Woodrow Wilson

History of the Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)

The following commentary about Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) in the Churchill Era is produced by the Churchill College (Cambridge): American politician, President 1913-1919.

Wilson began his career practising law, but gave this up for academic life as a Professor of History and Political Economy at Bryn Mawr College, 1885-1888, Wesleyan University, 1888-1890, then as Professor of Jurisprudence and Politics, Princeton University, 1890-1910 (he was President of the University, 1902-1910). In 1911, taking another new turn, he was elected Democratic Governor of New Jersey. He became President in 1913 and was re-elected in 1916 on the promise to keep the USA out of the First World War. In 1917, however, provoked by German U-boat attacks on American shipping and by German anti-American intrigues in Mexico, he persuaded Congress (the legislative body of the USA) to declare war on Germany. He issued his famous Fourteen Points as a basis for a peace settlement in January 1918, and it was in the expectation that the peace settlement would follow this framework that the Germans finally asked for an armistice in November of that year. Wilson hoped that the Paris Peace settlement, including the Treaty of Versailles, which he helped to negotiate in 1919, would be based upon national self-determination, but he was unable to impose his will on his allies, and the settlement was much harsher on Germany and her allies than Wilson had intended or expected. He placed great hope in the idea of a League of Nations to settle international disputes peacefully, but he had underestimated the extent of opposition to the idea in the USA, where Congress voted not to ratify the Treaty and therefore not to join the League. Wilson's efforts to drum up popular support for the League broke his health, and he died an invalid in 1924.