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slash podcast Woodrow Wilson
by Wikipedia Thomas Woodrow Wilson
December 28 1856 to February 3rd
1924 was the 28th President of the United States
a devout Presbyterian and leading intellectual at the Progressive Era
he served as President of Princeton University and then became the governor
of New Jersey
in 1910 with the Roosevelt and William Howard Taft
dividing the republican party vote Wilson was elected president as a
democrat
in 1912 he proved highly successful
in leading a Democratic Congress to pass major legislation
that included the Federal Trade Commission the Clayton Antitrust Act
the Underwood tariff the federal farm Loan Act and most notably
the Federal Reserve System Wilson was a proponent of segregation during his
presidency
narrowly reelected in 1916
his second term centered on World War one he tried to maintain US neutrality
but when the German Empire began unrestricted submarine warfare
he wrote several admonishing notes to Germany and eventually
ask Congress to declare war on the Central Powers
he focused on diplomacy and financial considerations
leaving the waging of the war primarily in the hands of the military
establishment
on the home front he began the first
effective draft in 1917 raised billions to Liberty loans
imposed income tax set up the war industries board
promoted labor union growth supervised agriculture and food production
through the lever act took over control of the railroads and suppressed
anti-war movements he paid surprisingly little attention to military affairs
but provided the funding and food supplies that helped the Americans in
the war
and hastened Allied victory in 1918 in the late stages of the war
he took personal control ago she asians with Germany
especially with the 14 points and the armistice
he went to Paris in 1919 to create the league of nations
and shape the Treaty of Versailles with special attention on creating new
nations
other defunct empires largely for his efforts to form the league
he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919
Wilson collapsed with the debilitating stroke
in 1919 as the home front saw a massive strikes and race riots
and wartime prosperity turn into post-war depression
he refused to compromise with the Republicans who controlled Congress
after 1918
effectively destroying any chance for ratification
the Versailles Treaty the League of Nations was established anyway
but the US never joined wilson's idealistic
internationalism calling for the US to into the World Arena to fight for
democracy
progressiveness said liberalism has been a highly controversial position
in American foreign policy serving as a model for
idealists to emulate or realists to reject
for the following century
early life
Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton Virginia in 1856
as the third of four children and to reverend doctor Joseph Wilson
1822 to $19.3 and Jenna woodrow
1826 to 1888 his ancestry was Scott
Irish his paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from
Strabane County Tyrone
Northern Ireland while his mother was born in Carlisle
to Scottish parents Wilson's father was originally from Steubenville Ohio
where his grandfather had been an abolitionist newspaper publisher
and his uncles were republicans but his parents moved south
in 1851 and identified with the Confederacy
his father defended slavery own slaves
and set up a Sunday school for them they cared for wounded soldiers at their
church
the father also briefly served as a chaplain to the Confederate Army
Wilson's father was one of the founders of the southern Presbyterian Church in
the United States
after it split from the northern presbyterians in 1861
Joseph r Wilson served as the first permanent clerk at the southern churches
General Assembly
was stated clerk from 1865
to 1898 and was moderator above the church General Assembly
in 1879 Wilson spent the majority of his childhood
up to age 14 in Augusta Georgia where his father was minister of the First
Presbyterian Church
Wilson did not learn to read until he was about 12 years old
his difficulty reading may have indicated dyslexia
or ADHD but as a teenager he taught himself
shorthand to compensate and was able to achieve academically
to determination and self-discipline he studied at home
under his father's guidance and took classes in a small school in Augusta
during reconstruction he lived in Columbia South Carolina
the state capitol from 1872 1874
where his father was professor at the Columbia Theological Seminary
in 1873 he spent a year at Davidson College in North Carolina
then transferred to princeton as a freshman graduating in 1879
beginning in his second year he read widely
in political philosophy and history he was active in the undergraduate
discussion club
and organized a separate liberal debating society
in 1879 Wilson attended law school at the University of Virginia for one year
although he never graduated during his tenure at the University
he was heavily involved in the Virginia glee club as well as the jefferson
literary and debating society
his frail health dictated withdrawal and he went home to Wilmington North
Carolina
where he continued his studies Wilson was also a member
the fire Kappa Psi Fraternity in 1885
he married Ellen Louise exxon the daughter of the minister from Rome
Georgia
they had three daughters Margaret Woodrow Wilson
1886 to 1944 Jesse Wilson
1887 to 1933 and
Eleanor r Wilson 1889 to 1967
Wilson's mother was probably
a hypochondriac and Wilson seem to think he was often in poor health
that he really was however he did suffer from hypertension at a relatively
