It is a mistake to say that from the end of the Mexican war through to the war with Spain that Republicans were isolationist outside of economics. As I mentioned before, Arthur is remembered for having taken the crucial first steps in building a modern navy, so that the United States would be better able to project force. His secretary of state, James G. Blaine, a holdover from the Garfield administration, pushed for more direct U.S. involvement in Latin America. Blaine advocated the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, an initiative which would continue over many administrations. Harrison continued the naval buildup, expanded American protectorates to the Samoan Islands, and took us to the brink of war with Chile. He also attempted the annexation of Hawaii, unsuccessfully. That would have to wait for McKinley. Harrison also had standoffs with Italy, Britain, and Canada. He is regarded as having one of the most active foreign agendas of any President prior to the modern era. Taft sent Marines to assist rebels against a reactionary government in Nicaragua, and also was heavily involved in the inner workings of Honduras, trying to ensure a favorable regime staying in power. As I mentioned before, it started to wane with Calvin Coolidge, who kept the economic internationalism of his Republican predecessors, but started moving the party towards the anti-war position that would be prevalent for a few decades (until being shattered by the reality of the Axis), starting with the naive the 1928 Kellog-Briand Pact. Coolidge ran stating he would be isolationist, but even with his withdrawl of forces from Nicaragua, the US still was considered imperialistic in Latin America through the duration of his Presidency.
Isolationism among Republican leaders was the exception, not the norm, for decades stretching from the Civil War through Taft.
As I mentioned before, Arthur is remembered for having taken the crucial first steps in building a modern navy, so that the United States would be better able to project force.And as I mentioned before, projecting force does not necessarily presuppose interventionism or expansionism.
His secretary of state, James G. Blaine, a holdover from the Garfield administration, pushed for more direct U.S. involvement in Latin America. Blaine advocated the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, an initiative which would continue over many administrations. Harrison continued the naval buildup, expanded American protectorates to the Samoan Islands, and took us to the brink of war with Chile. He also attempted the annexation of Hawaii, unsuccessfully. That would have to wait for McKinley. Harrison also had standoffs with Italy, Britain, and Canada. He is regarded as having one of the most active foreign agendas of any President prior to the modern era.
And how much support did these initiatives have among the public? Why, for example, did Harrison's attempt to annex Hawaii fail? Because the Senate wasn't altogether enthusiastic about it, and because his successor, Mr. Cleveland, withdrew the treaty from their consideration. This lack of public support is why the pro-interventionist politicians of the era had to take half-measures that consistently stopped short of war or invasion. By all indications, this was a top-down movement, not a bottom-up one.