Policy term coined by President Herbert Hoover on a goodwill trip to Latin America soon after his election in 1928. In Honduras, he announced
"We have a desire to maintain not only the cordial relations of governments with each other, but also the relations of good neighbors."
The intention was to mend relations with Latin American countries after they criticized The Coolidge Administration during the Sixth Pan-American Conference in Havana in 1928 for armed interventions in Haiti and Nicaragua. U.S. relations with Latin America were at an all-time low.