early age and may have suffered his first stroke at age 39
he cycled regularly including several cycling vacations
in the Lake District in Britain unable to cycle around washington DC as
president
Wilson to to playing golf although he played with more enthusiasm
than skill during the winter the secret service would paid some golf balls black
so wilson could hit them around in the snow on the White House lawn
in January 1882 Wilson decided to start his first law practice
in atlanta one of wilson's University of Virginia classmates
Edward Ireland Renick invited Wilson to join his new law practice
as partner Wilson joined him there in May
1882 on October 19th
1882 he appeared in court before Judge George Hill year
to take his examination for the bar which he passed with flying colors
and he began work on his thesis congressional government
in the United States competition was fierce
in the city with 143 other lawyers so with few cases to keep him occupied
Wilson quickly grew disillusioned moreover
Wilson had studied law in order to eventually enter politics
but he discovered that he could not continue his study of government
and simultaneously continue the reading of the law necessary to stay proficient
in April 1883 Wilson applied to the new
John Hopkins University to study for a PhD in History and Political Science
which he completed in 1886 he remains the only US president to have earned a
doctoral degree
in July 1883 Wilson left his law practice
to begin his academic studies
political writings
Wilson
with age in the decades after the American Civil War when Congress was
supreme
the just a bowl policy decided by the legislature and corruption
was rampant instead of focusing on individuals in explaining where american
politics went wrong
Wilson focused on the american constitutional structure
under the influence of water budgets the English Constitution
Wilson saw the United States Constitution as premodern
cumbersome and open to corruption an admirer of Parliament
though he first visited London in 1919 Wilson favored a parliamentary system
for the united states
reading in the early 1880s I ask you to put this question to yourselves
should we not draw the executive and legislator closer together
should we not on the one hand give the individual leaders opinion in congress
a better chance to have an intimate party in determining who should be
president
and the president on the other hand a better chance to prove himself a
statesman
and his advisors capable men have affairs
in the guidance of Congress Wilson started
congressional government his best-known political work
as an argument for a parliamentary system but Wilson
was impressed by Grover Cleveland and congressional government
emerged as a critical description as america's system
with brick with negative comparisons to westminster Wilson himself claimed
I'm pointing up fax diagnosing
not prescribing remedies Wilson believe that America's
intricate system of checks and balances was the cause of the problems in
American governments
he said that the divided power made it impossible for voters to see who was
accountable for ill doing
if government be a badly Wilson asked
how was the schoolmaster the nation to know which boy
needs the whipping power and strict accountability for its use
are the essential constituents have good government it is therefore
manifestly a radical defect in our federal system
that'd partials out power and confuses responsibility as it does
the main purpose of the convention of 1787
seems to have been to accomplish this grievous mistake
the literary theory %uh checks and balances is
simply a consistent account of what our constitution makers tried to do
and those checks and balances have proven mischievous just to the extent
which they have succeeded
in a stab wishing themselves the framers would be the first to admit
that the only fruit up dividing power had been to make it irresponsible
the longest section have congressional government
is on the United States House of Representatives where Wilson
pours out scorned by the committee system our
Wilson Road is divided up as it were in 247 signatories
each of which Standing Committee is the court Baron
and its chairman Lord proprietor these petty barons
some of them not a little powerful but none of them within reach of the full
powers a rule
me it will exercise in almost despotic
sway within their own Shires ad may sometimes
threatened to convulse even the realm itself Wilson said that the committee
system
was fundamentally undemocratic because committee chairs
who ruled by seniority were responsible to no one except the constituents
even though they determined national policy in addition to their undemocratic
nature
wilson also believed that the committee system facilitated corruption
the voter moreover feels that his want to have confidence in congress
is justified by what he hears the power of corrupt lobbyists to turn legislation
to their own uses here's a vid Norma subsidies bagged and obtained
appropriations made in the interest have dishonest contractors
he is not altogether unwarranted in the conclusion
that these are evils inherent in the very nature of Congress
there can be no doubt that the power of the lobbyist consists in great part
if not altogether in the facility afforded him by the committee system
by the time Wilson finished congressional government Grover
Cleveland was president
and Wilson had his faith in the United States government restored
with William Jennings Bryan captured the Democratic nomination from Cleveland
supporters in 1896
however Wilson refused to stand by the ticket
instead he cast his ballot for John in Palmer
