Woodrow Wilson

C

Wilson in the Progressive Era

Wilson's presidency at Princeton coincided with the first part of the Progressive Era in American history. This period of reform lasted from the last decade of the 19th century into World War I. Reformers, or progressives as they were called, were concerned about abuses of power by government and businesses. They did not all agree with each other, but many advocated at least some government regulation of business practices. They wanted the direct election of U.S. senators (in most states the legislature chose them). Some sought the prohibition of child labor, others the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, and for many the conservation of the nation's natural resources was important. Muckrakers (journalists who wrote articles exposing corruption in both politics and in business) often joined with progressives to publicize child labor, unsanitary industrial conditions, business monopolies, and censorship. Progressives believed that the government could play an important role in making the United States a better place to live, and many looked for leadership to President Theodore Roosevelt.

Although some critics thought that the educational reforms Wilson advocated were too extreme, his social and political outlook remained largely conservative. For the most part, Wilson avoided controversies and stressed such noncontroversial ideals as the need for a vital church, the spirit of learning, and other inspirational topics. Wilson was specific only on the issue of tariffs, or import taxes, which he viewed as restricting freedom. He called the Republican Payne-Aldrich Bill of 1909, which protected domestic industry by keeping import taxes high, “The Tariff Make-Believe.” The task of the country, as he saw it, was to rid itself of special privilege, and “the place to begin is the tariff.”

Although Wilson was dissatisfied with the politics of the period, he did develop some new attitudes. President Roosevelt was possessed, he thought, with a frenzy to regulate industry. What the country needed instead, he asserted in 1904, was not radical experiment, but a return to reform that gave due regard to law and traditional institutions. Roosevelt's activities did, however, inspire Wilson to abandon his earlier attitudes about the presidency. In lectures published in 1907 in Constitutional Government in the United States he stated that the president could be a “national voice in affairs.” The president should not force views on the people but should interpret their wants. Wilson trusted the moral judgment of the country and thought it needed nothing more than a channel for self-expression.

IV

Entry into Politics

Colonel George B. Harvey, editor of Harper's Weekly, was instrumental in shifting Wilson's interests from the academic life to politics. Colonel Harvey was a conservative, an enemy of the progressive elements in the Democratic Party. Wilson's personality and his views as president of Princeton had impressed Harvey, and in 1906 he suggested to other party members that Wilson would make a good Democratic presidential candidate. The idea reawakened Wilson's political ambitions.

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A

Governor of New Jersey

New Jersey offered an exciting opportunity to a Democratic candidate because the voters had become disenchanted with the rule of the Republican Party, which was dominated by political machines, organizations that build party loyalty by rewarding loyal party workers with government jobs. Party loyalty was often more important than doing the work. Harvey urged the state Democratic leader, James Smith, Jr., to campaign for Wilson's nomination for the governorship. Smith was won over to the idea of a scholarly and respectable candidate who was without experience in politics and whom, Smith felt, he could control.

Wilson took the situation in stride. As he wrote a friend on June 27, 1910: “It is immediately, as you know, the question of my nomination for the governorship of New Jersey; but that is the mere preliminary of a plan to nominate me in 1912 for the presidency.” Wilson proved able to change his political attitudes. Once suspicious of workers, he was now ready to appreciate their problems. He also reversed himself on the issue of making the choice of U.S. senators subject to popular vote. Previously, he had wanted state legislatures to continue electing U.S. senators.

Wilson had assured Smith that he would not try to build up his own political power in opposition to the regular Democratic organization and with this understanding the party leaders agreed to his candidacy in September 1910. As Wilson continued to study political trends in New Jersey and in the nation, however, he became especially impressed by the strength and quality of the independent Democrats and the progressive Republicans in the state. He realized that they viewed him with suspicion as a possible figurehead for the old-line political managers.

On October 20 Wilson resigned the presidency of Princeton, and five days later he sent the progressive George L. Record a letter in which he dramatically separated himself from the politicians who had nominated him. Record was the leader of a group of Progressives that included Joseph Tumulty, later Wilson's private secretary, and Williams McCombs, who was to lead Wilson's drive for the presidency. In his letter, Wilson stated unequivocally that he was opposed to existing machine politics. He asserted that if elected “I shall understand that I am chosen leader of my party and the direct representative of the whole people in the conduct of the government.” It was the boldest stand Wilson ever took; he had no organization or political experience and had no way of estimating the effect of his decision on the impending election or on his effectiveness if elected.

