Introduction Woodrow Wilson the twenty-eighth president of the United States is best remembered for his legislative achievements and his leadership during World War I 6
During World War I in one of the most ambitious speeches in modern history US President Woodrow Wilson attempted to rally the people of the world in a movement for a peace settlement that would remove the causes of future wars and establish an organization organization to maintain peace In an address to the US Senate on January 22 1917 he called for a peace without victory to be enforced by a league of nations that the United States would join and strongly support He spoke again of this idea in his war message adding adding that the United States wanted above all else to make the world safe for democracy When he failed to persuade the British and French leaders to join him in issuing a common common statement of war aims he went to Congress on January 8 1918 to make in his Fourteen Points address his definitive declaration declaration to the American people and the world In his general points Wilson demanded an end to the old diplomacy that had led to wars in the past He proposed open diplomacy instead of entangling alliances and he called for freedom of the seas an impartial settlement settlement of colonial claims arms reduction removal of artificial trade barriers and most 7
important a league of nations to promote peace and protect the territorial integrity and independence of its members A breathtaking breathtaking declaration the Fourteen Points gave new hope to millions of liberals and moderate socialists who were fighting for a new international international order based on peace and justice Determined to keep these points Wilson made the controversial decision to go in person person to the Paris Peace Conference where he spent seven months in wearying often angry negotiations with the British French and Italians The final product the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28 1919 Although the treaty fell short of Wilson’s vision it did provide for the creation of the League of Nations which he believed would adjust international differences and maintain maintain peace Wilson returned to the United States from the peace conference exhausted and in failing health Republican senators sought either to reject the treaty or to attach reservations reservations that would gravely limit America’s commitments to the League of Nations After two months of frustrating talks with senators Wilson took his case to the people in September 1919 in the hope of shaping 8 Woodrow Wilson
Introduction public opinion on this very important issue of the day A master of the English language and public oratory he threw himself into a whirlwind cross-country tour giving thirty nine speeches in three weeks The strain both mental and physical was too much for him Wilson had a near breakdown breakdown on September 25 after which his doctor canceled the rest of the tour and rushed him back to Washington DC On October 2 1910 Wilson suffered a massive stroke that left him partially paralyzed on his left side His intellectual capacity was not affected but his emotional balance and judgment were badly impaired Although he gradually recovered from the worst effects of the stroke Wilson never again fully functioned as president The peace treaty was defeated in the Senate Wilson demanded that Democratic senators spurn all efforts at compromise with the Republicans Twice the Treaty of Versailles failed to gain the two-thirds vote necessary for ratification The United States never joined the League of Nations More than twenty years later during World War II 1939 45 Wilson’s reputation reputation soared as he came to be regarded as a wrongly unheeded prophet whose policies 9
