Use the excerpt to answer the question.
What did Washington mean when he wrote that the maxim “honesty is the best policy” should be applied to foreign relations?
(1 point)
Responses
The United States should have announced that it was cutting off relations with other nations.
The United States should have terminated its formal relationships with European nations.
There was no need to be coy about U.S. intentions to avoid permanent alliances in the future.
The president should privately reassure foreign leaders that America stands with them but publicly maintain a separation from other nations’ policies.
The president should privately reassure foreign leaders that America stands with them but publicly maintain a separation from other nations’ policies.
Based on the given excerpt, the answer is: There was no need to be coy about U.S. intentions to avoid permanent alliances in the future.
To answer the question, we need to understand what Washington meant when he said that the maxim "honesty is the best policy" should be applied to foreign relations. To do this, we can analyze the given responses and eliminate those that do not align with Washington's statement.
- The first response suggests that the United States should have announced cutting off relations with other nations. However, this goes against the idea of honesty being the best policy as it implies a lack of transparency.
- The second response proposes terminating formal relationships with European nations. Again, this disregards the idea of honesty as it suggests abruptly ending relationships without proper communication.
- The third response states that there was no need to be coy about US intentions to avoid permanent alliances in the future. This aligns more closely with the concept of honesty, as it suggests openly expressing intentions for non-permanent alliances.
- The final response suggests that the president should privately reassure foreign leaders while maintaining a separation from other nations' policies publicly. This also supports the idea of honesty by promoting transparency in private discussions while maintaining diplomatic boundaries publicly.
Therefore, based on Washington's statement, the most suitable answer would be: "The president should privately reassure foreign leaders that America stands with them but publicly maintain a separation from other nations' policies."