Researching Woodrow Wilson's Foreign Policy Record

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Woodrow Wilson: Served as President from 1913-1921

Personal Characteristics: Imposing, Opinionated, Calculated, Fickle

Description by Contemporary: When discussing Woodrow Wilson’s decision making, one author wrote, “I have never known a man so changeable in his disposition. Anything you might say of him, good or bad, could be true at one time or another.” 

Description by Author: “Woodrow Wilson, though ordinarily gracious and tactful before his collapse in 1919, had his lapses. Somewhat arrogant intellectually, he did not suffer fools gladly. He referred sneeringly to the ‘bungalow minds’ of the Senators, and once told one of their leaders, in connection with approving the Treaty of Versailles, that their heads were only knots to keep their bodies from unraveling.”

A Virtuous Man: Not only was Wilson a deeply religious man, but he made sure to keep his values close to him when making decisions. Tony Smith stated that “The basis of Wilson’s faith was a deep-set belief in the virtue and the efficacy of liberal constitutionalism for the promotion of justice, freedom, and political stability in the 20th century.” 

The International Context:

Continued Unrest in Mexico: As was stated before, the revolutions that occurred in Mexico during Taft’s term spilled over into Wilson’s. This time, another coup d’etat ensued, in which Francisco Madero was toppled, who was then overthrown by Victoriano Huerta. Furthermore, Wilson was actually in support of the ongoing Mexican Revolution, attributing it to America’s own issues with corporations. Wilson himself stated ‘We have seen the hand of material interest sometimes about to close upon our dearest rights and possession. We have seen material interests threaten constitutional freedom in the United States. Therefore, we will now know how to sympathize with those in the rest of America who have to contend with such powers, not only within their borders but from outside their borders also’ 

World War I: While this conflict heavily involved the United States, especially toward the end of the War, there were still numerous events that excluded America. First, think of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the supposed cause for war. Second, the creation of alliances, such as the Triple Entente, composed of Great Britain, France, and Russia, did not have American involvement. While America maintained trade with the belligerents, the fighting strayed away from U.S. soil. In short, World War I dominated much of the international context during Wilson’s time in office. Following its conclusion, America was greatly entrenched in world affairs following the fall of American isolationism.

Nationalism: A topic that would be widely understood by the onset of the second World War. This concept holds that people have a strong sense of connection with the state they reside in, or the nation that they represent. Following this, people begin to believe that their state or people are better than others, creating animosity. Tony Smith argued that nationalism was a global force, not only impacting “World War I but also the breakup of the Russian, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian empires thereafter. New states were emerging, struggling to achieve support from their populations through mass based political parties. With the victory of the Russian Revolution in 1917, communism offered itself as an ideology of state building and nationalist consciousness at the very moment Wilson was proposing liberal democracy to the same end.” 

Key Foreign Policies: 

Anti-Isolationist and Anti-Imperialist: According to Michael Fowler, “Woodrow Wilson believed that isolationism was no longer possible for the United States. In his view this increasingly powerful country would just have to play a much more significant part in twentieth-century international politics.” Furthermore, Woodrow Wilson supported the concept of self-determination, in which all nations around the globe have the right to their own sovereign state/territory, without any foreign interference or influence. “He (Wilson) saw imperialism as immoral and as necessarily breeding disorder and rebellion. Wilson played a leading role in developing and popularizing the concept of self-determination: of endowing each nation with its own state. He felt this was a promising way to bring about a new, better, more just world order.” 

Wilsonianism: This concept, while very layered, revolved around a new world order made up of democracies. To Wilson, “States were presumed to be legitimate when they were democratically constituted, and it was expected that in most instances, ethnic boundaries would make for the frontiers of countries.” This idea was especially radical for his time because Wilson saw the new world order without empire, without colonization. The problem, however, was not only how to dissolve empires, but then how to make up each state that would need to be created.

