Woodrow Wilson

D

The 1912 Convention

The numerous aspirants for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912 included Champ Clark of Missouri and Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama, both outstanding members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Clark came with so many preconvention pledges that nothing could prevent his nomination except the rule that required a two-thirds majority. William F. McCombs, Wilson's manager, came with fewer pledges, but he had raised wide interest in Wilson's cause.

Neither congressman could obtain two-thirds of the ballots. Clark could not persuade Underwood to withdraw, and progressives were dissatisfied with Clark's stance on reform and refused to join his candidacy. Through 45 ballots, Wilson's voting strength grew. Bryan, House, and others helped in building his vote, and on the 46th ballot he received the nomination.

E

Election of 1912

At the Republican convention, Roosevelt opposed Taft, who as president had overruled some of the decisions that Roosevelt had made during his presidency, and had replaced some of Roosevelt's earlier appointments. However, Roosevelt was outmaneuvered and led his followers out of the convention and into the newly organized Progressive Party. As the Progressive Party nominee, Roosevelt pressed a crusade for what he called the New Nationalism. The Democrats countered with Wilson's New Freedom, which, they asserted, would free American potential rather than regiment it.

Now a practiced campaigner and aided by a more effective campaign manager, William G. McAdoo of New York, Wilson demonstrated his eloquence and winning personality. Much of his program came from Louis D. Brandeis, a bitter foe of industrial and financial monopoly. Wilson promised fair treatment to black voters, assured labor of his sympathy, and tried to overcome the derogatory statements about immigrants in his books. In addition, his spontaneous manner, friendly joking, and unembarrassed love of country and family reassured voters normally distrustful of intellectuals.

---

---

Wilson won only 41.85 percent of the popular vote but polled 435 electoral votes, compared with Roosevelt's 88 and Taft's 8. The Democrats also controlled both houses of Congress.

V

President of the United States

A

Domestic Affairs

As president, Wilson retained some of his old associates and abandoned others. Bryan was appointed secretary of state from political necessity, rather than preference. McAdoo, as secretary of the treasury, became a close associate of Wilson and later his son-in-law. Josephus Daniels, a North Carolina editor, was named secretary of the navy, and future U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) was appointed assistant secretary of the navy. Tumulty became Wilson's personal secretary.

Colonel House was content to develop a private role as an adviser to Wilson without an official position. Walter Hines Page, another of the many Southerners in Wilson's entourage, an old acquaintance and a noted editor, was made ambassador to Britain. McCombs, however, who believed he had done most to elect Wilson, received no office and retired into obscurity.

There had been almost continuous bustle and excitement during the administrations of Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. The government had strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act, the federal law that allowed the government to oversee the operations of huge combinations of businesses (called trusts), and it had enacted many other governmental and economic reforms as well. Even so, the incoming Wilson administration promised unprecedented achievement, and Wilson himself set the keynote in his inaugural address. He not only demanded certain legislation but warned the public about lobbyists who were working behind the scenes in Congress to defeat his program.

A

1

Tariff Reform

At the top of Wilson's legislative list was lowering the tariff rates, intended to free American consumers from artificially protected monopolies. Although it involved enormous quantities of information about numerous complex businesses, Wilson pressed relentlessly for quick action. As a result, the Underwood Tariff, drastically slashing taxes on imported goods, was ready for his signature in October 1913. It was the first downward revision of the tariff since before the Civil War (see Tariffs, United States). The bill also included a graduated income tax, permitted by the new 16th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

A

2

Federal Reserve System

Wilson and his advisers believed that a federal agency was needed to help manage the country's banks. The Pujo Committee, named after Representative Arsène Pujo of Louisiana, which had investigated the “money trust,” had increased public awareness of this problem. Wilson also thought a federal agency would make credit easier to get, thus stimulating business. Wilson's position was resisted by bankers who feared too much supervision and by labor leaders who suspected that such a system would give conservative business leaders even more power than they already had. Nevertheless, McAdoo and Carter Glass, a congressman from Virginia, engineered the passage of a bill creating the Federal Reserve System in 1914. The system served as the bank for both the banking community and the government, and has a major role in supervising and regulating banks to help stabilize the national banking system.

	More from Encarta
	•  7 tips for funding an online degree •  How to succeed in the fashion industry without being a top designer •  Presidential Myths Quiz •  Coffee break: Recharge your brain