Woodrow Wilson's Presidency

Woodrow Wilson – a brilliant politician

In the past 230 years there have been forty-three presidents of the United States of America. Most of them had average political skills, many of them were outstanding, and only a few are considered to be great historical figures. During the first half of the twentieth century, perhaps the most extraordinary president was Woodrow Wilson. The 28th president of the United States of America was a brilliant politician and president because he did not only know how to skilfully handle economical and social affairs, but also had great impact in terms of foreign politics.

Before the analysis of Wilson’s impact on the United States economy, society and politics, it is important to briefly depict Wilson’s
The revenue thereby lost was replaced by a new federal income tax authorized by the 16th Amendment. Furthermore, the Seaman's Act of 1915 improved working conditions for merchant sailors. As response to the RMS Titanic disaster, it also required all ships to be retrofitted with lifeboats. Moreover, the Smith Lever act of 1914 created the modern system of agricultural extension agents sponsored by the state agricultural colleges. The agents taught new techniques to farmers. Also, the 1916 Federal Farm Loan Board issued low-cost long-term mortgages to farmers. Child labour was curtailed by the Keating-Owen act of 1916, but the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1918. Additional child labor bills would not be enacted until the 1930s. Also important to mention, is the Adamson Act, passed in 1916 that established an eight-hour workday, with additional pay for overtime work, for railroad workers. This was the first federal law that regulated the hours of workers in private companies. In addition, Wilson pushed through Congress the Clayton Antitrust Act making certain business practices illegal (such as price discrimination, agreements forbidding retailers from handling other companies’ products, and directorates and agreements to control other companies). More importantly, the new laws set out clear guidelines that corporations could follow, a dramatic improvement over the previous
President Wilson sought by all diplomatic means to maintain impartial neutrality and tried to mediate between the warring nations. By virtue of this legislation and the slogan "he kept us out of war," Wilson narrowly won re-election. After several events provoked by Germans submarines e.g. the sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania where 128 American civilians lost their lives, Wilson could not maintain US neutrality and asked Congress to declare war against Germany on April 2, 1917. With the United States entering the war overseas, it became known as the Great War or First World War. Massive American effort slowly tipped the balance in favor of the Allies. Furthermore, in 1918 Wilson presented his famous Fourteen Points Speech to Congress where he outlined the basic provisions that he believed a peace settlement between the warring nations must cover. Major propositions were free trade, freedom of the seas, disarmament and most important, the establishing of general association of the nations, a League of Nations. As the war drew to an end, preparations were begun for a peace conference - the Paris Peace Conference of 1918 in Versailles, which Wilson helped to prepare and attended. The result of this peace conference was the Treaty of Versailles including Wilson's idea