Truman, Reagan, Exceptionalism and Exceptionalism in United States Foreign Policy

This essay will show how The Truman Doctrine and Universalism were foundational in the inclusion of exceptionalism and exemptionalism into historical American foreign policy. It illustrates how the United States (US) Government created foreign policy that used the Reagan Doctrine to undermine the developing the socialist democracy in Nicaragua under the Sandinista regime. The work is divided into three sections. First, it contextualizes the Truman Doctrine to clearly show the Truman administration felt obligated to protect the world from communism by introducing a policy of containment. Second, it demonstrates how this policy of containment had universalistic undertones which were foundational in justifying American intervention globally to limit Soviet geopolitical influence. Third, it illustrates the ways universalism instilled concepts of American Exceptionalism and Exemptionalism into US foreign policy which led to the Reagan Doctrine’s aggressive policy of roll back communism contributing to unjustified and unchecked international influence in Nicaragua and elsewhere.