Was America ever really isolationist?

In order to answer this question it is essential to know what is meant by the term isolationist. Isolationists define it as "the avoidance of all alliances or participation in world affairs outside the USA in favour of a concentration on the internal prosperity and security of the USA" . Therefore isolation means political rather than economic and in this regard America certainly was isolationist in her thinking but only for certain distinct periods of time, …

…Abroad - 1750 to the Present" (2nd Edition, 1994, New York) Walter LaFeber "The American Style of Foreign Policy - Cultural Politics and Foreign Affairs" (1983, Oxford), Robert Dallek "A History of American Foreign Policy" (1963, New York) Alexander DeConde Articles (from Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 1999) "Isolationism" by James M.McCormick "Monroe Doctrine" by Randall Shrock "Foreign Policy" by James M.McCormick Other resources Dictionary of Twentieth Century World History by Jan Palmowski (Oxford) The New Collins Concise English Dictionary