Woodrow Wilson is the only president ever to have a Ph.D. behind his name. He graduated from Davidson College, Princeton University, University Virginia Law School and finally Johns Hopkins University (The Presidents: Washington to Reagan). Wilson, a Virginia native, grew up during the Civil War and was proud of the South’s gallant fight although he was glad that the North had won and preserved the Union. In 1902 he became president of Princeton University, the college he had played football at and received his master’s degree from. Wilson brought some changes to Princeton and was soon known for his belief in honest, democratic government. His presidential platform stemmed from similar standards that he had established at one of New Jersey’s top universities. In 1910 Wilson was elected as governor of New Jersey, and two years after that he was elected to the position of President of the United States(Blassingame, Wyatt).
He served for two terms, from 1913 to 1921. His first term was won with flying colors. The electoral vote count came in at 435 for Wilson, 88 for Teddy Roosevelt (Progressive), and 8 for William Taft (Republican). Although he was not as far ahead in the popular vote count, he still had almost 42 percent, while the other two each received 27 and 23 percent, respectively. His reelection campaign for the 1916 election had the staple phrase, “He kept us out of the war.” The campaign worked and he was elected for a second term at the White House. Wilson was reelected by the close electoral vote count of 277 to 254. The popular vote count was even closer, with Wilson receiving 9.1 million votes and his opponent Charles Hughes (Republican) receiving 8.5 million votes. Although the tally was closer the second time, the Scotch-Irish Democrat from Virginia and Thomas Marshall (his vice president for both terms) had once again defeated the opposition (David Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections).
During his terms of office, the 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments were ratified. The 17th Amendment wrote that the Senate would have two Senators from each state who had a term of six years and were elected by the people of their state. The amendment also explains qualifications for a Senator and the procedure that is to be followed should a vacancy arise. The 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919. It brought in the period known as Prohibition. The amendment said that one year after the article was ratified it would be illegal to make, sell, import, export, or transport intoxicating liquors. Prohibition lasted until the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment in 1933. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote when it was ratified in 1920 (The Constitution of the United States). It is interesting that this amendment was ratified during Woodrow Wilson’s time as president because Wilson personally believed that women should be subservient to men. Early in his political career he strongly voiced his opinion on the issue until he realized he would get more votes if he kept quiet about his personal beliefs (Krull, Kathleen).
During his first term Wilson made three Supreme Court appointments, and he made no appointments his second term. The first appointment came in 1914 when Wilson appointed James C. McReynolds to the Supreme Court. Louis D. Brandeis and John H. Clarke were appointed to the Supreme Court in 1916 (AmericanHeritage.com / The Presidents: Woodrow Wilson).
When Wilson took the Oval Office for the first time in 1913 his party (the Democrats) had a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Senate was a 51 to 44 majority over the opposition party (Republican). The House was a larger majority of 290 Democrats to 127 Republicans. The next federal election saw the Senate lead increase while the House lead decreased drastically. The Democrats added only 5 seats in the Senate, but they lost about sixty seats in the House. At the beginning of his second term the Democrats lost seats in both the House and the Senate, but still maintained a simple majority in both. During the second part of his last term the Democrats lost the majority in both the Senate and the House. The Senate remained very tight (one seat difference), but the House gave the Republicans a 46 seat lead over the Democrats (AmericanHeritage.com / The Presidents: Woodrow Wilson). Towards the end of his terms the Congress went from friendly to unfriendly. The best example of this was the Senate shooting down the proposal to join the League of Nations, which Wilson supported with everything he had. He wanted to create the League of Nations to prevent war from occurring again, but Congress was unwilling to ratify it unless changes were made and Wilson was stubbornly unwilling to allow any changes to be made (Blassingame, Wyatt).
