What are your thoughts on Woodrow Wilson?

33 comments

  2. He is one of 13 presidents with a W in his name. And the only one with 3 Ws.

    His real name was Thomas Woodrow Wilson.

  4. A monstrous human being. I know it’s unfashionable to judge racists by modern standards, but Wilson was a racist even by the standards of his day.

  5. Being an Asian – Not exactly a fan of him. He turned down the Japanese delegation’s clause for racial equality despite the clause having majority support.

    The only great powers to ignore the proposal were Australia and the USA. Even the British Empire and the French delegation accepted the clause.

  6. Domestically, he oversaw some of the worst times in this country in terms of violent race relations and union busting. Internationally, his big thing was trying to create a sort of liberal rules based order, which is still central to how America’s foreign policy establishment envisions itself. This order collapsed entirely, and the legacy of its failure is World War Two.

  7. While I don’t like him, he did popularize the concept of national self-determination, which ironically, probably affected the decolonization of a lot of people Wilson wouldn’t like.

  8. Yes, Woodrow Wilson was racist and implemented segregation throughout the federal government. That said, Republicans weren’t pushing civil rights litigation at the time. Teddy Roosevelt, for example, backed away from civil rights issues after he was heavily criticized for having dinner with Booker T. Washington.

    Indeed, Roosevelt’s White House at first denied that the dinner occurred, then called it a luncheon. It never happened again. Many black leaders actually criticized the dinner as well, calling Roosevelt a hypocrite because he wasn’t taking any real action to help them.

    Despite his racism, historians usually rank Wilson in the upper tier of Presidents because he helped promote business competition and regulate extreme corporate power domestically and he was a war time President who successfully promoted the principle of ethnic self-determination in Europe. While Republicans in Congress refused to ratify his treaty and join the League of Nations, European nations accepted his Fourteen Points as a basis for peace after World War 2.

  10. Definitely in the top 3rd of presidents, but I think he largely benefited from the progressive vibe of the times. Women’s rights were growing in popularity, child labor laws were growing in popularity, anti trust was pretty bipartisan, WW1 and staying neutral before his reelection made him look great. Interesting time for American politics as well, I’d say TR began what we’ve decided to call the switch in the republican and democratic parties, but WW was the first to benefit due to the discourse within the GOP. Goes without saying his racism is shameful.

    It’s always funny to me reading comments about him being racist, as if the first couple of president’s we typically praise here weren’t slave raping racists. They get a pass because they signed the constitution I suppose. We have a double standard on this sub.

  12. He was so so racist. *birth of a nation* premiered in the White House during his time.

  13. One of the worst presidents there is, largely responsible for the growth of federal power and scope more than anyone in the 20th century. Both him and FDR took the constitution and specifically the 10th amendment and basically shredded it.

  14. Horrible racist person who only won his first election because of a little split in the Republican party.

  15. A terrible person and President we’d never have had if one of my favorites (Roosevelt) didn’t spitefully run third party and split the vote.

  16. We should elect more academic mathematicians to office. But next time, some non-racist ones

  17. The second or third worst president in history. The only two potentially beating him, imo, are the Andrew’s, Johnson and Jackson.

  18. As someone who grew up in New Jersey, I generally learned that he was an above average president who handled WWI well and whose goal of international diplomacy (the League of Nations) was wise and ahead of his time.

    I’ve recently become aware of his racial views and have taken a more negative view.

  21. Statist. Racist. A would be tyrant. One of our more shameful presidents. This sub seems to largely agree on that. The only thing I would add is that when I learned about Wilson in history class, I don’t recall many of his more controversial policies being brought up. It was pretty much just WW1 and League of Nations stuff. Maybe something about Birth of a Nation being screened at the WH. It was only when I was older and read a biography on him that I learned what kind of person he was. IMO, history has judged him far too kindly.

  23. A good example of how progressivism can turn to racial paternalism at its extreme point.

  25. Personally, I take a dim view of Wilson. While he was right to involve the United States in World War I, he lost the peace. With the unworkable League of Nations and his lofty idealism he was the pluperfect example of the ivory tower thinker who refused to get his hands dirty.

    Second, he pushed through the formation of the Federal Reserve which, over time, has had a dubious track record for growing the American economy. All you have to do is look at the steep decline of the dollar’s purchasing power since the founding of the Federal Reserve to understand that. While this took place after Wilson’s death, the Fed’s contraction of the money supply during the early phases of the Great Depression was the equivalent of fighting a brush fire with 100 gallons of gasoline.

    Third, and likely most importantly, he was a total racist who advocated discrimination against blacks in Federal government positions.

  26. I didn’t learn much about him in school beyond home being a wartime leader, league of nations, and the 14 points.

    Diving deeper, it seems there’s a split in thinking: either he was almost naively optimistic or that he was a Machiavellian character hiding behind the mask of virtue.

    I don’t buy that he was that pure, but I also think the people who say he’s one of the worst presidents are full of it.

  27. Downright one of the worst presidents ever. Everyone else pointed out racism exceeding his day, but what about his other bad traits?

    Following a first term in the middle of WW 1 while America was still isolationist, he ran on the phrase “he kept us out of the war”. Six months after being elected, he threw us into the war. On the wrong side.

    Also read ” America’s first female president”. He got a stroke in the middle of his second term and went brain dead. The administration did their best to hide it, and his wife ended up doing most of the work.

  28. One of the worst presidents. He greatly expanded Federal overreach, instituted a whole bunch of racist policies, and frankly got us into a war we had no business being in.

  29. My senior year in Gov we did a March Madness type debate tournament on Presidents and expanding the powers of the executive branch. My team drew Wilson out of a hat (8th seed out of 16) so we dug into a lot of the policies he had.

    In terms of politics: he is one of the biggest reasons presidents are as active in legislation as they are today. He used mass media (on both sides of the aisle) to sway public opinion and congress towards legislation he wanted. The Federal Reserve was created under his administration. His 14 points are still a major foundation of international politics. He changed American politics a lot.

    In terms of social views: it gets dark disturbingly fast.

  30. Worst president we have ever had. Terrible racist. Progressive policy and expanding the power of the executive branch. Created the federal reserve and irs. And help to ratify the constitution and implement prohibition and the direct election of senators.

  31. I see a lot of people hating on Wilson cause he was racist. I hate Wilson cause he allowed the federal reserve to come into birth. I guess he’s just got the qualities off a a terrible person all around

  33. Terrible human being. Sub-par President. Completely unprepared and unfit for office. Terrible policies on race relations.

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