the presidential candidate at the National Democratic Party
or gold democrats a short-lived party that supported a gold standard
low tariffs and limited government
after experiencing vigorous presidencies from william mckinley
and Theodore Roosevelt Wilson no longer entertain thoughts a parliamentary
government
at home in his last scholarly work in nineteen 8
constitutional government to the United States
Wilson said that the presidency will be as big
and is influential as the man who occupies it
by the time in his presidency Wilson merely hoped the president's could be
party leaders
in the same way prime ministers were wilson also hope
that the parties could be reorganized along ideological
not geographic lines eight words
Wilson wrote contain the Sun move the present-day good Asian with our
political parties
no leaders no principles no principles
no parties
academic career
Wilson sir
cotija Bryn Mawr College and Wesleyan University at Wesleyan
he also coached the football team and founded the debate team
to this date it is named the TV Woodrow Wilson debate team
he then joined the Princeton faculty as professor of jurisprudence and political
economy
in 1890 while there he was one of the faculty members of the short-lived
coordinate college
Evelyn College for Women additionally Wilson became the first lecture a
constitutional law
at New York Law School where he talked with charles
Evans Hughes Wilson delivered an oration
at princeton just wasn't in your celebration in 1896
entitled princeton in the nation's service
this has become a frequently alluded to model at the University
later expanded to princeton in the nation service
and in the service all nations in this famous speech
he outlined his vision at the University in a democratic nation
calling on institutions of higher learning to illuminate
duty by every lesson that can be drawn out at the past
the trustees promoted professor Wilson
to president at princeton in nineteen to although the school's indictment was
barely four million dollars
he shot two million dollars for a precept Oriel system
teaching one million dollars for a school of science
and nearly three million dollars for new buildings and salary raises
as a long-term objective Wilson shot three million dollars for a graduate
school
and 2.5 million dollars for schools jurisprudence and electrical engineering
as well as a museum of Natural History he achieved little at that because he
was not a strong fundraiser
but he did increase the faculty from 112 to 174 men
most to them personally selected as outstanding teachers
the curriculum guidelines he developed
proved important progressive innovations in the field of higher education
to enhance the role and expertise Wilson instituted academic departments
and assisted with core requirements where students met in groups have sex
with preceptors
followed by two years and concentration in a selected major
he tried to raise admission standards
and to replace the gentleman see with serious study
Wilson aspired as he told alumni to transform a thoughtless boys performing
tasks
into thinking men from 1916 1910
he attempted to curtail the influence of the elitist
social clubs by moving the students in the college's
this was met with resistance from many alumni
Wilson felt that the compromise would be to Temple rise with evil
even more damaging was his confrontation with Andrew Fleming West
dean of the Graduate School and West ally former President Grover Cleveland
a trustee Wilson wanna do
integrate the proposed graduate building into the same area with the
undergraduate colleges
West wanted them separated the trustees rejected wilson's plan for colleges in
nineteen eight
and then endorsed West plans in 99
the national press covered the confrontation
as a battle at the elite's West russia's democracy
Wilson during this time in his personal life
Wilson engaged in an extramarital affair with socialite
Mary pack Wilson after considering resignation
decided to take up invitations to move into new jersey state politics
governor of New Jersey
during the New Jersey election at 19:10
the democrats took control of the Statehouse and Wilson was elected
governor
the state Senate however remained in republican controlled by a slim margin
after taking office Wilson said in places reformist agenda
ignoring what party bosses told him he was to do well governor
in a period spanning six months Wilson established eight primaries
this all but took the party bosses out at the presidential election process in
the state
he also revamped the Public Utility Commission and introduced workers
compensation
campaign for presidency in 1912
Wilson made himself known at the democratic convention in 1912
again denouncing the party bosses by declaring his opponent champ Clark
the speaker at the house as a party boss man
this allowed him to come away with the party's nomination
for president the democratic national committee met in Baltimore in 1912
to select Wilson as their candidate he didn't chose the officers at the
Democratic National Committee
that would serve the campaign Charles our crane
taps ambassador to China as vice president the Finance Committee
rolla wells twice merit Saint Louis and later governor of the Federal Reserve
Bank at Saint Louis
as treasurer and Henry Morgentaler senior
as president the Finance Committee his running mate
was Governor Thomas are marshall et Indiana
in the election Wilson ran against two major candidates
incumbent President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt
who broke with Taft and the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party
even radicals like John Reid and Max eastman
