US Presidency
1901

In other words, the Monroe Doctrine is a declaration that there must be no territorial aggrandizement by any non American power at the expense of any American power on American soil. It is in no wise intended as hostile to any nation in the Old World. Still less is it intended to give cover to any aggression by one New World power at the expense of any other. It is simply a step, and a long step, toward assuring the universal peace of the world by securing the possibility of permanent peace on this hemisphere. During the past century other influences have established the permanence and independence of the smaller states of Europe. Through the Monroe Doctrine we hope to be able to safeguard like independence and secure like permanence for the lesser among the New World nations. This doctrine has nothing to do with the commercial relations of any American power, save that it in truth allows each of them to form such as it desires.