For a man who always desired to be a great
statesman, Woodrow Wilson had the supreme fortune–or perhaps misfortune–to
enter national politics at the moment he did. Essentially a political unknown
with only two years of public service under his belt when he was
elected President in 1912, Wilson was thrown into the frenzy of
progressive reform and a rapidly changing international order.
Since the last quarter of the 1800s, the rift between
the wealthy and poor in the U.S. had been growing wider. A plutocracy
formed as the wealthy got wealthier and the laborers and poor generally
did not. The hardest hit by this division were farmers, and in
the 1890s many in the Midwest joined to form the Populist Party
headed by William Jennings Bryan. The Populists wanted to reform
government in general and give more money to destitute farmers in
particular. The movement died by the turn of the century, however, primarily
because its followers could not rally support for their extreme
economic reforms. However, the impetus for government reform had
been planted, and when more Northerners began to demand change,
Progressivism was born.
Progressives fought for a variety of reforms in the years
prior to and during Wilson's presidency. W.E.B. DuBois of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) fought for racial
equality in all aspects of life. Jane Addams founded and directed
the Hull House for twenty-five years to help the urban poor. Margaret
Sanger promoted the use of birth control and petitioned many state
governments to lift their bans on contraceptives, which were illegal
at the time. Feminists throughout the country fought hard for and
won the right to vote with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment
in 1920. Governor Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin adopted several
new ballot initiatives such as recall, referendum, and the direct
election of U.S. Senators.
Progressivism peaked during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency from
1901 to 1908. Much of Roosevelt's domestic policy involved fighting
big industry and corruption to help the common man. He offered
the American people a "Square Deal" to improve their standard of
living and to exert more control over large domineering corporations,
or trusts. Trusts, technically illegal under the 1890 Sherman Act,
attempted to consolidate business interests to create monopolies
on specific products and eliminate competition. Although Roosevelt
succeeded in reforming government, his successor William Howard
Taft–who had been elected as a Rooseveltian reformer–had by the
end of his four years managed only to alienate the progressives
in both parties. It is little surprise the progressives looked
to the Governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson, a man who had in
only two years drastically reformed politics and government in
his state. They elected Wilson to continue the progressive traditions
in Washington.
Ironically, Wilson's primary challenges during his two
terms in office came not from domestic concerns, but from several
international crises. Shortly after his inauguration, Wilson faced
a new threat from Mexico. The country underwent two revolutions
during Wilson's administration, and the United States was involved
in both. Wilson sent American troops to occupy the Mexican port
of Veracruz during the first, and a much larger invasion force
called the Punitive Expedition in the second. Relations between
the two nations very nearly collapsed into war. Wilson also attempted
to amend the wrongs committed by the imperialist Roosevelt administration.
While in office Wilson gave almost total political autonomy to
the Philippine Islands, apologized to the Colombian government
for America's involvement in the Panamanian Revolution of 1903,
and had Congress repeal the unfair Panama Canal Act. However, though
Wilson strongly believed in the liberal ideal of self-determination,
he also ordered the occupations of Haiti, the Dominican Republic,
and Nicaragua during his first term.
Wilson also dealt with the European conflict. Since the
1870s, a number of the major countries in Europe had been gearing
for war with each other. The independent German kingdoms united
in the 1870s and began to grow to eventually become the largest
power on the continent. Meanwhile, France was arming heavily in
case its centuries-old rival Germany chose to attack. Russia also
feared the growing German threat and sought to ally itself with
Great Britain, France, and even Germany itself for protection.
The British, for their part, tried hard to remain out of the conflict,
but found that having the world's most powerful navy made that
impossible. Rebellious provinces within the Austro-Hungarian Empire
made central Europe extremely unstable, and the leaders of the
Ottoman Empire in the Near East sought to expand their power. War
was inevitable, and when it did erupt, it quickly became the bloodiest conflict
in human history. President Wilson faced the task of charting America's
course in the war. After eventually uniting with the Entente powers
to defeat the Central powers, he then had to convince the world
to work for a true, lasting peace.