happily supported wilson Mother Jones wrote
I am a socialist but I admire Wilson for the things he has done
and when a man or woman does something for Humanity I say go to him
and shaken by the hand and say I'm for you
the election was bitterly contested
vice president James s Sherman died on october thirtieth
1912 less than a week before the election
leaving taft without a running mate and with the republican party divided
Wilson captured the presidency handily on November 5th
Wilson won with just 41.8 percent to the votes
but he won 435 electoral votes
presidency
13 to 1921 first-term
Wilson experienced early success
by implementing his new freedom pledges a band aid trust modification
tariff revision and reform in banking and currency matters
Wilson's first wife Ellen died on August 6th
1914 a bright disease in 1915
he met Edith got they married later that year
on December 18th Wilson arrived at the white house
with severe digestive problems he created himself
with the stomach pump Federal Reserve
1930 the Federal Reserve Act
is one of the more significant pieces of legislation in the history
at the United States Wilson outmaneuvered bankers at enemies a
bank's
north and south Democrats and Republicans to secure passage of the
Federal Reserve System
in late nineteen thirteen he took a plan that had been designed by conservative
republicans
led by Nelson W aldrich and banker Paul
more Berg and passed it however Wilson had to find a middle ground between
those who supported the aldrich plan
and those who opposed including the powerful
agrarian wing at the party led by William Jennings Bryan
which strenuously denounced banks and Wall Street
they wanted a government-owned Central Bank which could print paper money
whenever congress wanted
wilson's plan still allowed the large banks to have imported influence
but Wilson went beyond the aldrich plan and created a central board made up a
person's appointed by the president
and approved by congress who would outnumber the board members who were
bankers
moreover Wilson convinced Brian supporters that because
Federal Reserve notes were obligations are the government the plan fit their
demands
wilson's plan also decentralize the Federal Reserve System into 12
district's
this was designed to weaken the influence of the powerful new york banks
a key demand a brian's allies in the south and west
this decentralization was a key factor in winning the supportive congressmen
conker glass
democrat Virginia although he objected to making paper currency
a federal obligation glass was one of the leaders of the currency reformers in
the US House
and without his support any plan was doomed to fail
the final plan passed in December 1913
despite opposition by bankers who felt it gave
too much control to Washington and buy some reformers
who felt allowed bankers to maintain too much power
Wilson named warburg and other prominent bankers to direct the new system
despite the reformers hopes the New York branch dominated the Fed
and us power remained in wall street
the new system began operations in 1915
and played a major role in financing the Allied
an American war efforts
wilsonian economic views
wilson's early views
on International Affairs and Trade were stated in his columbia university
lectures are April 19 7
where he said since trade ignores national boundaries
and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market
the flag at his nation must follow him and the doors at the nation's which are
closed
must be better down concessions obtained by financiers
must be safeguarded by ministers of state even if the sovereignty about
willing nations be outraged in the process
colonies must be obtained or planted in order that no useful corner of the world
may be overlooked or left unused
other
Amick policies in 1913
the Underwood tera lowered tariffs rates the revenue thereby lost
was replaced by a new federal income tax authorized by the 16th amendment
which had been sponsored by the republicans the Siemens act
%uh 1915 improved working conditions for merchant sailors
in response to the Titanic disaster it also required all ships to be
retrofitted with lifeboats
a series of programs were targeted at Farmers
the Smith leader Act of 1914 created the modern system a
agricultural extension agents sponsored by the state agricultural colleges
the agents brought new techniques to farmers
the 1916 federal farm Loan board issued low cost
long term mortgages to farmers child labor was curtailed by the keating
oh an active 1916 but the US Supreme Court
declared it unconstitutional in 1918
additional child labor bills would not be enacted until the nineteen thirties
the railroad Brotherhood's threatened in summer nineteen sixteen
to shut down the national transportation system Wilson tried to bring labor and
management together
but with management refused he had Congress passed the
adamson act in September 1916 which avoided the strike
by imposing an eight-hour workday in the industry
at the same pay as before it helped Wilson gain union support for his
reelection
the Act was approved by the Supreme Court anti-trust
Wilson broke with the big lawsuit tradition at his predecessor's staff
and Roosevelt has crushed busters finding a new approach to encouraging
competition through the Federal Trade Commission
which stop unfair trade practices in addition
he pushed through Congress the Clayton Antitrust Act making certain business
practices illegal
including discrimination agreements forbidding retailers
from handling other companies products and directorates
and agreements to control other companies the power at this legislation
was greater than previous anti-trust laws
