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
would have prevented world calamity Today the United Nations and collective security pacts are viewed as fulfillment of Wilson’s internationalist vision Wilson was probably the only president who was a brilliant student and teacher as well as a statesman Readers of this volume will learn that Wilson was a college professor president of Princeton University and author of books on American government He was also governor of New Jersey He worked out his political beliefs in the classroom Then he entered politics to put his theories of government government into practice 10 Woodrow Wilson
Chapter 1 Woodrow Wilson was born into a family of Presbyterian ministers and teachers Naturally enough the Presbyterian church played a key role in his upbringing Another important influence as he grew up in the South was his experience of the horrors of the American Civil War Although he had no formal schooling schooling in his early years Wilson nevertheless developed passionate interests in literature and politics By his teens he already envisioned envisioned himself as a statesman First however he prepared for the life of an academic He would eventually become the only president to have earned a PhD 11 Early Life and Education
