When the Senate halls were hallowed Book

Sometimes you read a biography of someone you like and respect, and by the time you finish your opinion of them has plummeted. Alas, so it was with this well researched, well written biography of Woodrow Wilson. He was so different from the run of the mill politicians, the only president with a PhD, a former president of Princeton University, and a man truly and sincerely dedicated to a just and lasting peace. How could you not respect someone like that?

Well, for one thing there was his virulent racism. The author of this 1964 biography doesn’t spend much time on it, but Wilson’s views on race were ugly and vicious even by the standards of his own day, not to mention ours. He resegregated the federal government, reversing decades of progress that had been made since the Civil War, citing for his reason that he thought most people would feel more “comfortable” with others of their own race. When leaders of black civil rights groups, which had supported him on the basis of his campaign statements, condemned his actions, not only did he not back down, he publicly castigated them for ingratitude.

Then there was the way he bungled the peace talks in Paris in 1919, by taking an inflexible moral high road which left no room to compromise, and thus allowed the final peace terms to be dictated by more practical, cynical men who knew their constituents wanted revenge on Germany, and gave it to them. And thus were planted the seeds of the next World War. Wilson’s behavior was erratic, autocratic, and naive, causing him to quickly lose whatever moral authority he might have been able to exercise.

There was also his intransigence regarding the League of Nations. Had the United States joined, perhaps it could have succeeded in reining in the dogs of war. After the Armistice, the U.S. once again retreated into its historic isolationism, so getting the Senate to ratify the treaty was always going to be a difficult fight. Wilson’s cabinet ministers and advisors thought it was possible nevertheless, but it would require developing rapport with and soothing the egos of powerful Senators; in other words, it would require compromise, and once again Wilson proved himself incapable of ceding an inch of ground. He not only refused to work with them, he denounced them so harshly that he ensured they would be bitter enemies for as long as he was President.

And finally, there was his inexcusable behavior after he suffered his strokes. He was truly incapacitated, unable to carry out his duties, and the government ground to a halt. Key decisions and appointments were not made, policies were not implemented, and federal agencies were left with no direction. Abetted by his wife and doctor, who denied access to him even by his cabinet officers, he refused to subordinate his ego to the good of the country and resign the presidency. In fact, incredibly, even after he had allowed the nation to drift aimlessly for months he was angry that the Democratic convention did not re-nominate him for a third term as President. He had lost his grip on reality and had become genuinely harmful to the nation he was supposed to serve.

So much intelligence, so much potential, such high and honorable ideals, all wasted. In the end, Wilson can only be seen as a failure. It is possible that no one could have prevented World War II, but he was the person the world turned to when the first war ended, and in his arrogance and intransigence he let them down.