Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
Adamson Act (1916)
The Adamson Act was a United States federal law passed in 1916 that established an eight-hour workday, with additional pay for overtime work, for interstate railroad workers.
Wilson's Peace Conference Goals
"Make the World Safe for Democracy" Collective Security. National Self-determination. The destruction of the balance of power system. Peace not in Wilson's own time, but for all time.
Political Party
Democratic
The Paris Peace Conference
The Paris Peace Conference, also known as Versailles Peace Conference, was the meeting of the victorious Allied Powers following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers.
The Petticoat Presidency - Edith Wilson
At the very least Woodrow Wilson is effectively incapacitated for four months. At the worst, he's unable to function for the remaining two years of his term. Edith Wilson steps in to fill the gap. She becomes the gate keeper and decider of who, and what, Woodrow Wilson sees. Edith herself was never very political, but in making these simple decisions she takes on an outsized role in the day-to-day business of the government. While it may be wrong to say she was the first female president, she had what was, at the time, an outsized role in the administration.
The New Freedoms
Drafted by Wilson and Louis Brandies (among others), in opposition to Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" Government should not legislate what is right and wrong. It should, instead, create the atmosphere in which Americans can succeed Governments should not control monopolies. It should prevent monopolies from forming.
What Triggered US to Enter the War?
Germany was concerned about US assistance to the Allies and declared their intent to resume unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany also promises Mexico, American land if they join the war and attack America. Wilson is furious, and asks Congress to declare war.
Wilson's Self-Confidence
Had a lot of hubris (excessive pride or self-confidence). Part of this was related to his own academic specialty and his view of how government should function. Another part was because he believed God had put him in the White House. Both of these informed his approach to governing and legislating.
Wilson and Mexico
In international relations, Wilson decides to "teach Latin America to elect good men." This involves significant US intervention in the region. Political unrest destabilizes the government and causes fighting to spread throughout the country and, occasionally, overflow into the US. A failed US attempt to stem the violence by occupying the port of Vera Cruz in 1914 only serves to further destabilizes the Mexican Government. After a series of raids by rebel leader Pancho Villa in 1916, Wilson feels forces to send US troops into Mexico, a mission which lasts a year and achieves almost nothing.
Espionage Act (1917)
It was intended to prohibit interference with military operations or recruitment, to prevent insubordination in the military, and to prevent the support of United States enemies during wartime. In 1919, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled through Schenck v. United States that the act did not violate the freedom of speech of those convicted under its provisions. The constitutionality of the law, its relationship to free speech, and the meaning of its language have been contested in court ever since.
WWI (1914-1918)
Neither Wilson nor most Americans have any interest entering the Great War in 1914. Despite Wilson's best efforts, American companies start to make money in trade with England, France, and Russia. The Germans respond by sinking vessels heading to the UK (including the SS Lusitania). Wilson sends a note to the Kaiser (the German emperor) protesting these attacks. W.J. Bryan, Wilson's Secretary of State, objects to Wilson's seeming hypocrisy. The Kaiser backs down, but Bryan resigns in protest.
Wilson in the White House
Reduces staff and does not (initially) believe in "big government". Mostly him and his personal secretary Used a Proto-Special Assistant (Edward House) Realizes, as did McKinley and Roosevelt, that an effective Public Relations campaign will help him govern. Shows that he's "one of the people" and further modernizes the White House relations with press.
Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)
The Clayton Antitrust Act is an amendment passed by U.S. Congress in 1914 that provides further clarification and substance to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Act focuses on topics such as price discrimination, price fixing, and unfair business practices.
Committee on Public Information
The Committee on Public Information (1917-1919), also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence public opinion to support US participation in World War I.
Council of National Defense
The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial support for the war, and public morale.
Wilson's 14 Points, January 1918
The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson. Open covenants of peace. Freedom of the seas. Removal of trade barriers. Reduction of national armaments. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims. The formation of an association of nations under specific covenants to afford guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.
National War Labor Board
The National War Labor Board was an agency of the United States government established on April 8, 1918 to mediate labor disputes during World War I.
1916 Election
Wilson increasingly believes that Germany poses an existential threat to democracy, even as he's hesitant to involve the US. Wilson's 1916 victory is, in part, built on the idea America will not become involved in the war.
Keating-Owens Act (1916)
a short-lived statute enacted by the U.S. Congress which sought to address child labor by prohibiting the sale in interstate commerce of goods produced by factories that employed children under fourteen, mines that employed children younger than sixteen, and any facility where children under fourteen worked after 7:00 p.m. or before 6:00 a.m. or more than eight hours daily.
Federal Reserve Act (1913)
an Act of Congress that created and established the Federal Reserve System (the central banking system of the United States), and which created the authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes (commonly known as the US Dollar) as legal tender. The Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson.
Sedition Act (1918)
an Act of the United States Congress that extended the Espionage Act of 1917 to cover a broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government bonds.
Federal Trade Commission Act (1914)
established the Federal Trade Commission. The Act outlaws unfair methods of competition and outlaws unfair acts or practices that affect commerce.
Revenue Act of 1913
re-imposed the federal income tax after the ratification (the action of signing or giving formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid) of the Sixteenth Amendment and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909. It was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on October 3, 1913 and was sponsored by Alabama Representative Oscar Underwood.
Federal Farm Loan Act (1916)
was a United States federal law aimed at increasing credit to rural family farmers. It did so by creating a federal farm loan board, twelve regional farm loan banks and tens of farm loan associations.
