The Latin American country most important to the well-being of the U.S. was its neighbor to the south, Mexico. Mexico is a nation rich in resources, but its ineffective and corrupt governments had exploited the Mexican people for years. A series of brutal dictators had controlled the country for decades, and many of them mismanaged Mexico’s resources, making themselves rich while the majority of Mexicans were desperately poor. Tension had been high for years, and there had been several attempts at revolt, but the dictators were successful at suppressing any significant revolution.

Mexican leaders sold the country’s resources to foreign investors, often at the expense of Mexican citizens. Americans owned 43 percent of the land in Mexico, while foreigners from other countries owned 25 percent. By 1913, American investment in Mexico was well over a billion dollars, including significant ownership in railroads, oil resources, and mines. Porfirio Diaz, the leader at that time, was particularly ruthless and oppressive. Eventually, the number of foreigners profiting from Mexican resources and Diaz’s cruelty helped promote a strong surge of nationalism in Mexico.

The first Mexican Revolution began in 1910. The people were led by the radical Francisco Madero. Madero and his followers staged a successful campaign, and in 1911 they gained control of Mexico and appointed Madero president. He was very popular and viewed as a president of the people, but in 1913 another revolutionary group assassinated Madero. The leader of the coup, General Victoriano Huerta,thenthen then assumed the presidency.

As a result of the instability and revolution in Mexico, a huge influx of immigrants fled to the United States. Many Mexicans feared Huerta, and fled the country in order to escape his tyranny. The majority of these immigrants settled in the southwestern U.S., where they lived in segregated communities and were used as cheap labor for building railroads. All told, over one million Mexicans migrated to the United States in the early twentieth century.

During this revolutionary era in Mexico, over 50,000 Americans owned property and lived in Mexico. They began to feel legitimately threatened by this newfound Mexican nationalism, and called for protection from the U.S. government. Other Americans not living in Mexico also asked for intervention, including “yellow journalist” William Randolph Hearst. Although Hearst may have truly desired aid for Americans living in Mexico, he was surely influenced by his ownership of a Mexican Ranch larger than the state of Rhode Island. Despite growing pressure, President Wilson was reluctant to intervene in Mexican politics. He had been working to reduce American involvement in Latin America, and was very hesitant to interfere and risk a direct conflict with Mexico.

Although Wilson was unwilling to play an active role in Mexico, he by no means condoned the tyrannical Huerta regime. In fact, Wilson was one of the few foreign leaders who did not accept the legitimacy of Huerta’s leadership and refused to recognize his government. As Huerta’s violence towards his people continued to escalate, Wilson was forced to act more directly. He stated that he would “…teach the South American republics to elect good men,” and in 1914 the U.S. began supplying weapons to Huerta’s rivals. Venustiano Carranza and Francisco “Pancho” Villa, were the leaders of a rebel army created to unseat Huerta.

In April 1914, a group of American sailors on shore leave was arrested in Tampico, Mexico. The U.S. was outraged, and the sailors were quickly released with the apologies of the Mexican government. However, Mexico was unwilling to provide the 21-gun salute demanded by the Americans. Seizing the opportunity to finally remove Huerta and end his tyranny, Wilson asked Congress for permission to use force against Mexico. In the mean time, while still awaiting Congressional approval, Wilson ordered the navy to seize the port of Vera Cruz. This action not only angered Huerta, it also upset the rebel leader Carranza, who viewed this act as exceeding the boundaries of the informal agreement between his group and the United States.

As tensions continued to mount, war with Mexico seemed inevitable until Argentina, Brazil, and Chile intervened. The so-called “ABC Powers” interceded and attempted to reach an agreement between the United States and Mexico. These powerful South American nations helped the U.S. undermine Huerta, and in 1914, after intense internal and external pressure, President Huerta stepped down as ruler of Mexico. The open presidential seat was filled by Venustiano Carranza who still harbored resentment toward America because of the U.S. meddling at Vera Cruz.

Despite his distrust of Carranza, President Wilson reluctantly recognized the legitimacy of Carranza’s presidency. Meanwhile, Carranza’s former general, Pancho Villa, had now emerged as his chief rival. Villa not only defied Carranza’s régime by leading an armed revolution, he directly challenged the extensive U.S. involvement in Mexico. In an effort to rebuild a relationship with Mexico, Wilson supported Carranza against Villa and sent arms to sustain Carranza’s armies. Villa was angered by Wilson’s actions, and retaliated by killing 18 Americans in Mexico and then embarked on a bold raid into Columbus, New Mexico killing 19 Americans.

Americans were stunned and outraged by Pancho Villa’s brash actions. President Wilson ordered General John J. Pershing to lead several thousand troops into Mexico to capture Villa. General Pershing’s army moved quickly into Mexico and engaged Villa’s supporters, who were known as Villistas. The disorganized Mexican rebels were no match for the better-trained and equipped U.S. forces, and Pershing won several convincing victories. However, he was unable to find Pancho Villa, which was the ultimate goal of the mission, and this failure did little to enhance the international reputation of the U.S. military. Finally, as it no longer seemed possible for the U.S. to remain out of WWI, Wilson recalled Pershing and his men in January 1917.

Both Taft’s “dollar diplomacy” and Wilson’s “moral diplomacy” achieved mixed results. Taft’s foreign spending and interventionism gained the U.S. short-term allies, but also created long-term animosity throughout Latin America. It strengthened the U.S. economy through increased American investment abroad and allowed America to gain a position in several emerging global markets. Upon taking office, Woodrow Wilson attempted to reverse most of Taft’s foreign policy. Wilson’s staunch anti-imperialism was a completely new approach for America. He withdrew government support of American investors in foreign markets and attempted to bring America back within its borders. However, his reluctance to intervene militarily in foreign affairs was often seen as hesitant and weak and caused many of his policies to be largely ineffective. Eventually, Wilson’s approach to foreign policy proved too unrealistic for success in the Western Hemisphere, but the true test of his foreign policy would come on the other side of the Atlantic in World War I.

Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education