Chapter 29 – Wilsonian
Progressivism at Home and Abroad
(1912-1916)
President Wilson ushers in his own brand of
progressivism while dealing with complex
foreign policy issues.
A NJ Conservative turned Progressive
 Repubs split between Old Guards and Progressives
 Dems sense their chance to win White House
 Woodrow Wilson, conserv > progressive
 President of Princeton University
 Governor of NJ
 Gov. Wilson proves himself a fiery progressive
reformer
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Fought against the NJ Dem political machine
Passed anti-corruption laws
Created worker’s compensation laws
 Wilson’s NJ progressivism make him a ntl figure
A southern-born president, Woodrow Wilson's
legacy has been dogged by his outright racism.
In his writings, Wilson eulogized the
antebellum South and lamented the period of
reconstruction that followed the Civil War. To
quote Wilson himself on this subject, "selfpreservation [forced whites] to rid themselves,
by fair means or foul, of the intolerable burden
of governments sustained by the votes of
ignorant negroes." Wilson excused the rise of
the Ku Klux Klan in similar terms, calling it
understandable in view of the "lawless"
situation that victimized whites in the South
after 1865. Wilson carried his racism into the
public arena, both as president of Princeton
University and as Governor of New Jersey.
While the former, Wilson discouraged black
from applying to his university, and as
governor, Wilson refused to confirm the hiring
of blacks in his administration.
Once in office, however, Wilson appointed a
number of southern Democrats to his Cabinet.
These men proceeded to push for the
segregation of black and white employees in
their departments. Wilson did not oppose this
practice. Upholding a policy of re-segregating
the federal government, which had been
gradually de-segregating since the end of the
Civil War was entirely consistent with a
president who claimed repeatedly that
"Segregation is not humiliating but a benefit"
and "distinctly to the advantage of the colored
people themselves."
Wilson’s racism
On the evening of March 21,
1915, President Woodrow
Wilson attended a special
screening at the White House
of THE BIRTH OF A
NATION. The film presented
a distorted portrait of the
South after the Civil War,
glorifying the Ku Klux Klan
and denigrating blacks. It
falsified the period of
Reconstruction by presenting
blacks as dominating
Southern whites (almost all
of whom are noble in the
film) and sexually forcing
themselves upon white
women. The Klan was
portrayed as the South's
savior from this alleged
tyranny.
After seeing the film, an
enthusiastic Wilson
reportedly remarked: "It is
like writing history with
lightning, and my only regret
is that it is all so terribly
true."
Wilson screens Birth of a Nation in
the White House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIUdhe3R3Ew
Election of 1912
 Dems nominate Wilson for Prez under New Freedom
platform
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Entrepreneurship, deregulation, competition
 TR runs under the Progressive Party
 “I feel as strong as a bull moose”
 TR-Taft bitter split of Repubs assured Dems a victory
 TR’s New Nationalism
 Trust and labor reform
 Increased federal regulators
 Women suffrage
 Social welfare: minimum wage and social insurance
On October 14, 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was
on the campaign trail in Milwaukee. A man
with a .38 caliber revolver had been trailing the
campaign since they departed New Orleans.
For a thousand miles, he rode quietly, just
waiting to get his shot at the Colonel. John
Schrank was a Bavarian-born saloon-keeper
from New York. He'd had some strange and
troubling dreams in recent months, mostly
about President McKinley, whose assassination
resulted in Roosevelt's first term. In his
dreams, Schrank said that President McKinley
asked him to avenge his death and protect
democracy from a three-term president. All
Schrank had to do was kill Roosevelt before he
could be reelected.
Roosevelt is said not to have noticed he was
shot until he reached into his overcoat and felt
the blood on his fingers. But it turns out that
Teddy’s long-winded speeches saved his life
that day: the bullet traveled through a 50-page
copy of his prepared speech and the steel
eyeglasses case he carried in the same pocket.
