Empire Marine examines the role that Littleton W. T. Waller played in the development and growth of the Marine Corps within the emerging empire of turn-of-the-century America. The grandson of the governor of Virginia, Littleton W.T. Waller grew up during the post-Civil War years when his widowed mother struggled to provide for her sons. Unable to attend university or a professional military school, Waller secured a commission in the Marine Corps in 1880 and began a long and successful military career. Waller's service corresponded with the growth of the Marine Corps and the exportation of American imperialism in the 1890s and beyond. Particularly significant were the episodes of U.S. political and military expansion in South America, the Philippines, China, Panama, Cuba, and Haiti. Waller's experiences reflected the new emerging role that marines would play in the execution of American policy across the globe.