Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad

1. Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad Chapter 29 (Part 1 Notes)

2. Thomas Woodrow Wilson

3. Wilson Nominated for President • Democrats celebrated the Republican split • Wilson was chosen as the charismatic Dem. Leader that could defeat the Republicans • The Political Machine in New Jersey choose him for the Governorship in 1910 • They had not done their HW • Once mild conservative had become a militant progressive in response to the backlash from the elitist wealthy who opposed his reforms at Princeton

4. Wilson: Road to The White House • NJ Governorship • Made NJ one of the more liberal states • Utilized righteous indignation and power of leadership to make changes in interest of the public rather than political bosses • Wilson was nominated on the Democrats forty-sixth ballot • Williams Jennings's Bryan, once in opposition now supported Wilson • Wilson’s “New Freedom “ program • Progressive Platform • Stronger anti-trust legislation • Banking Reform • Tariff Reduction

6. The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912 • Progressive Party met in Chicago in August 1912 • 2000 delegates from 40 states attended • Jane Addams nominated Theodore Roosevelt at the Convention • Roosevelt in his acceptance, “We stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord!” • Delegates sang “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic” • Roosevelt boasted that he felt as strong as a “Bull Moose” • “I want to be a Bull Moose, And with the Bull Moose stand With Antlers on my forehead And a Big Stick in My Hand?

7. Election of 1912 • Taft branded Roosevelt as a “dangerous egotist” and “demigod” • Roosevelt branded Taft a “fathead” with the brain of a “guinea pig” • Roosevelt’s New Nationalism vs. Wilson’s New Freedom • Both wanted social and economic reforms • Roosevelt preached theories from Promise of American Life • Both favored regulating trusts and supporting labor unions • Roosevelt also campaigned for women suffrage, broad social welfare programs including: minimum wage and social insurance

8. Election of 1912 Cont.. • Wilsons’ New Freedom • Favored small enterprise • Entrepreneurship • Unregulated and unmonopolized markets • Shunned social welfare proposals • Favored regulation but not fragmentation of the big industrial combines • Election offered a choice of policies and political/economic philosophies • Roosevelt suspended campaigning for two weeks when he was shot in the chest, although he still gave the hour long speech with a bullet in his chest.

10. Woodrow Wilson: A minority President • Wilson won handily • 435 electoral votes and 6,296, 547 popular votes • Minority president with only 41 percent of the popular vote • His popular vote was actually less than Bryan amassed in any of his three defeats • Taft and Roosevelt polled over 1.25 million more votes than democrats • Roosevelt finished second receiving 88 electoral votes and 4,118,571 popular votes • Taft won only 8 electoral votes and 3,486,720 popular votes • Progressivism rather than Wilson was the winner

11. Minority Pres. Cont… • Although the Democratic total included many conservatives in the solid South, the combined progressive vote for Wilson and Roosevelt exceeded the Tally of the more conservative Taft • Eugene Debs amassed 900,672 votes more than twice as many netted four years earlier • The progressive party would not last without Roosevelt’s leadership and they amassed few seats in state and local legislature • The Socialists elected more than 1000 in state and local seats

12. Republican Congressional Minority • Unaccustomed to minority status in the Congress for the next six years. • Did not win the White House for 8 years. • Taft taught law for eight years at Yale U • In 1921 Taft became chief Justice of the Supreme Court • Which better suited him than the presidency

13. Wilson Bio. • Wilson • Son of Presbyterian minister, raised in Georgia and the Carolinas • Studied history at Davidson, despite of mild Dyslexia • Earned his law degree at UVA and practiced for two years • Next earned his PhD in History at John Hopkins • Brilliant history professor at Princeton • Lectures were standing room only • President of Princeton in 1902 • Instituted sweeping reforms, to democratize education • Put in place recitations and teaching assistants • Eventually the Old Guard at Princeton inhibited further reform

14. Wilson: The Idealist in Politics • Second Democratic president since 1861 • First man of the formerly seceded southern states to reach the White house since Taylor, 64 years earlier • His philosophy of self determination was party inspired by the confederacy’s attempt for independence • Adhered to Jeffersonian ideals – that people would make logical decisions if properly informed. • Skilled orator • Phraseocrat who coined many noble epigrams • Believed the chief executive should play a dynamic role • Believed in visible leadership of the president

15. Wilson: The Idealist cont… • Though jovial and witty in private he was often cold and standoffish in public • Loved humanity in the mass rather than the individual person • Perhaps the result of several mini-strokes he suffered • Felt more at ease with scholars than politicians • Quick to criticize someone’s intellect • Often found compromise difficult • He would break before he would bend • This character would later effect the US ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations

