Entangling Alliances

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ENTANGLING ALLIANCES

ENTANGLING ALLIANCES. Contrary to common belief, the phrase "entangling alliances" was turned by Thomas Jefferson, not George Washington. Washington advised against "permanent alliances," whereas Jefferson, in his inaugural address on 4 March 1801, declared his devotion to "peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none." It is a pet phrase of isolationists warning against foreign commitments.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kaplan, Lawrence. Entangling Alliances with None: American Foreign Policy in the Age of Jefferson. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1987.

Theodore M.Whitfield/l. t.

See alsoForeign Policy ; Isolationism .

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