Jingoism is a term used to describe extreme patriotism, especially in the form of a warlike foreign policy. The term is often derogatory. The foreign policy of the United States has been described by as jingoist on occasion in history, most recently in criticisms by liberals of how Republican President George W. Bush handled the Iraq War. Liberals have not used to the term to criticize Democratic Presidents' starting of wars, as in the cases of Democratic President Harry S Truman (Korean War) and Democratic President Lyndon Johnson (Vietnam War). The term was first used to describe American foreign policy at the turn of the 20th century to describe Republican President Theodore Roosevelt's handling of the Spanish-American War.
The term comes from the now outdated and derogatory noun jingo, which describes one who vehemently supports policies that favor war, especially in the name of extreme patriotism. It was first used by the British to describe Russia's foreign policy in the 1870s; during that time, aggressive foreign policy was popularly known in the United States as spread-eagleism. The term "jingoism" didn't become popular in the United States until the aforementioned case involving Theodore Roosevelt.