because individual officers of corporations
could be held responsible if their companies violated the laws
more importantly the new law's set out clear guidelines the corporations could
follow
a dramatic improvement over the previous uncertainties
this law was considered the Magna Carta
labor by Samuel Gompers because it in did you need my ability anti-trust laws
in 1916 he prevented the National railroad strike by approving legislation
that increased wages
and cut working hours a railroad employees war policy
World War one Wilson spent
1914 to the beginning of 1917
trying to keep America out at the war in Europe he offered to be a mediator
but neither the allies nor the Central Powers took his request seriously
republicans led by Theodore Roosevelt
strongly criticized wilson's refusal to build up the US Army
in anticipation at the threat of war Wilson won the support of the US peace
element
by arguing that an army buildup would provoke war he vigorously protested
Germany's usurp submarines as illegal
causing his secretary of state William Jennings Bryan
to resign in protest in 1915 while German submarines were seeking allied
ships
Britain had declared a blockade Germany preventing neutral shipping carrying
contraband goods
to Germany while German submarines were sinking allied ships
Britain had declared a blockade of Germany preventing neutral shipping
carrying
so-called contraband goods to Germany
Wilson protested this violation of neutral rights by London
however his protests to the British were not viewed as being as forceful as those
he directed towards Germany
this reflects the fact that while Britain was violating international law
towards neutral shipping by mining international harbors
and killing sailors including americans their violations
were not direct attacks on the shipping other Americans
or other neutrals while German submarine warfare
directly targeted shipping that benefited their enemies
neutral or not violating international law
and resulting invisible American deaths
election
Steen
renominated
teen wilson's major campaign slogan was
he kept us out of war referring to his administration's avoiding open conflict
with Germany
or Mexico while maintaining a firm national policy
Wilson however never promised to keep out of war regardless a provocation
in his acceptance speech on September 2nd 1916
Wilson pointedly warned Germany that submarine warfare that took american
lives would not be tolerated
the nation that violates these essential rights
must expect to be checked and call to account by direct challenge and
resistance
it at once makes the quarrel in part our own
Wilson narrowly won the election
defeating Republican candidate Charles Evans Hughes
as governor of New York from 1917 1910
Hughes had a progressive record strikingly similar to Wilson's
as governor of New Jersey theodore roosevelt would comment that the only
thing different between
use and Wilson was a shave however
Hughes had to try to hold together a coalition of conservative taft
supporters
and progressive roosevelt partitions and so his campaign never seem to take a
definite form
Wilson read on his record and ignored Hughes
reserving his attacks for roosevelt when asked why he did not the tech used
directly
Wilson told a friend to never murder a man who is committing suicide
the final result was exceptionally close and the result was
in doubt for several days because at Wilson's fear a becoming a lame duck
president
during the uncertainties are the war in Europe he created a hypothetical plan we
refuse were elected
he would name Hughes Secretary of State and then resign
along with the vice president to enable Hughes to become the president
the vote came down to several close States
Wilson won california by 3,700 73 votes
Adam almost a million votes cast a new hampshire
by 54 votes Hughes 1 Minnesota
by 393 boats other over 358,000
in the final count Wilson had 277 electoral votes
versus Hughes 254 Wilson was able to win reelection in nineteen sixteen
by picking up many votes that had gone to teddy roosevelt
are you gene V Debs in 1912
term Wilson second term
focused almost exclusively on World War one which for the US
formally began on April 6th 1917
only a little over a month after the term again
after Wilson the next US president to win both his terms with under fifty
percent to the popular vote
was fellow Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1992
1996 elections decision for war
1917 when Germany resumed
unrestricted submarine warfare in early nineteen seventeen
and made a clumsy attempt to enlist Mexico as an ally with the Zimmerman
telegram
Wilson took america into World War one
as a war to make the world safe for democracy
he did not sign a formal alliance with the United Kingdom are friends
but operated as an Associated power he raised a massive army
through conscription and gave command to general john J pershing
allowing pershing a free hand as to tactics strategy
and even diplomacy Woodrow Wilson had decided by then
that the war had become a real threat to humanity unless the US threw its weight
into the war as he stated in this declaration of war speech
western civilization itself could be destroyed
his statement announcing a war to end all wars
meant that he wanted to build a basis for peace that would prevent future
catastrophic wars
and needless death and destruction this provided the basis of Wilson's
14 points which were intended to resolve territorial disputes
insure free trade and commerce and establish the peacemaking organization
which
later emerged as the League of Nations to stop defeatism at home
Wilson pushed the espionage active 1917
