Why We Started the Monroe Society

In December 1823, James Monroe told the powers of Europe that the Americas were closed to them. The United States had a small navy and a smaller army. It said it anyway, and the line held for two hundred years.

We think the country needs that kind of plain statement again. For a generation, foreign policy has wandered from one distant war to the next, and trade policy has helped other countries' factories at the expense of our own. Both parties share the blame. There is an older American tradition that does better, and we intend to bring it back.

What the Society does

We publish news, opinion and history. We write policy briefs. And we organize members to endorse and campaign for candidates who hold to our principles, regardless of party.

“The American continents … are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.”James Monroe, 1823

What we believe

Our Ten Articles put it in writing. Judge every policy by what it does for Americans. Guard our own hemisphere first. Stay out of other people's wars. Keep both diplomacy and force ready. Hold allies to their word. Make things here, pay workers well, and build big again. Honor achievement. Be one people. Govern with compassion and competence.

We draw on Monroe and Polk, both Roosevelts, McKinley and Jackson, Lincoln, and the first President Bush. None of them was perfect, and we say so where it matters. We take what was best in each.

Where we go from here

The Society starts small, with a set of principles and a founding cohort. Through the 2027 elections and the 2028 presidential race, we plan to grow into a national organization with state chapters, a private members' forum, and a real say in who we support.