. He didn't see anything wrong in attacking other countries, but lamented that the U.S. didn't 'take' their resources" and that "he never called for an end to the wars that were still ongoing, but talked only about 'winning' them."[44]

Trump's "America First" policy has been described as a major factor in the perceived increase in the international isolation of the U.S. in the late 2010s, and various media critics such as The New Yorker have described the policy as "America Alone".[7][8][9]

Other usage

In mid-2016, while running for a Louisiana Senate seat, David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK, publicly claimed that he was "the first major candidate in modern times to promote the term and policy of America first"[45] (although was preceded by Donald Trump).[25][32][33]

Trump's successor as U.S. president, Joe Biden, discontinued many of Trump's COVID-19-related "America First" policies at the beginning of his presidency, but he initially kept the Trump administration's COVID-19 vaccine export ban in place.[46] As of May 2021, the U.S. had started exporting vaccines out of its borders.[47] The U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack described far-right political commentator Nick Fuentes and former Identity Evropa leader Patrick Casey as leaders of the "America First" movement in a subpoena issued in January 2022.[48]

Following Trump's inauguration, the policy and its phrasing became a subject of international satire through the Every Second Counts video contest inspired by Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach and launched by German comedian Jan Böhmermann.[49] News satire television programs initially throughout Europe, and later from around the world, comically appealed to Trump to acknowledge their own countries in light of Trump's nationalist slogan, with a narrator mimicking Trump's voice, speech patterns, and exaggerated speaking style.[50][51] Lubach's initial version, for example, ended by noting that "We totally understand it's going to be America first, but can we just say: The Netherlands second?".[52][53]

