American Foreign Affairs Under Wilson

Woodrow Wilson: Doctor in the White House

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia, December 29, 1856, his father a Presbyterian minister. The family moved to Augusta, Georgia when he was two—his family lived in the path of Sherman's march to the sea in 1864, an event no doubt burned into his memory. Wilson was educated largely at home until he was nine. He spent one year at Davidson College, then went on to Princeton, graduating in the class of 1879, 38th out of 106 in the class.

He tried studying law at the University of Virginia Law School, but withdrew. He then went to Johns Hopkins University to study politics and history. In 1885 he published “Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics,” which was later accepted as his doctoral dissertation, awarded to him in 1886. He is the only U.S. president to have earned a Ph.D. He married in 1885, had 3 daughters, and was a good husband and father.

Wilson was always interested in politics, and was very ambitious. He was a severe intellectual and an admirer of Robert E. Lee. God was a strong factor in Wilson's life, and he believed in the virtue of the honest citizen. He once said, “The very conception of America is based upon the validity of the judgments of the average man,” a sentiment with which Thomas Jefferson would have heartily agreed.

Wilson’s career was mostly in academia as a professor and football coach at various schools, including Wesleyan, Bryn Mawr, and the University of Connecticut. In 1889 another of his works, “The State,” was published. In 1890 he went to Princeton and became a popular teacher. In 1902 he was the first non-clergyman to become president of Princeton. He instituted many reforms, wrestled with a conservative faculty and put many progressive ideas of education to work.

Wilson often came across as grim, dry, ascetic, and professorial. He got his academic bent from his father, and had a stubborn attitude of moral superiority, which complicated his political life and handicapped him once he was in office. He had few close friends, but in close circles he could be witty and charming. He was voted most popular member of Princeton faculty four times. According to biographer Ray Stannard Baker, Wilson possessed “The finest mind in public life.”

In 1910 Wilson was invited to run for governor of New Jersey as a progressive candidate on the Democratic ticket. He resigned from Princeton and was elected. As governor he fought machine politics and built a solid reputation as reformer, although he was sometimes called “conservative if not reactionary.” In any case New Jersey was a leader in the Progressive movement, and in 1912, after an endorsement by three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, Wilson was nominated by Progressive Democrats on the 46th ballot. Governor T. R. Marshall of Indiana was elected vice president but had virtually no role in Wilson’s administration.

Wilson was a “transitional figure in the emergence of the new consciousness.” He was stubborn, self-righteous and no shy violet in politics; he had learned how to be tough as a college president, and he certainly knew a lot about politics. He was called “ambitious, capable . . . and of a disconcerting ruthlessness.” His biographers suspect he had his eye on White House all along. Physically he was something of a wreck, suffering from frequent headaches and indigestion, but he was still a vigorous politician with a strong mind.

Wilson's first wife died in 1914 while he was in the White House, and he married Edith Galt in 1915 after a whirlwind courtship. When Wilson later became incapacitated from his stroke, Edith Wilson became in the minds of some the first woman acting president of the United States.

As mentioned above Wilson pursued his progressive goals with vigor, and his domestic accomplishments are notable.  But his legacy, like his presidency, became dominated by his performance in the international arena.  He continued America's intervention in Latin America, with the highest of motives, and also reluctantly led the United States into the first world war in 1917. As the first incumbent American president to travel to Europe, he helped negotiate the Treaty of Versailles and was largely responsible for the creation of the League of Nations.

President Wilson and Latin America

Ever since President Theodore Roosevelt had proclaimed what became known as the “Roosevelt Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, the United States had been more than prepared to intervene in Latin America at signs of trouble. When war broke out in Central America involving Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, U.S. Marines were dispatched to the region. Secretary of State Elihu Root subsequently arranged a peace conference in Washington to settle differences among the Central American nations. Marines again landed in Nicaragua in 1912 to protect American interests, where they remained until 1933.

America's nearest southern neighbor, Mexico, had existed under a dictatorship since 1877 led by President Porfirio Diaz, who had encouraged foreign development in his nation.  In 1913 United States had over $1 billion in investments in Mexico.  When a revolution led by Francisco Madero broke out in 1910, many Americans were forced to leave the country and some were killed.  Madero was soon assassinated by agents of General Victoriano Huerta, who quickly seized power, but President Taft would not recognize his government.

When President Wilson came to office he also demonstrated disapproval of the Huerta regime even as another revolution headed by Venustiano Carranza broke out.  Wilson announced that he would refuse to recognize any government not established by the will of the people. (He once said, “I am going to teach these people to elect good men.”) As Huerta struggled to defend his regime, US naval units were stationed off Veracruz to prevent European shipments of arms to the Huerta government. When a party from one of the vessels went ashore to secure supplies, they were arrested by Mexican troops.  Although they were released with apologies, Admiral Henry Mayo, in command of the squadron, demanded at the American flag be raised to the accompaniment of a 21 gun salute.

President Wilson received permission from Congress to use force to protect American rights,  and American troops landed at Veracruz.  President Huerta broke off diplomatic relations with the United States and the two countries drifted close to war. Not wishing to see war break out, the ABC powers, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, offered mediation, and a conference was called at Niagara Falls, Ontario, attended by representatives of the three nations, the United States and Mexico.  Huerta was forced to resign and Carranza was recognized as President.

Following a brief intervention by U.S. Marines in Haiti, more trouble broke out on the Mexican-American border when revolutionary leader Pancho Villa became responsible for the deaths of Americans on both sides of the border in 1916. A raid by Villa into Texas and New Mexico left 17 Americans dead in Columbus, N.M. Under pressure from business interests (American mine operators had been murdered in Mexico about the same time) Wilson sent General John J. Pershing with 15,000 men to pursue Pancho Villa into Mexico, but they were unsuccessful in capturing the rebel.  The American foray into Mexico angered the Carranza regime and intensified anti-American feeling, but President Wilson, concerned about the possibility of war with Germany, withdrew General Pershing.

Note: America's entry into the First World War would be precipitated in part by a clumsy German attempt to get Mexico into the war on the German side in exchange for German assistance to Mexico in dealing with the United States. The Mexican government ignored the offer.