Big stick ideology, big stick diplomacy, or big stick policy refers to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt 's foreign policy: "speak softly and carry a big stick. '' Roosevelt described his style of foreign policy as "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis. ''
define speak softly and carry a big stick
"the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis. ''