Wilson and the New Diplomacy

pictures --->

1856 born Thomas Woodrow Wilson in Virginia
- strong father, weak mother
1879 class at Princeton
- studied classics, debate team
1885 class at Johns Hopkins grad school
- Ph.D. in politics & history
1885 marriage to Ellen Axson
- close-knit family of 3 daughters
- 2nd wife Edith Boling Galt
1888 professor at Princeton
- admired Disraeli, Gladstone
1902 president at Princeton
- sought reforms, preceptorial
1906 arterial illness
- personality changed, more stubborn
1907 affair with Mary Hulbert
- need for moral compensation
1910 governor of New Jersey
- Insurgent progressivism
1912 elected President of U.S.
- due to Republican split
1913 New Freedom program
- Underwood tariff
- Federal Reserve Act
- Clayton Act

Religion
- "The Bible reveals men unto themselves, not as creatures in bondage, not as men under human authority, but responsible through his own conscience to his Lord and Maker."
- "I will not cry 'peace' so long as there is sin and wrong in the world ... America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy scripture."
Morality
- Foreign policy must be "more concerned about human rights than about property rights."
- "The force of America is the force of moral principle."
Democracy
- "When properly directed, there is no people not fitted for self-government."
- "Discipline - discipline generations deep."
Progress
- U.S. to be the "preceptor to the world."
Mission
- "America's mission was to realize an ideal of liberty, provide a model of democracy, vindicate moral principle, give examples of action and ideals of government, uphold the rights of man, work for humanity and the happiness of men everywhere, lead the thinking of the world, promote peace - in sum, to serve mankind and progress."

feared "wedge" of revolution 1911 and rise of Japan
Yuan Shih-kai replaces Sun Yat-sen
Koumintang's Sung Chiao-jen wins elections 1912
Yuan kills Sung March 1913 - civil war
Wilson grants recognition to Yuan May 2, 1913, to encourage a parliament
no support for 6-Power railroad consortium's loan, but Yuan gets money
Japan's 21 Demands - Shantung, Manchuria, Fukien
"territorial contiguity" allows "special relations"
Wilson agreed with Sen. James Phelan effort to stop Japanese immigration - already 50,000 arrived and Calif becoming a "Japanese plantation"
Webb Land Act 1913 to prohibit aliens owning land
strong Japanese opposition - fear of war - Navy sought preparedness
Wilson dissolved Bradley Fiske's Joint Board in April
Wilson used diplomacy, not military - sent WJB to Calif - Webb Act did not mention Japanese, only aliens "unqualified for citizenship"
realists in 1915 cabinet: Lansing (State), McAdoo (Treasury), Josephus Daniels (Navy), Lindley Garrison (War)
R. Lansing vs. minister P. Reinsch
Wilson follows "moral suasion", status quo
Lansing-Ishii Agreement 1917

Bryan-Chamorro Treaty 1913 gave U.S. 99-year lease on Corn Islands and Fonseca Gulf, plus exclusive canal option to prevent foreign canal, paid $3 million to Nicaragua to be used to repay American bankers - Senate opposed intevention clause, U.S. ignored opposition of Central American Court of Justice
Marines in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba
but some idealism:
- Panama Canal tolls equalized
- Jones Act for Puerto Rico
- Colombia treaty 1914 - $25m. indemnity for Panama Canal
- no United Fruit-sponsored coup in Costa Rica - Wilson lectured J.F. Dulles
- Bryan's 22 "cooling-off" treaties