and the Sedition Act of 1918 through congress
to suppress anti-british pro-german or anti-war opinions
you welcome socialists who supported the war
such as walter Lippmann but would not tolerate those who tried to impede the
war or worse
assassinate government officials and pushed for deportation
a foreign-born radicals over 170,000 US citizens were arrested during this
period
in some cases for things they said about the president
in their own homes
citing the Espionage Act the US Post Office refused to carry
any written materials that could be deemed critical at the US war effort
some sixty dues papers were deprived of their second-class mailing rights
his wartime policies were strongly pro-labor
though again he had no love for radical unions like the Industrial Workers of
the World
the American Federation of Labor and other moderate unions
so enormous growth in membership in wages during wilson's administration
there was no rationing so consumer prices soared
as income taxes increased white-collar workers suffered
appeals to buy war bonds were highly successful however
bonds are the result of shifting the cost to the war
to the flu at nineteen twenties Wilson set up the first Western propaganda
office
the United States Committee on Public Information headed by George creel
thus its popular name the creel Commission
which filled the country with patriotic anti-german appeals
and conducted various forms of censorship
American protective league the American protective league
a cause I private organization with 250,000 members
in six hundred cities was sanctioned by the Wilson administration
these men carried government issue badges and freely conducted warrantless
searches and interrogations
this organization was empowered by the US Justice Department
to spy on Americans for anti-government anti-war behavior
as National Police the APL checked up on people who fail to by Liberty Bonds
and spoke out against the government's policies the 14 points
President Woodrow Wilson articulated what became known as
the 14 points before congress on January 8
1918 the points where the only war aims clearly expressed by any belligerent
nation
and thus became the basis for the Treaty of Versailles following World War one
the speech was highly idealistic translating wilson's progressive
domestic policy have democracy
self-determination open agreements and free trade
into the international realm it also made several suggestions for specific
disputes in Europe
on the recommendation of Wilson's foreign policy adviser
Colonel Edward M house and his team have 150 advisers
the points where one abolition
up secret treaties to Freedom of the Seas
3 free trade for
disbarment 5 adjustment
of colonial claims decolonization and national self-determination
6 Russia assured a independent development
and international withdrawal from occupied russian territory
7 restoration Belgium
to antebellum national status 8 alsace-lorraine returned to France
from Germany 9 Italian borders
redrawn on lines have nationality 10
autonomous development austria-hungary as a nation
as the austro-hungarian empire dissolved 11
Romania serbia montenegro and other Balkan states
to be granted integrity have their territories d occupied
and Serbia to be given access to the adriatic sea
12 sovereignty for the Turkish people at the Ottoman Empire
as the empire dissolved autonomous development for other nationalities
within the former empire 13 establishment other independent Poland
with access to the sea and 14
general Association at the nation's a multilateral
International Association of Nations to enforce the peace
the League of Nations the speech
was controversial in america and even more so with its allies
France wanted hi reparations from germany
as French agriculture industry add lives had been so demolished by the war
and Britain as the great naval power did not want Freedom of the Seas
Wilson compromised with Clemenceau Lloyd George
and many other European leaders during the Paris Peace Talks
to ensure that the 14th point the League of Nations
would be established in the end wilson's own congress did not accept the league
and only for the original 14 points were implemented fully
in Europe other foreign affairs
between 1914
in 1918 the United States intervened in Latin America
particularly in mexico eighty cuba and Panama
the US maintained troops in nicaragua throughout his administration
and used them to select the president nicaragua and then to force the country
to pass the Brian
tomorrow treaty American troops in haiti
force the haitian legislature to choose the candidate Wilson selected as haitian
president
American troops occupied haiti between 1915
and 1934 after Russia left the war in 1917 following the Bolshevik Revolution
the allies sent troops presumably to prevent a German or Bolshevik takeover
other allied provided weapons
munitions and other supplies which had previously been shipped as
aid to the Charest government Wilson said
armed forces to assist the withdrawal of Czech and Slovak prisoners along the
Trans Siberian Railway
hold key port cities at archangel and let a bus stock
and safeguard supplies into the czarist forces
though not sent to engage the bolsheviks the US forces had several
armed conflicts against russian forces
Wilson withdrew the soldiers on April 1st 1920
though some remained as late as 1922
as Davis intronic include Wilson Lansing and Colby
helped lay the foundations for the leader cold-war and policy of
containment
there was no military confrontation armed standoff our arms race
yet certain basic square there suspicion
mutual misunderstandings dislike fear
ideological hostility and diplomatic isolation