16. Wilson Tackles the Tariff • All out assault on “the triple wall of privilege”: tariff, the banks, and the trusts • First president to deliver his presidential message to Congress • Moved by his aggressive leadership the House quickly passed the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913 • Substantially reduced import rates by avg. of 25% • Under authority of 16th amendment, Congress enacted graduated income tax • Began with modest tax on incomes over $3,000 (higher than the avg. family income) • By 1917 rev. from the income tax shot ahead of receipts from tariff

18. Wilson Battles the Bankers • Major Defect • Reserves were heavily concentrated in NY and other large cities • Could not be easily immobilized to ameliorate a financial crisis • Endorsed Democratic Proposals fro a decentralized bank in government hands – opposed to Republican demand for a huge private bank with fifteen branches • 1913 Federal Reserve Act put in place • Board appointed by president oversaw 12 regional banking districts, each with central bank. • Could issue Federal Reserve Notes to quickly add money to circulation

19. Federal Reserve Districts

20. The President Tames the Trusts • Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 • Empowered presidentially appointed commission to investigate industries engaged in interstate commerce • Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914 • Enhanced the Sherman Act • Fought price discrimination • Investigated web of directorates, where the same individuals served as directors of supposedly competing businesses) • Legalized strikes and peaceful picketing • Conservative judges would fight back years later

21. Wilsonian Progressivism Reform • Federal Farm and Loan Act of 1916 • Made loans available to farmers at low interest rates • Warehouse Act of 1916 • Authorized loans on the security of staple crops • Authorized federal funds for highway construction and state colleges • Lafollette Seaman’s Act of 1915 • Decent treatment and living wage on American merchant ships • Freight rates spiraled upward with the crew’s wages

22. Wilsonian Progressive Reform Cont… • Workers’ Compensation Act of 1916 • Provided federal support for injured federal civil employees • Adamson Act – established 8 hr day and overtime for railroad employees • Nominated Brandeis for supreme court justice in 1916 • Progressivism did not extend to African Americans – who he inhibited from working in his office.

23. Wilson’s 1916 Campaign • Appeased business by making conservative appointments to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Trade commission • To win the 1916 election he would have to garner the support of the Bull Moose voters who had previously voted for Roosevelt. • Democrat’s Slogan • “He kept us out of War”

24. Wilson vs. Charles Evan Hughes

26. 1916 Election

27. Wilson’s New Direction in Foreign Policy • Recoiled from aggressive foreign policy in contrast to Roosevelt and Taft • Detested TR’s Big Stick Policy and the Dollar Diplomacy of Taft • Did not support Dollar Diplomacy in Latin America and China (no entangling alliances) • American bankers pulled out the six nation loan to China • Convinced Congress to repeal the Panama Canal Tolls Act of 1912 – American ships now paid tolls • Jones Act of 1916 – provided Philippines territorial status and promised independence when gov. was stable • Philippine independence July 4, 1946

28. Dollar Diplomacy

29. Wilson’s New Direction in Foreign Policy Cont.. • California legislature was still interested in expelling Japanese from the state. • Wilson sent Sec. of State Bryan to CA to ease tensions • Breaks form Isolationist Stance • Wilson Dispatched Marines to Haiti and Dom. Rep. • Haiti (1915) – marines stayed for 19 years – making Haiti an American protectorate • Dom Rep. (1916) – marines stated or eight years • Purchased Virgin Islands from Denmark

32. Moralistic Diplomacy In Mexico • Mexican Revolution in 1913 • Revolutionary president Madero was murdered • Replaced with General Native American, Victoriano Huerta, who may have been responsible for Madero’s murder. • Caused a massive migration of over 1 million Mexicans to the US (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California)

33. Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico Cont… • Intervention was supported by Jingoists • Hearst was an ardent supporter, who owned a Mexican ranch larger than Rhode Island • Wilson refused to recognize Huerta • Allowed arms to flow to Carranza and o “Pancho” Villa, Huerta’s rivals • Mexico arrested American sailors at Tampico in April 1914 • Mexico released soldiers but refused 21 gun salute

34. Moralistic Diplomacy Cont… • Wilson ordered navy to seize Port of Vera Cruz without Congressional approval - ABC stepped in to mediate • Huerta stepped down and Carranza stepped n • Carranza killed 16 mining engineers in 1916 in Northern Mexico • Poncho's men murdered another 19 in Mexico • Wilson sent General Perishing and troops to intercede - pushed Villa and his men back without capturing Villa • Withdrew as threat of War with German loomed in 1917