A Traditional Liberal Democrat: “In most respects, Wilson was a traditional liberal democrat; his beliefs emphasized the need for a sense of public duty in the individual citizen and the fundamental importance of institutions based on civil liberties and free elections to return able representatives to a government whose powers were constitutionally limited.” This thought process was the basis for Wilsonianism, which led to his beliefs moving farther to the ends of the political spectrum. 

A Desire for Change: This header is actually an oxymoron, as mostly everything Wilson saw in a negative light in terms of relations with Latin America prior to his presidency, he would end up enforcing while in office. Wilson “came to use economic power as actively as the Republicans had, and he soon proved himself a determined practitioner of armed intervention in the region. Nevertheless, the focus of Wilson’s policy was on changing the internal structure of the states in Central America and the Caribbean, in the expectation that this would provide the enduring political stability the United States needed of them.” 

Wilson’s Fourteen Points: At the beginning of 1918, the last year of the first World War, Wilson conducted his Fourteen Points speech, in which he laid out his goals not only for the war, but the postwar world. In sum, Wilson said that “What we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealing by the other peoples of the world as against force and selfish aggression.” This quote encapsulates all of his other major foreign policies, as Wilson sought a new world order, consisting of self-determination, peace, and democratic rule.

Positive Achievements: 

The Maintenance of Neutrality: From Wilson’s first appeal for neutrality on August 19th, 1914, to his declaration for war on April 2nd, 1917, Wilson was able to maintain neutrality while also playing to his preferred side of the conflict, which was shown through his notes on the Lusitania and his wartime loans to belligerents, which were mainly comprised of members of the Triple Entente alliance He was able to maintain neutrality by “criticizing” both sides of the conflict, yet condemning mostly the Germans. For example: “While the United States remained neutral in World War I, President Wilson frequently protested British disregard of traditional American trading rights; but Germany’s submarine warfare inspired his sternest warning in 1915 and finally became a major cause of American belligerency.”  

The Lusitania: Following the sinking of this ship, carrying Americans, as well as contraband, it would be easy to think that war would be imminent following this disaster, as Colonel Edward House predicted. However, Wilson maintained American neutrality and even earned an apology from the stubborn German leadership. The Germans conceded an apology for the incident, and proclaimed that they would pay the U.S. for damages, which would be carried out in the 1920s. While this event could have spelled disaster and many more lives lost for America than what would eventually happen, Wilson was able to prevent it. 

Winning the War: Even though America faced its fair share of casualties in World War I, compared to the other belligerents, they made out like bandits. Wilson was able to maintain neutrality for nearly the entire war, join the conflict out of self-defense, have only a fraction of the losses of other states, like Russia, heavily impact the postwar era through organizations like the creation of the League of Nations, and come out of the war as a rising superpower, while other key contributors had to pick up the pieces. Obviously, Wilson did not play the war like a puppeteer, but the sequence of events made the U.S. much better off than before. 

His Legacy Carried On: Following Wilson’s time in office, many of the concepts of Wilsonianism still live on, even today, as America still sees itself as an arbiter of peace and democracy. Smith argued that “The best evidence of the power of Wilsonianism, however, comes from its resurgence in American foreign policy in the aftermath of World War II. Bretton Woods, the initial plans for the United Nations, the hopes for Western European integration that lay behind the occupation of Germany and the Marshall Plan–all this was essentially Wilsionian in inspiration.” 

Negative Drawbacks: 

Relations with Mexico: Wilson, in this case, following another coup in Mexico, one of which brought Victoriano Huerta to power, caused Wilson to enforce a new policy in international relations: nonrecognition. While this policy itself is not ill-advised, it is actually the contrary in some cases. However, the issue here is that Wilson only refused to recognize the Huerta regime because he felt as if his regime would only further instability in the state, lacking legal reason to refuse recognizing the regime. Wilson then attempted to subvert Huerta to create a democratic constitution through diplomatic means, then imposed economic sanctions Eventually, Huerta’s regime would fall, making Wilson think he had scored a victory for America and its relations with Mexico. However, similar to Taft and Knox, Wilson failed to realize the negative externalities of the situation. Smith stated that “What Wilson also discovered, however, was the depth of Mexican nationalist, whose force was evident in the reaction to the American occupation of Veracruz in 1914 and again in response to the Punitive Expedition Wilson launched in the spring of 1916 against Pancho Villa in northern Mexico.” This event, Smith argued, was a learning experience for Wilson, as his actions were much more tempered in similar situations, such as the Russian Revolution. 