each side was driven by ideology by capitalism
versus communism each country sought to reconstruct to the world
when the world resisted pressure could be used
Versailles 1919
after world war 1 Wilson participated in negotiations with the stated aim with
assuring statehood
or formerly oppressed nations and inequitable peace
on January 8th 1918 Wilson made his famous
14 points address introducing the idea of a League of Nations
an organization with the stated goal up helping to preserve territorial
integrity
and political independence among large and small nations alike
Wilson intended the 14 points as a means toward ending the war
and achieving an equitable peace for all the nations
he spent six months at Paris by the nineteen 19 Paris Peace Conference
making him the first US president to travel to Europe well at office
he worked tirelessly to promote his plan the Charter
the proposed League of Nations was incorporated into the conference's
Treaty of Versailles for his peacemaking efforts
Wilson was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize
however Wilson field to win senate support for ratification
and the United States never joined the league
republicans under Henry Cabot Lodge controlled the senate after the 1989
elections
but Wilson refused to give them a voice at Paris and refused to agree to lodge
is proposed changes
the key point of disagreement was whether the league would diminish the
power of Congress to declare war
historians generally have come to regard wilson's failure to win US
entry into the league as perhaps the biggest mistake in his administration
and even as one of the largest failures up any american presidency
post-war 1919 to 1920
Wilson had ignored the problems of demobilization after the war
and the process was chaotic and violent four million soldiers were sent home
with little planning
little money and few benefits a wartime bubble in prices a farmland burst
leading many farmers bankrupt are deeply in debt after they purchased new land
in 1919 major strikes in steel in meatpacking broke out
serious race riots it Chicago and other cities
after a series of bombings by radical anarchist group
in New York and elsewhere Wilson directed Attorney General
a mitchell Palmer to put a stop to the violence
Palmer then ordered the palmer raids with the aim of collecting
evidence on violent radical groups to deport foreign born agitators
and Jill domestic ones Wilson broke with many of his closest political friends
and allies in 1918
to 1920 including Kanal house
historians speculate that a series of strokes may have affected his
personality
he desired a third term but his Democratic Party was in turmoil
with German voters outraged at their wartime harassment
and irish voters angry at his failure to support Irish independence
support pubs I am -ism
Wilson was sympathetic to the plight of jews especially in Poland and France
as president Wilson repeatedly stated in nineteen 19
that US policy was to acquiesce in the Balfour Declaration
but not officially support zionism
after he left office Wilson wrote a letter up strong support to the idea of
the Jewish state in Palestine
and objected to territorial concessions regarding its borders
women's suffrage until Wilson
announced his support for suffrage a group of women calling themselves
silent sentinels protest in front of the White House
holding banners such as mister president what will you do
for women's suffrage absolutely nothing
in January 1918 after years of lobbying and public demonstrations
Wilson finally announced his support to the 19th amendment
guaranteeing women the right to vote the amendment passed the house
but failed in the Senate finally on june fourth nineteen 19
the Senate passed the amendment
incapacity
the cause of Wilson's incapacitation was the physical strain at the demanding
public speaking to her he undertook
to obtain support to the american people for ratification
the covenant of the League after one of his final speeches
to attempt to promote the League of Nations in Pueblo Colorado on september
twenty-fifth
1919 he collapsed on October 2nd
Wilson suffered a serious stroke that almost totally incapacitated him
leaving him paralyzed on his left side and blind in his left eye
for at least a few months he was confined to a wheelchair
afterwards he could walk only with the assistance of a cane
the full extent of his disability was kept from the public
until after his death on February 3rd 1924
with few exceptions Wilson was purposely kept out at the president's a vice
president Thomas R Marshall
his cabinet or congressional visitors to the White House
for the remainder of his presidential term his first wife
Ellen had died in 1914 so his second wife Edith
services steward selecting issues for his attention
and delegating other issues to his cabinet heads
this was as of 2008 the most serious case of presidential disability in
American history
and was later cited as a key example why ratification at the twenty-fifth
amendment
was seen as important
will sodium idealism
Wilson was a remarkably effective writer bigger
decomposed speeches and other writings with two fingers
on a little Hammond typewriter wilson's diplomatic policies had a profound
influence on shaping the world
diplomatic historian Walter Russell Mead has explained
wilson's principles survived the Eclipse at the Versailles system
and they still guide European politics today
self-determination democratic government collective security
international law and a League of Nations
wilson may not have gotten everything he wanted a purse I and his treaty was
never ratified by the Senate
but his vision and his diplomacy for better or worse
