Woodrow Wilson

Birth-Death: (1856 - 1924 ) Term: (1913-1921 )

President Wilson moved with the Progressive movement sweeping across the nation. His administration passed the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendment, each of which reformed some part of government or society. Along the same lines, Wilson's administration introduced the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, and established the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Domestic Events of Woodrow Wilson

    The United States went through some very turbulent times during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. Progressivism was in full swing as the progressive cluster of amendments was passed. The sixteenth amendment gave Congress the power to establish a graduated income tax. The seventeenth amendment provided for the Direct Election of Senators. The eighteenth was the prohibition amendment. It outlawed the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors." The nineteenth amendment established women suffrage.

    All of these changes to the Constitution demonstrate the reform attitude of the people during the 1910s. Many of the reformers had their roots deep in the American History: the income tax had been used by the North to raise money during the Civil War, Direct Election of Senators was one of the points of the Omaha Platform, etc.

    The liberal attitude of the people during the 1910s is also shown by the passage of the Underwood tariff in 1913. The tariff dramatically reduced rates on over a thousand items. It passed mostly because the revenue was substituted by the income tax amendment. At the same time a new Federal Reserve System, designed to stabilized the economy was unveiled.

    Woodrow Wilson also strengthened the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act strengthened Sherman, adding new provisions and removing labor unions from liability under anti-trust laws. The newly set up Federal Trade Commission also helped in controlling the actions of big businesses.