Woodrow Wilson's Accomplishments

Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States. Wilson ran as a democrat. His presidential term started on March 4, 1913, after he beat William Howard Taft. He was elected for two terms and his presidency ended on March 4, 1921. Woodrow Wilson was a very successful president. He has been ranked one of the most effective presidents to have ever been in office. Wilson brought many revolutionary visions to the United States of America.

Woodrow Wilson accomplished many things while in office. During his first term, he passed was the Underwood Simons Act. It was passed by congress and signed by Wilson. This act was good for America. It lowered tariff rates from 40% to 25% (History.com Staff). This helped the American economy because

counties in the World War wanted American products. American businesses became more productive from this. It gave jobs to thousands of people. The Federal Trade Commission also resulted from the Underwood Simons Act. It prohibited unfair business acts. It prevented monopolies from occurring. The Federal Reserve came from this too. It was the central bank of the United States that regulates all the national banks (History.com Staff). The Federal Reserve put many restrictions on banks and helped the banks if they were doing poorly. Wilson also passed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. This supported labor unions, strikes, and peaceful protest. This helped many Americans to get better wages.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world - no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”
Wilson wanted everyone to be equal. He wanted fairness for all people and, for the country to be run by the people. Woodrow Wilson did not want the country to be run by a small rich group of individuals.
Wilson was a president at a very unfortunate time in history.

World War I started July 28, 1914, while he was in office. He had a very hard decision to make. Woodrow Wilson wanted to stay out of the war as long as he could. He wanted to stay strictly neutral (History.com Staff). Wilson said, “to fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life," (Biography.com Editors). Wilson was stickily against war until the German submarines sunk the Lusitania. The sinking killed more than 1,000 people and 128 Americans. Wilson made an agreement with Germany. “He continued to maintain U.S. neutrality but warned Germany that any future sinkings would be viewed by America as ‘deliberately unfriendly,’” (History.com Staff). Wilson gave the Germans a one-time pass.

When Wilson’s term ended in 1916, the Democrats re-nominated him. This time his he ran against Charles Evan Hughes. Wilson’s slogan, “He kept us out of war,” helped him to defeat Hughes. Most Americans wanted to stay out of the war completely. When countries are at war, the economy tends to diminish. Wilson defeated Hughes by 600,000 votes. He also won the Electoral College. Wilson won a few swing states by extremely narrow margins. Wilson is one out four elections where his home state did not vote for him. He was then re-elected as president to serve his second term (History.com

Staff).
During Wilson’s second term, his main goal was to keep the United States out of World War I. The Germany submarines kept on sinking United States merchant ships, so Wilson declared war. There were more reasons why Wilson joined the war. The United States was informed about the Zimmermann Telegram. This was a plan to help Mexico revolt against the United States. Germany would help Mexico to regain Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if they joined the war. Germany wanted Mexico to attack the United States. After this Wilson was fed up. The congress and the president agreed to abandon the Neutrality Act. On April 02, 1917, Wilson asked the congress to go to war (History.com Staff). On April 6, 1917, America declared war against Germany. Woodrow Wilson said, “There is a price which is too great to pay for peace, and that price can be put in one word. One cannot pay the price of self-respect.”
At first Wilson only wanted volunteers. He realized that were not enough troops to help with the war. Wilson passed the Selective Service Act of 1917. This helped to draft random men to fight in the war. It required men from age 21 to 35 to register for the draft. This raised the United States army from 200,000 to 4 million people (Biography.com Editors). Wilson said, “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.” Wilson also set up programs, in America, to help with war efforts. He appointed a propaganda group called the Committee on Public Information. These people went around the U.S. selling war bonds and convincing Americans to conserve food (History.com Staff). They convinced people to have gardens in their yards. Wilson also appointed Herbert Hoover to lead the Food Administration. Hoover changed the names of some foods, so they would sound more American. All the American war efforts led to the end of the war on November 11, 1918 (History.com Staff). The United States gave away many valuable resources such as human lives, money, and time.
The Treaty of Versailles officially ended the war on June 28, 1919. The Allied powered included France, Britain, the United States, and Russia. The Central Powers included Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. The Allied Powers put many restrictions on Germany. They reassigned Germany’s boundaries and made them liable for the entire war. The Allied Powers also decreased Germanys military. Germany agreed to pay for the reparations and take full responsibility for the war. This caused violence in Germany. There were many protests that opposed Germany in signing the treaty. Many Germany politicians were assassinated for signing it. For the first five years, the treaty was strictly enforced. After this, the Allies were less harsh. They bullied Germany and caused many problems there. The League of Nations was also formed the Treaty of Versailles. The League of Nations was a group that came together to solve international crisis. Woodrow Wilson proposed the League, although the United States never joined.
Congress did not approve of the United States joining. Woodrow Wilson is known for his Fourteen Points. The Fourteen Points are what the Allied Powers hoped to accomplish from the war. The points were: open diplomacy, freedom of seas, removal of economic barriers, reduction of armaments, adjustment of colonial claims, conquer territories in Russia, preservation of Belgian sovereignty, restoration of French territories, divisions of Austria-Hungary, redrawing of Balkan boundaries, limitations on Turkey, establishment of an independent Poland, and an association of nations (“The Fourteen Points”). The Fourteen Points were formed to help all countries. For all of his efforts in the war, Wilson was awarded the Noble Peace Prize.
Wilson did not just deal with national problems; he also dealt with domestic problems. Under the Wilson administration, both the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendment were passed. The 18th Amendment dealt with the Volstead Act. It was ratified on January 19, 1919. The Volstead Act ban the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol (History.com Staff). Woodrow Wilson was opposed to banning alcohol. He vetoed the bill, but it was overridden by congress. Many Americans did not follow the Volstead Act and it was hard to enforce. There were many Americans who smuggled alcohol illegally into the secret bars, known as speakeasies. Woodrow Wilson also had to deal with the woman suffrage movement. There were woman picketing outside the White House. At first, the women were peaceful but after nothing happened it turned violent (Biography.com Editors). As a result, police had to arrest many women. Wilson was outraged by this, but than learned that some women were going on a hunger strike. Police had to force feed them. Wilson gave a public speech advocating women rights. The 19th amendment was finally passed because of this. It gave women the right to vote (Biography.com Editors).
Woodrow Wilson accomplished many great things during his presidency. He was able to overcome all the problems that were thrown his way. He was able to keep the war out of the United States.