set the tone for the 20th century France
Germany Italy and Britain may have sneered at Wilson
but everyone at these powers today conducts its European policy
long will Sony in lines what was once dismissed as visionary
is now accepted as fundamental
this was no mean achievement and no european statesman at the 20th century
has had as lasting
has been nine or is widespread an influence
American foreign relations since 1914 have rested on will Saudi in idealism
argues historian David Kennedy even if just did somewhat by the
realism represented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
and henry kissinger Kennedy argues that every president since wilson has
embraced the core precepts of wilsonian -ism
nixon himself hun wilson's portrait in the White House Cabinet Room
wilson's ideas continue to dominate American foreign policy in the 21st
century
in the aftermath of 9/11 they have if anything
taken on even greater vitality
Wilson and race
while president at princeton university Wilson discouraged blacks from
even applying for admission princeton would not admit its first black student
until the nineteen forties Wilson allowed many of his cabinet officials to
establish
official segregation and most federal government offices
in some departments for the first time since 1863
Wilson and his cabinet members fired many black Republican officeholders
but also appointed a few black democrats wTB du bois
a leader at the NAACP campaign for Wilson
and in 1918 was offered an army Commission and charger dealing with race
relations
Dubai accepted but failed his army physical and did not sir
with a delegation a blacks protested his discriminatory actions
Wilson told them that segregation is not a humiliation but a benefit
and ought to be so regarded by you gentlemen
in 1914 he told the New York Times that if the colored people made a mistake in
voting for me
they are corrected Wilson was attacked by african-americans for his actions
but he was also attacked by Southern hard-line racists such as Georgian
Thomas key Watson for not going far enough in restricting black employment
in the federal government
the segregation introduced into the federal workforce by the Wilson
administration
was kept in place by succeeding presidents and was not finally rescinded
until the truman administration woodrow wilson's history of the American people
explain the Ku Klux Klan at the late eighteen sixties
as the natural outgrowth reconstruction
a lawless reaction to a lawless period Wilson noted that the clan began to
attempt by intimidation
what they were not allowed to attempt by the ballot or by any
ordered course a public action wilson's words were repeatedly quoted in the film
the birth to the nation which has come under fire for racism
Thomas Dixon author of the novel the klansman
upon which the film is based was one of wilson's graduate school classmates at
John Hopkins
Dixon arranged a special white house preview without telling Wilson what the
film was about
there is debate about whether Wilson made the statement
it is like Grady history with lightning my only regret
is that it is also terribly true
others argue Wilson felt he had been tricked by Dixon
and in public statements claimed he did not like the film
Wilson blocked it showing during the war in the nineteen 23 letter to senator
Morris Sheppard AFB Texas
Wilson noted at the reborn clan no more
obnoxious or harmful organization has ever shown itself in our affairs
all the Wilson had a volatile relationship with american blacks
he was a friend at the Ethiopian Emperor hi Lisa lassie
a black African monarch a sword a gift from Selassie
can still be seen in Wilson's Washington DC home
white ethnics Wilson had some harsh words to say about immigrants
in his history books however after he entered politics in 1910
Wilson work to integrate new immigrants into the Democratic Party
into the army added to american life
he demanded in return during the war that the repudiated the loyalty to the
enemy
irish Americans were powerful and the democratic party and opposed going to
war alongside their enemy
Britain especially after the violent suppression at the easter rebellion at
19:16
Wilson won them over in 1917 by promising to ask Britain to get Ireland
its independence adverse I however he redid
at the irish-american community vehemently denounced him
Wilson intern blamed irish-americans and german Americans
for the lack of popular support for the league nations saying
the area's at organize propaganda against the league of nations
and against the treaty proceeding from exactly the same sources that the
organize propaganda preceded prime
which threaten this country here and there with disloyalty and I want to say
I cannot say too often any man who carries a hyphen about with him
carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals are this republic
whenever he gets ready
death in 1921
Wilson and his wife retired from the white house to a home in the embassy row
section in Washington DC
Wilson continued going for daily drives and attended Keith vaudeville Theatre on
Saturday night's
Wilson died at his s Street home on February 3rd
1924 because his plan for the League of Nations ultimately failed
he died feeling that he had lied to the American people
and that his motives for joining the war had been in vain
he was buried in Washington National Cathedral missus wilson
stayed in the home another thirty-seven years dying on december twenty-eighth
1961 missus wilson left the home to the National Trust for Historic Preservation
to be made into a museum honoring her husband Woodrow Wilson house
opened as a museum in 1964