The progressive tide of that era, however, was in Wilson's favor. He was enthusiastically received by many audiences. Voters did not appear to resent Wilson's aristocratic manners, and they responded well to his speeches, which combined amusing stories with a call to action. In November, he won a sweeping victory, even in areas that normally voted Republican.

B

Reform Leader

The question of who led the New Jersey Democrats, however, remained unsettled. An issue that the election had not resolved made a showdown necessary. “Boss” Smith had been a member of the U.S. Senate and wished to return to it. As one of the architects of Wilson's triumph he felt every right to the office, especially since Wilson had said nothing to indicate he would oppose this ambition.

Wilson knew that it would outrage his progressive allies to endorse Smith, and the result was a bitter fight for leadership. Smith tried to rally the support of the legislature; Wilson did the same, but also appealed to the public for help in his fight. This campaign completed Wilson's break with the machine. Smith's accusations of dishonesty and ingratitude failed to impress the people, and Wilson finally won the support of the legislature.

Wilson had been educated by his progressive associates and encouraged by the trend toward the Democratic Party throughout the country. He arrived at the statehouse in Trenton with a program fully prepared. Under Wilson's leadership, New Jersey was rapidly transformed from a conservative state into one of the most progressive in the nation. A direct primary law democratized elections, a public utilities commission was created to regulate power and water companies, and a corrupt practices act further curbed the power of the utilities and other giant corporations within the state. Wilson's confidence in his own powers and in his ability to get people to respond to them was at its height. His name became increasingly well-known throughout the country.

C

Preparations for Presidency

Wilson worked to consolidate his control of the Democratic Party in New Jersey and to break ground for the coming presidential struggle. The time seemed propitious. In 1908 Nebraska editor and former U.S. Representative William Jennings Bryan had made his third unsuccessful run for the presidency as the Democratic nominee. The Democrats were looking for a different candidate for the 1912 election. Bryan was, however, certain to have a role in the selection of this candidate. In the Republican Party the break between President William Howard Taft (1909-1913) and his onetime sponsor, Theodore Roosevelt, made a Democratic victory almost certain.

Wilson suffered political defeats in 1911 as the Republicans made gains in the New Jersey legislature. Moreover, his own drive for reform weakened, partly because many voters and politicians believed his reforms had come too fast, and partly because Smith and other important politicians opposed Wilson. Wilson's interest in New Jersey politics faded as his attention shifted to national affairs, and he often left the state on speaking engagements intended to make him better known throughout the country. In order to win broad support from other states, he moderated his demands for reform and distanced himself from his progressive associates. Wilson also reassessed his relationship to Colonel Harvey, who continued to line up support for him. In November 1911 he printed a “For President: Woodrow Wilson” banner on the editorial page of Harper's Weekly. He also enlisted for Wilson's candidacy a number of wealthy financiers and other influential people. However, Wilson believed that such backing might taint the progressive image on which he still depended. Wilson alienated Harvey when he told Harvey that his support was hurting Wilson's chances for the presidency. Harvey's subsequent efforts to hurt Wilson probably helped him because they separated him publicly from a man identified with conservative financial interests.

A more crucial issue in Wilson's campaign for the presidential nomination was a letter Wilson had written back in 1907 in which he attacked Bryan's leadership of the Democratic Party and wished that “we could do something at once dignified and effective to knock Mr. Bryan once for all into a cocked hat!” This letter, made public in January 1912, threatened to end Wilson's candidacy. His desperate advisors could only hope Bryan would be generous, and fortunately Bryan told the press that he would not encourage a rift between Democratic progressives. A dinner at which Bryan and Wilson were present gave Wilson a chance to put the letter behind him. His praise of “the character and the devotion and the preachings” of Bryan appeased Bryan and satisfied the Democratic Party. Nevertheless, Wilson continued to receive abuse from editors, labor officials, politicians, minority groups, and others who were suspicious of his Southern background and his views on labor. He also began to acquire a group of brilliant and influential followers, who saw him as a farsighted idealist and an able executive. Most important of the followers was Colonel Edward M. House, a wealthy Texan who shunned publicity but was a highly respected figure in Democratic politics. Wilson was impressed by House's ideas, especially those expressed in his novel Phillip Dru: Administrator, published anonymously in 1912. Wilson and House soon became close allies.

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