Woodrow Wilson, Auchincloss - B

                                                This is a brief bio in the Penguin Lives series. Wilson came to office after an academic career, and only two years as Governor of New Jersey. He told one of the politicians who handed him the career in N.J: "Remember that God ordained that I should be the next President of the United States." His progressive policy views led to a Tariff Act, the establishment of the Federal Reserve and the creation of a progressive income tax. When war came to Europe in August, 1914, Wilson assiduously and sincerely pursued a policy of neutrality. Many of America's immigrant communities were opposed to the war. The Germans wanted no part of a fight against their homeland, the Irish had no desire to assist Great Britain and the Jews were adamantly opposed to allying with the Tsar. "But above all there was a widespread feeling that the war was not our war and we should stay out of it..." Wilson believed that he, and he alone, could suggest or impose peace upon the warring parties; that he had the insight to end the horror. America somehow was above the fray. In April 1915, he said "There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right."  In 1917, the reinstatement of unrestricted submarine warfare led to a US declaration of war. Although a proponent of peace, Wilson was an effective war President. His Fourteen Points and his plans for peace were so admired that Harold Nicholson, British diplomat and scholar, said "Had the Treaty of Paris been drafted solely by the American experts, it would have been one of the wisest as well as the most scientific document ever devised." Wilson went to Paris against just about everyone's advice and without a Republican of standing. As the Republicans won the mid-terms in 1918 and Henry Cabot Lodge was now Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, this is considered one of his biggest mistakes. In Paris, he was so focused on the League of Nations that he let Lloyd-George and Clemenceau run roughshod on all of his principles. He also suffered what medical historians believe was his third minor stroke. The battle lines were drawn over the League and Article 10 of the Treaty, which could require the US to take military action if the League mandated it.  Lodge saw it as an imposition on our sovereignty.  In September of 1919, Wilson fell ill on his nationwide trip to sell the Treaty, and in October suffered a major stroke. For the last year-and-a-half of his presidency, he was an invalid and his wife controlled all access to him. Lodge offered an adjustment to the Treaty,requiring Congressional approval for the US to take up arms. Britain and France agreed, but not Wilson.  The Treaty failed and Wilson died three years after leaving office. His wife asked Lodge not to attend the funeral.