Relations With the Dominican Republic: Wilson began America’s occupation of the Dominican Republic, which would last until 1924, following the conclusion of his presidency. The ironic part of this event, and Wilson’s policy of self-determination, was the way in which the U.S. conducted itself in the Dominican Republic. “Ultimately, revolt broke out afresh, Jimenez resigned, and no government would accept the terms of control the United states insisted upon. In November 1916, after its marines had occupied the capital Santo Domingo for six months. Washington installed its own military government to rule the country. American rule would last eight years.” Once America left, political instability again ensued until a dictatorship was established, squashing Wilson’s hopes for a democratic regime in the state. 

Failure to Implement his Policies in Europe: Similar to Wilson’s failure to establish universal democratic regimes in Latin America, this too happened in Europe. Smith stated that “Wilson failed in his efforts both to root democratic forces in countries where they were struggling to take power and to establish a stable new configuration of power among the states of the continent.” In short, Wilson’s democratic initiatives in Europe failed, as colonial powers in Western Europe remained, and Eastern Europe had even weaker prospects for democratization following the Russian Revolution.

Failure of the League of Nations and Overall Shortcomings: While not a failure that falls squarely on the shoulders of Wilson, it does highlight how his new world order ambitions fell laughably short. The United Nations would come much closer to spreading democratization globally than the League, and even that institution has many shortcomings. The failure of the League highlighted the outrageousness of Wilson’s ultimate goals. It was nearly impossible for one man, for one country to unite the globe around a singular political system, to end large-scale conflict, to enact self-determination, etc. With that being said, Wilson himself hindered his policy of self-determination by constantly interfering with states he disapproved of, showing that he was the true enemy to his goals. 

Final Grade: C+/ While Wilson had commendable goals in mind prior to and during his presidency, he simply did not have the means nor the intellect to carry them out properly. He was clearly a smart man, who knew how to play the international game. He maximized his gains in World War I while also minimizing his losses. That is his greatest achievement. On the other hand, he constantly contradicted his goals with his actions. His constant interventions in Latin America, along with his failures in Europe were his undoing. Ultimately, I believe his arrogance was his greatest drawback. While history saw him as a great president for a time, he is now thought of correctly, at least in the international sense: a hypocritical zealot who would attempt to usurp others in favor of democracy, by any means necessary.  

References:

1. Michael Fowler, “Woodrow Wilson: A Sketch of His Theoretical Contributions”. 
2. Wilson’s Appeal for Neutrality, Aug. 19, 1914,” “First Lusitania Note, May. 13, 1915,” “Wilson’s Shift on War Loans, Aug. 26, 1915,” “Wilson’s War Message, April 2. 1917,” in Brockway, ed., Basic Documents in United States Foreign Policy, 2nd ed., (Reinhold Company), 61-69.
3. Tony Smith, “Wilson and a World Made Safe for Democracy,” America’s Mission: The United States and the Worldwide Struggle for Democracy in the Twentieth Century, 1st ed., (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994), 84-109.
4. Tony Smith, “Wilson and Democracy in Latin America,” America’s Mission: The United States and the Worldwide Struggle for Democracy in the Twentieth Century, 1st ed., (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994), 60-83.
5. Thomas Paterson et al., “Diplomatic Crossroad: The Sinking of the Lusitania, 1915,” “The Travails of Neutrality,” “Submarines, Neutral Rights, and Mediation Efforts,” “Wilson Leads America into World War,” American Foreign Relations, 5th ed., vol. II, (Houghton Mifflin Company), 68-83.
6. “Wilson’s Fourteen Points, 1918,” in Gambone, ed., Documents of American Diplomacy: From the American Revolution to the Present, (Westport, CT; London, England: Greenwood Press), 178-181.