Presidential Biographies | Hayes Administration - Foreign Issues

Foreign Issues

With a small army and navy, Hayes's administration did not participate in the European imperialist frenzy of seizing overseas colonies. While some U.S. politicians called for purchasing Mexican land for American and railroad expansion, Hayes resisted such imperialist dreams. The United States concentrated its efforts on its own domestic development and played only a limited role in world affairs in the late 1870s. Three areas of conflict did attract the administration's attention: bandits on the border of the United States and Mexico, the treatment of Chinese immigrants in California, and the question of a canal through Panama. As with domestic policy, no grand foreign policy breakthrough emerged during Hayes's single term of office, but he dealt adequately with foreign policy issues when they arose.

Mexican Bandits

Bandits had been...