Wilson was a strong believer in peace, and that view came out often in his foreign policy decisions. He wanted to do everything possible to avoid entering the war in Europe and even once the U.S. entered the First World War he was set on making it a war to end all wars. Wilson made many efforts to diplomatically settle the dispute in Europe. Once the U.S. entered the war Wilson developed his Fourteen Points for Peace, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize a year later. The major international events during his term came when the U.S. entered WWI and when Germany surrendered. The League of Nations failed, but it established a blueprint for something that would come later in the span of history in the form of the United Nations (Blassingame, Wyatt).
Wilson brought about reform in the area of banking when the Federal Reserve Act was signed into law at the beginning of his first term. The Federal Trade Commission was created in 1914. The FTC Act gave the government power to regulate big businesses which were using unfair and illegitimate practices. There FTC would create reports and present them to Congress. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act came later in the same year, and it was built along the same lines as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. It was created to outlaw specific practices that were harmful to consumers. The Federal Farm Loan Act was created to help small farmers compete with bigger businesses to prevent monopolies. The National Defense Act created a larger army during peacetime, as well as expanding the general military. The Adamson Act and the Keating-Owen Act established labor laws, with 8 hour workdays and child labor restrictions. When the U.S. entered WWI a significant amount of war legislation was passed; the War Industries Board was established, the Liberty Loan Act set up a war bond system, the Selective Service Act set up a draft, and the Espionage Act said that it was highly illegal to interfere with federal military operations. After that point Wilson’s party lost the majority in Congress and not much else got done there. Perhaps the only other major legislation was actually the one that did not get passed. The senate rejected entry into the League of Nations and refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 (The Presidents: Washington to Reagan).
Maybe it is the Mennonite in me, but there is a major point (Fourteen, actually) that I think really defined his success. Women’s right to vote was a huge achievement, but since Wilson was actually against the idea it would be unfair to say it was his achievement. Prohibition was a major event in his presidency, but since it was repealed 15 years later it is difficult to call it a huge achievement. That leaves Wilson’s quest for peace in the world through diplomacy as his major success. Wilson developed the League of Nations which sprung out of his Fourteen Points for Peace. While the League of Nations itself failed, it created an idea that would come back around 25 years later at the end of WWII. Wilson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 as a result of his efforts to create a world where everyone got along and talked things through instead of using force. His example of how to use diplomacy until no other choice is left is his greatest achievement.
Looking at Wilson’s terms in office as a whole would leave the impression that he was not very successful at what he tried to do. He wanted to stay out of the war in Europe at all costs, but was eventually forced to enter into the conflict. This made him go back on what he had used as a campaign slogan to get reelected (“He kept us out of war”), which brings down his credibility. He was also strongly against women getting the right to vote, which happened during his presidency. Although I view the 19th Amendment as a positive one, he was not supporting it and therefore it was not his success. Wilson tried to wrap up WWI in a very positive manner that he thought would leave the world in peace and prosperity. Instead Congress shot everything he had worked so hard for down. And as history would show us the failure to wrap things up left the door open for a man called Hitler to come in and do even more damage.
Can that failure be attributed to Wilson? He gave everything he had. With around two years left in his term he had a serious stroke which resulted from all of the stress he had been under. Instead of resigning, his wife ended up being his face for the months he was incapable of performing his normal duties. Had he been willing to change a few points, Congress may have been willing to pass the League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles. However, this failure cannot simply be attributed to him since he was forced to try to convince the opposing party of its validity. This was bound to be difficult after so many years of Wilson getting things through Congress because of the large majority in the House and the Senate.
Apart from the closure of the war, Wilson is generally considered to be a successful president. His name is even mentioned alongside the names of the greatest presidents in history. Much of the legislation that went through Congress during his terms is still applicable today. For example, his business practice acts and labor laws are still part of today’s world. Many of his national defense related acts were instrumental in getting the U.S. through WWI during hard times. Wilson set an example for ordinary citizens by taking part in such programs as gasless Sundays, meatless Mondays, and wheatless Tuesdays during WWI (Krull, Kathleen). Woodrow Wilson was a good man whose stubbornness eventually became his undoing. His legacy lives on in the change that he brought and all of the ideals he had.