He refused to go to a hospital and insisted on
giving his speech.
“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as
possible. I don't know whether you fully
understand that I have just been shot; but it
takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose,” he
began. He spoke for at least 55 more minutes
(though some estimates say 90), still wearing
his blood-soaked shirt.
TR is the baller of all ballers
Wilson’s Politics
 Party shifts?
 Dem. Party comeback?...true end of national Dem
banishment?
 Wilson 2nd Dem prez since 1861, first from Confederacy (symp)
 Supporter of Jeffersonian democracy
 Belief in strong executive leadership
 Arrogant professorial intellectualism
 Wilson’s vigorous idealism > stubbornness
“The Triple Wall of Privilege
 Wilson attacks tariff, banks, trusts
 Underwood Tariff: major reduction of import rates
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16th amendment: graduated income tax
 Wilson looks to reform antiquated banking system
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Federal Reserve Act: established Federal Reserve Board; oversaw
regional banks; issued paper $; modernized econ syst.
 Federal Trade Commission Act: interstate commerce
watchdog of unfair trade practices
 Clayton Anti-Trust Act extends Sherman Act
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Clamps down on holding companies (a super company that
monopolistically existed to control other companies)
Exempted unions and agricultural orgs from anti-trust actions
Wilsonian Progressivism
 Wilson lends helping hand to rural America
 Federal Farm Loan Act: low interest loans
 highway construction, college farm training
 Wilson’s labor reforms
 Workingmen’s Compensation Act: aid to disabled federal
workers
 Restricted child labor in interstate commerce
 Adamson Act: 8hr workday for interstate train workers
 Nominated Brandeis for the Supreme Court
 Wilson’s progressivism did not help black people
Wilson’s Foreign Policy
 Wilson claimed to deplore imperialism, but
hampered by his racism
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He does though legitimitley dislike TR’s big stick, Taft’s $
diplomacy
 Backs the Jones Act, giving Philippines territorial
status and promising independence after stability
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However, Filipino independence in 1946
Helps to decrease tensions over CA’s actions towards Japanese
 Wilson sends marines in 1915 to Haiti (19 yr occup)
and DR (8 yrs); purchases the Virgin Islands
Turmoil in Mexico
 US reaps great $ from Mexican industries, while Mexicans remain
poor
 Taft backed the coup/murder of popular Prez Madero in favor of
General Huerta
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Accelerated Mexican immigration to American SW
 Bloodshed threatened American biz; Hearst calls for war, but
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Wilson attempts to avoid war
Wilson’s moralistic approach…refuses to recognize Huerta gov’t;
arms his rivals including Venustiano Carranza and Pancho Villa
After US sailors arrested in Tampico Incident, Wilson seizes
Veracruz port to prevent arms meant for Huerta
Huerta pressured to step down; new Prez Carranza resents Wilson’s
actions
Pancho Villa, MX hero and bandit, kills American miners in MX and
even invades New Mexico killing 19 Americans
General John J. Pershing sent to chase Pancho Villa
World War I
 Central Powers (Ger, Aust-Hung, Turkey, Bulgaria) vs. Allied
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Powers (GB, France, Russia, Italy, Japan).
Wilson proclaims neutrality
Natural ties to England; many Americans anti-German, antiautocratic Kaiser Wilhelm
But most Americans happy to stay out of the war
US bankers (Morgan) loan billions to Allies; US trades with
England, Germany prevented from doing so
Germany retaliates through U-boat sinking of merchant ships
Lusitania attacked and sunk…Americans outraged by loss of
American lives…Wilson sticks to neutrality
Election of 1916
 TR refuses to split the Repubs again; Old
Guards nominate SC Justice Charles Evan
Hughes
 Hughes plays both sides of German question
 TR attacks Wilson’s pacifism, but says Hughes
is similarly weak
 Wilson campaigns on “He Kept Us Out of the
War”
 Wilson wins a very close election, with support
of labor and anti-interventionists