Part I

 Believed America was a “city on a hill” A light to the world Saw himself in a messiah role of sorts  Brilliant and charismatic President of Princeton University as well as US President of USA  President became most powerful man in America under Wilson

 Concentration of power by gov. leaders Even though he said accountability was important  Congressional Government  Accountability stems from democratic process Elections  Pragmatism No absolute values or laws Things change depending upon need  Society was more important than individual “There is nothing private in America. Everything is public”

 Wilson’s presidential campaign  Stricter regulation of business  Government control of money supply  Income tax utilized  Good: Prevented business from abusing the lowly Helped society’s marginalized  Bad: More power in the hands of government Government could assert its own morality

 Wilson had to win over 3 groups Democratic Party Congress American Public

 Division w/in Democratic Party Progressives vs. old line Democrats  Wilson sided w/ the stronger side Old line democrats  Used patronage Rewarded friends Punished enemies Encouraged loyalty

 Made own legislative program  Personal appearances at the Capitol  Personal conferences w/ congressmen  Delivered messages to Congress in person  Made Congress sit for longest session in its history at that time  Passed his “New Freedom” legislation

 Great orator Made people believe they were on a moral crusade  Informal press releases to influence public

 Created the Federal Reserve Board Composed of 12 regional banks Government can control inflation  Federal Trade Commission Act Government given more control over commerce  Clayton Antitrust Act Government given more power to break up big business  Underwood-Simmons Tax Small income tax  Social Welfare Legislation (laws enacted to assist individuals) Federal Farm Loan Act  Loans to farmers Adamson Act  8 hour day for interstate railroad workers Child Labor Act  Prohibited kids under 14 from working in factories

 Wilson appointed Louis D. Brandeis In the tradition of Oliver Wendell Holmes  Brandeis believed law and morality were relative  It was questionable whether or not the Senate would approve Wilson’s nomination Wilson said that they had to approve or he would not favor them through patronage Nomination confirmed

 Wilson (Dem) Slogan: “He kept us out of war”  WWI going on in Europe at this time Pointed to the legislation he’d passed  Charles Evans Hughes (Rep) Left the Supreme Court to accept nomination Also believed in expanded government power  Many expected Hughes to win Republicans were majority party

 Republicans advocated war Or at least building up America’s military in case Lost many votes of German immigrants  Hughes appeared less progressive Lost votes of intellectuals/reformers  California incident Hughes did not meet with progressive candidate for CA governor, Hiram Johnson  Even though they stayed in same hotel Appeared that Hughes snubbed him  Story spread, even though it was Johnson who had intentionally avoided Hughes  Hughes most likely didn’t know Johnson was there  Hughes criticized Wilson as being collectivist Businesses supported Hughes Idea of Democrats being liberal, Republicans being conservative emerged

 Close election  Hughes confident he had won when he went to bed Phone call to his house shows this  “The President has gone to bed”  “When he wakes up, tell him he is not the President”  Wilson won by 23 electoral votes

 Militarism Arms race  Alliances Triple Alliance  Germany, Austria-Hungary, Serbia Triple Entente  Britain, France, Russia  Imperialism Countries had taken over others all over the world, and therefore competed w/ one another globally  Nationalism Belief that one’s country was superior Led people to be cocky about start of war  Expected quick, easy victory in months  Parades at outbreak of war  “War to End All Wars”

 Assassination Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Assassinated by member of “The Black Hand”  Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip (19) shot him  Sarajevo, Bosnia

 28 July, 1914 – 11 November, 1918  Allies Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Belgium, Serbia, Romania  Central Powers Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria

 Lusitania British passenger liner Torpedoed by a German submarine Secretly carrying war materials from US to Britain 1,198 killed, including 124 Americans Many wanted war  Wilson remained neutral, made agreements with Germany  Germany turned to unrestricted sub warfare Figured it could win war quickly, even if US entered Wilson ended relations with Germany, did not enter war

 Zimmerman Telegram German minister in Mexico sent message to GER Encouraged alliance w/ MEX against US Mexico to get NM, TX, and AZ if war was won Intercepted by British, given to Americans  Laconia Ship torpedoed by U-boat 2 Americans dead  US entered war on APR 4, 1917 Enthusiasm Wilson: US fighting “to make the world safe for democracy”

 Trench warfare Slow and costly Battle of the Somme  1,100,000 casualties over 7 miles  Months long Trenches and machine guns  Old war strategies with new weaponry Tanks and barbed wire  Naval Warfare British used traditional blockade of Germany  Searched goods going from neutral countries into Germany Germans used submarine warfare  U-boats  Torpedoed suspicious vessels instead of searching them  Only way to compete with Britain’s Navy  Arial Warfare Planes Sopwith Camel Bricks and bullets  Chemical Warfare Mustard Gas