Woodrow Wilson

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

President Wilson introduced "moral diplomacy" upon the Western Hemisphere. The central idea behind this policy was to influence and control foreign nations and events through the exercise of economic power. However, when things got rough, "moral diplomacy" seldom provided enough to combat problems, and the United States often resulted to armed confrontation to solve problems. In Europe, however, World War I had begun, and Wilson favored neutrality.

Foreign Events of Woodrow Wilson

    Woodrow Wilson replaced the Taftıs "moral diplomacy" attitude towards Latin America with moral diplomacy." Government was now mainly concerned with protecting United States investments in these countries. There were a few times when the United States troops were present for extended periods of time, but for the most part this foreign policy worked very well.

    Before the beginning of WWI in Europe the United States was in a small war of its own with Mexico. Mexico had gone through several revolutions between 1910 and 1913 and in the end General Huerta emerged as leader. Wilson, however, did not recognize Huerta because he attained his power by assassinating the previous leader. Thus, even though businesses recognized the government, Wilson stated that he will not continue using "moral diplomacy," rather he announced a policy of "watchful waiting."

    On April 9, 1914, unarmed Marines were arrested and then released while getting supplies in Tampico Bay. Since the Mexican government did not apologize for the incident, Wilson sent more troops to occupy the city. Wilson was determined not to have this conflict escalate into a war, so when Argentina, Brazil, and Chile suggested arbitration he quickly agreed. The ABC arbitration took place at Niagara Falls and effectively ended the Mexican controversy.

    The most famous foreign policy issue during Wilson's Presidency was dealing with the raging war in Europe. There were many causes for World War I: imperialism, the arms race, secret alliances, and many more. The United States stayed officially neutral for the large part of the war even though German submarines were raiding the seas and sinking American military and civilian ships like the Lusitania. The Germans continued sinking passenger ships until March 1916 when, in the Sussex Pledge, Germany promised to stop its submarine warfare if the United States compelled the Allies to also use international law in their naval warfare.

    The Sussex pledge lasted until 1917 when Germany abruptly ended it and began to sink American ships again. There was a reason for this as the United States had not remained completely neutral, having loaned millions of dollars to the Allies. Sixty-three days after the Sussex Pledge was broken president Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war.

    For the United States the war ended quickly. Germany unconditionally surrendered on November 11th, only 7 months after the U.S. declaration of war. There were a total of 112,432 American lives lost, more than 50% of these due to influenza. Even while the war was still going on Wilson campaigned for peace. When the war was over he introduced his plan, the Fourteen Points, to the European nations. The major provisions were to prevent another world war and thus addressed the causes of this one. They included absolute freedom of the seas, prohibition of secret treaties and alliances, reduction of armaments, self-determination of people, and the formation of a general association to enfore these laws - the League of Nations.

    President Wilson barely convinced the Europeans to pass the League of Nations, however his success was even worse at home. Both times that he was elected, he was a minority president, receiving less than 50% of the popular vote. When he went to the public with the Fourteen Points after the end of WWI, he wrongly estimated the public reaction. He thought that the League of Nations would prevent another World War, while the publicıs opinion was neutrality - as long as the United States stayed neutral, American men wouldnıt be killed in lands unseen and for causes unknown. Thus the treaty with Germany was not ratified by the Senate, and it was not until 1921 that the United States was officially at peace with Germany.