35. Mexican Revolution Video • http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=WPA0020&SingleRecord=True

36. Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad Chapter 29 Notes Part 2

37. A Precarious Neutrality • Wilson’s grief concerning WWI was magnified when his wife passed away • He issued a neutrality proclamation and called on Americans to be neutral in thought as well as in deeds. • The Central and Allied powers both vied for the support of the United States

38. Powers Want US Support • British (Allied Powers) • Close linguistic, economic, and cultural ties with America. • Also, controlled most transatlantic cables • Press told of German atrocities and censored any stories harmful to the allies • (10 million in US people were of British, Russian, and Italian descent) • Germans and A-Hs (Central Powers) • Counted on support of Germanic immigrants in the US • 11 million people with “blood ties” to Germanic areas • Many immigrants spoke out • Other immigrants were content to be distanced from the conflict • 4 million in US of Irish descent

39. Allied vs. Central Powers

40. American Sentiment • Most Americans were anti-German from the outset. • Kaiser Wilhelm II was depicted as an arrogant autocrat • Germany occupied neutral Belgium • Germanic immigrants had violent incidents in factories • German operative left a briefcase in NY with plans for sabotage • Sauerkraut was changed to “Liberty Cabbage” • Kaiser Wilhelm, King George V, and Tsar Nicholas were all distant counsins • However, the majority of Americans wanted to remain neutral.

41. America Earns Blood Money • British and French war orders pull American economy out of the recession • US Bankers eventually sent large loans to Allied powers • J.P. Morgan and Company loaned the enormous amount of 2.3 billion during American neutrality • Central powers protested bitterly • Through our support of the British and the result of British mining the North Sea we essentially stopped trading with Germany • Germans engage in submarine warfare around British Isles to stop British Blockade • Said they would try not to sink neutral shipping, but new warned mistakes would probably occur • Wilson warned Germany that they would be held accountable for any attacks on American vessels or citizens

42. Submarine Warfare • In the first months of 1915, they sunk about ninety ships in the war zone • Lusitania was sunk off the coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915 • 1,198 people died including 128 Americans • Carried 4200 cases of small-arms ammunition, a fact Germans used to justify the sinking. • Eastern US was shocked and talked of joining the war, the rest of the country was apt to remain neutral

43. Wilson’s Tenuous Neutrality • Wilson still wanted to remain neutral and only declare war with full support of Congress and the people • Secretary of State Bryan resigned in protest of Wilson even thinking about war • Wilson “There is such a thing as a man to proud to fight” • This rhetoric incensed the pro-war Roosevelt • A U-Boat sunk the British ocean-liner the Arabic in August 1915 (2 Americans died) • Germany reluctantly agreed to warn unarmed ships before they attacked next time • This pledge was violated when the Sussex a French passenger ship was torpedoed without warning. • Sussex Pledge – German once again agree with Wilson not to attack unarmed ships, but the US would have to convince the Allies to modify the blockade of Germany’s Northern Ports • Wilson accepted the pledge without accepting the amendment to convince the British to end their blockade

44. Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916 • Appeased business by making conservative appointments to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Trade commission • To win the 1916 election he would have to garner the support of the Bull Moose voters who had previously voted for Roosevelt. • Democrat’s Slogan • “He kept us out of War” • Progressives nominated Roosevelt, who loathed Wilson’s efforts of neutrality • Roosevelt declined the nomination because he did not wish to split the Republican party again

45. Election of 1916 • Republican “Old Guard” chose US Supreme Court Justice Charles Evan Hughes (the former progressive governor of NY) • Republican Platform: condemned Democratic tariff, assaults on trust, and Wilsons wishy-washiness in dealing with Mexico and Germany • In Anti-German area Hughes assailed Wilson for not standing up to the Kaiser, where in isolationist areas he took a softer line • Democrats warned that be electing Huges they would be electing to fight in the war

46. Election of 1916 Continued • On Election Day Hughes swept the East – who was more pro-war • NY Newspapers displayed pictures of President-Elect Hughes • However, Wilson was able to won the election by garnering votes in Midwestern and western states. • Winning California was the key to his victory • Wilson - 277 electoral votes, 9,127,695 pop. vote • Hughes – 254 electoral votes, 8,533,507 pop. Vote • The next issue was to see if Wilson could keep the US out of war.

47. 1916 Election