President Woodrow Wilson

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ww28.html

Research Questions for Woodrow Wilson:

 1-      Why did it take President Wilson 3 years to finally ask Congress to declare War on Germany?                                                                                                              

2-       Was President Wilson really neutral, or was his upbringing an impediment to his ability to really act and behave in a neutral manner?

3-      What effect did the billions of dollars in loans made to the Allies have on Wilson's policies between 1914 and 1917?

4-      Did President Wilson have difficulty in committing men, arms, and money to a wasteful exercise for a war that would take him away from his Progressive program?

5-      How much did politics and his own reelection in 1916 have to do with Wilson's delaying America's entry in the First World War?

6-      How do historians and students view President Wilson 85 years after his most critical Presidential decisions?

 Mr. Newman's Lecture Notes:

President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

             Woodrow Wilson was born in Stauton, Virginia. His father was a Presbyterian minister, and his mother was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. This had to affect the way that President Wilson shaped his vision of the United States. When he had to decide what to do when Europe began the First World War, his childhood was a factor. Wilson received a strong moral upbringing. He became a lawyer but soon shifted into teaching political science in college. In 1902 he became president of Princeton University. In 1910 he ran for governor of New Jersey and was elected. He became a reformer and declared his independence of the Democratic Party machine. Wilson believed in a strong executive; but did not think that  "trusts" or monopolies should be regulated, he thought they should be broken up. He was elected President in 1912 by defeating President Taft who was running for reelection and former President Theodore Roosevelt who ran as an independent heading the  "Bull Moose" party. Wilson's campaign theme was a  "New Freedom." He made significant changes in the tariff and banking laws and helped pass anti-trust laws  (The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 and the Clayton Act the same year.)  Woodrow Wilson had to steer the country through difficult waters in the years between 1914 and 1917.  In fact, he won reelection with the slogan, "He kept us out of war."  He faced the challenge in those years that Franklin D. Roosevelt  would deal with 25 years later. How was he to prepare the country for war while at the same time keep Americans from feeling that he was leading them down the path of international conflict? Both Wilson and F. D. R. had to gain reelection while balancing these balls simultaneously.

             What factors about his strict upbringing and childhood helped him find his way through these troubled waters? In his speech to Congress in 1917 while urging them to declare war, he said that "the world must be made safe for Democracy," while trumpeting "freedom of the seas."  Wilson also had great affection for England. It was the heritage and the language and customs of that country that he loved so much. His was a natural disposition and predilection towards England and the Allies. No American admired British institutions and culture more fervently than Wilson did.   "Everything I love most in the world is at stake, he confessed privately to the British ambassador." (Garraty p.656). The President must have known that America's entry into the war would tip the balance in the stalemate of 1917. After 3 years of fighting, Allies and Central Powers were at a standstill. No side had the upper hand in the fighting.  Billions of dollars in loans was just another reason for America to support the Allies. 

Connections: Students should have a basic understanding of the factors that caused World War I (I will give a few fast reasons such as Militarism, Anarchy, Nationalism, Imperialism and Alliances). Wilson at first was hesitant. He refused even to ask Congress for increased military appropriations. But events pushed Wilson-- the sinking of the Luisitania in May of 1915 among them.  Students will be asked to study and identify factors that could  have caused Wilson eventually to bring the United States into the war.