In Spike Lee's film BlacKkKlansman (2018), David Duke and white supremacists are portrayed as repeatedly using the "America First" slogan.[54]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Olson, Lynne (2013). Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939–1941. New York City: Random House. pp. 220, 227, 234, 242, 243. ISBN 978-0-679-60471-6. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  2. ↑ Rubino, Rich (January 25, 2017). "Trump Was Not First To Use The "America First" Slogan". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Sarles, Ruth (2003). Kauffman, Bill (ed.). A Story of America First: The Men and Women Who Opposed U.S. Intervention in World War II. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-97512-8.
  4. ↑ Shapiro, Ari; Daly, Robert (January 23, 2017). "As Trump Adopts 'America First' Policy, China's Global Role Could Change". NPR. Archived from the original on January 24, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  5. ↑ "The new nationalism – Trump's world". The Economist. November 19, 2016. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ "US election 2016: Trump details 'America First' foreign plan". BBC News. April 28, 2016. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  7. 1 2 McTague, Tom; Nicholas, Peter (October 29, 2020). "How 'America First' Became America Alone". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Frum, David (May 30, 2020). "Opinion: 'America First' means America alone – and in a postpandemic world, that would be disastrous". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  9. 1 2 Glasser, Susan B. "Under Trump, "America First" Really Is Turning Out to Be America Alone". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  10. ↑ Churchwell, Sarah (September 9, 2022). "'America First' has more claim to our history than the 'American Dream'". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  11. ↑ Rauchway, Eric (May 6, 2016). "How 'America First' Got Its Nationalistic Edge". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on July 8, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  12. ↑ Mikelbank, Peter (March 24, 2018). "Sex Scandals and 'America First': Warren G. Harding Was Donald Trump 1.0". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ Simins, Jill Weiss (June 20, 2019). “America First:” The Ku Klux Klan Influence on Immigration Policy in the 1920s. Hoosier State Chronicles. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  14. ↑ Emery, David (February 9, 2018). Was ‘America First’ a Slogan of the Ku Klux Klan? Snopes. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Ku Klux Klan stages an 'America First' parade in Binghamton, NY".
  16. ↑ The Immigration Act of 1924. US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  17. ↑ Griffey, Trevor. Citizen Klan: Electoral Politics and the KKK in WA. Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  18. ↑ Bennett, Brian (January 20, 2017). "'America First,' a phrase with a loaded anti-Semitic and isolationist history". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2017. While the America First Committee attracted a wide array of support, the movement was marred by anti-Semitic and pro-fascist rhetoric.
    Dunn, Susan (April 28, 2016). "Trump's 'America First' has ugly echoes from U.S. history". CNN. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2017. Seeking to brand itself as a mainstream organization, America First struggled with the problem of the anti-Semitism of some of its leaders and many of its members.
    Powers, Richard Gid (1995). Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. Free Press. p. 167. ISBN 0-684-82427-2. The America First Committee and Norman Thomas's group tried to maintain their distance from anti-Semites and fascists, but the lunatic fringe of countersubversives was drawn irresistibly to them, wild for the possibility of become part of a powerful mainstream political movement. Gerald L. K. Smith, Elizabeth Dilling, Gerald B. Winrod, William Dudley Pelley, Charles Coughlin, Laura Ingalls, and all of the country's other notorious anti-Semitic anticommunist crackpots joyously raised the temperature of the debate by attacking defense preparations as Jewish inspired and Communist directed.
  19. ↑ Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith (1898–1976). Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  20. ↑ April 10, 1946. Gerald L.k. Smith, “america First” Head, Sentenced to 60 Days in Jail. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  21. ↑ Honoroff, Zach. Who is Elizabeth Dilling, and Why is Glenn Beck a Fan? History News Network. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  22. ↑ Gottschalk, Molly (February 3, 2017). "Dr. Seuss Satirized 'America First' Decades before Donald Trump Made It Policy". Artsy. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  23. ↑ Buchanan, Patrick J. (October 13, 2004). "The Resurrection of 'America First!'". The American Cause. Archived from the original on February 3, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2008.
  24. ↑ Cox, Michael; Durham, Martin (2000). "The Politics of Anger: The Extreme Right in the United States". In Hainsworth, Paul (ed.). The Politics of the Extreme Right: From the Margins to the Mainstream. London/New York: Pinter. p. 287. ISBN 1-85567-459-9.
  25. 1 2 Trump, Donald J. (November 10, 2015). "Ending China's Currency Manipulation". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 16, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020. The American people need an administration that will tell them the truth and a president who will put America first. That's what I intend to do.
  26. ↑ Kuhner, Jeffrey T. (July 2, 2015). "The Elites' Problem with Donald Trump: He's Not For Sale" (Press release). World Tribune. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016.
  27. ↑ Cooper, Elise (October 8, 2020). "Book Review: Trump: America First". Military Press. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  28. ↑ Outfront. August 17, 2015. CNN. Erin Burnett Outfront.
  29. ↑ The Situation Room. November 11, 2015. CNN. The Situation Room.
  30. ↑ Blaine, Kyle (January 19, 2016). "So, Uh, Here's The Full Text Of Sarah Palin's Bizarre Trump Speech". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  31. ↑ Wolf. February 26, 2016. CNN. Wolf.
  32. 1 2 Rothman, Lily (March 28, 2016). "The Long History Behind Donald Trump's 'America First' Foreign Policy". Time. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  33. 1 2 3 Haberman, Maggie; Sanger, David E.; Trump, Donald (March 26, 2016). "Transcript: Donald Trump Expounds on His Foreign Policy Views". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  34. ↑ DelReal, Jose A. (April 27, 2016). "Trump, pivoting to the general election, hones 'America First' foreign policy vision". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  35. ↑ "America First Foreign Policy". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved January 26, 2017 – via National Archives.
  36. ↑ Sherman, Jake (January 25, 2017). "Poll: Voters liked Trump's 'America first' address". Politico. Archived from the original on January 25, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
    Savransky, Rebecca (January 25, 2017). "Majority of Americans approves of Trump's 'America First' message". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 27, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  37. ↑ Borger, Julian (February 10, 2017). "EU foreign policy chief tells Trump not to interfere in Europe's politics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  38. ↑ Andrade, Juan Pablo (May 24, 2017). "Trump's budget proposal truly puts America first". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  39. ↑ Trump, Donald (December 2017). "National Security Strategy of the United States of America" (PDF). trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  40. ↑ Elving, Ron (January 21, 2017). "Trump Vows Policy Vision Of 'America First,' Recalling Phrase's Controversial Past". NPR. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  41. 1 2 Thomas, Louisa (July 24, 2016). "America First, for Charles Lindbergh and Donald Trump". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  42. ↑ Calamur, Krishnadev (January 21, 2017). "A Short History of 'America First'". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
    Nathan-Kazis, Josh (January 20, 2017). "Trump's 'America First' Leaves Jewish Groups Hesitant". The Forward. Archived from the original on January 24, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  43. ↑ Krayewski, Ed (March 31, 2016). "Donald Trump is No Non-Interventionist". Reason. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  44. ↑ Larison, Daniel (August 23, 2017). "Trump the Hawk". The American Conservative. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  45. ↑ Gorman, Michele (July 22, 2016). "Former KKK leader David Duke announces Senate bid under 'America first' slogan". Newsweek. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  46. ↑ "Joe Biden's 'America First' Vaccine Strategy". The Atlantic. February 4, 2021. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  47. ↑ Ljunggren, David; O'Donnell, Carl; Ljunggren, David (April 30, 2021). "Pfizer to start shipping coronavirus vaccine to Canada". Reuters. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  48. ↑ Broadwater, Luke; Feuer, Alan (January 20, 2022). "House Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas White Nationalist Figures". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  49. ↑ Domonoske, Camila (February 6, 2017). "If America's No. 1, Who's No. 2? European Nations Compete For The, Uh, Honor". NPR. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  50. ↑ Busis, Hillary (February 7, 2017). "Meet the Men Trolling Trump in Those Viral European Videos". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  51. ↑ Boyer, Lauren (January 25, 2017). "Dutch TV Show Trolls Donald Trump For 'America First' Message". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  52. ↑ "Click this page. It's Huge. Like Donalds hands. It's the funniest website in the world! Believe us!". Every Second Counts. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  53. ↑ Purdom, Clayton (February 6, 2017). "Trump's "America first" slogan parodied as other countries vie to be second". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  54. ↑ "Cannes cheers Spike Lee's raging rebuke of Trump America". Agence France-Presse. May 15, 2018. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2019 – via France 24.
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