An
Overview of Woodrow Wilson's AdministrationA minority of the voters elected Woodrow Wilson to the presidency in 1912. That year the Republicans split their votes between incumbent William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1916, the people re-elected Wilson partly because "He kept us out of war." Three months after that election, however, German submarines began unrestricted attacks on American ships, and Congress declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. Although he led the United States as an active participant in World War I, Wilson gained lasting fame as a champion of world peace by playing a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Versailles and by tirelessly fighting for a League of Nations.
Historians generally consider Wilson one of the three or four most successful Presidents. As a spokesman for humanity in a world crisis, he stood for integrity, purity of purpose, and responsibility. Not even his enemies accused Wilson of weakness or stupidity. They knew him to be honest and that he could not be turned aside from what he believed was right, even for the sake of friendship.
| Election of 1912 | ||
| Candidate | Popular Vote | Electoral Vote |
| Woodrow Wilson Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft |
6,293,454 4,119,538 3,484,980 |
435 88 8 |
| Election of 1916 | ||
| Woodrow Wilson Charles Evans Hughes |
9,129,606 8,538,221 |
277 254 |
| Vice-President and Cabinet | |
| Vice-President | Thomas R. Marshall |
| Secretary of State | William
Jennings Bryan Robert Lansing (1915) Bainbridge Colby (1920) |
| Secretary of the Treasury | William Gibbs McAdoo Carter Glass (1918) David F. Houston (1920) |
| Secretary of War | Lindley M. Garrison Newton D. Baker (1916) |
| Attorney General | James C. McReynolds Thomas W. Gregory (1914) A. Mitchell Palmer (1919) |
| Postmaster General | Albert S. Burleson |
| Secretary of the Navy | Josephus Daniels |
| Secretary of the Interior | Franklin K. Lane John B. Payne (1920) |
| Secretary of Agriculture | David F. Houston Edwin T. Meredith (1920) |
| Secretary of Commerce | William C. Redfield Joshua W. Alexander (1919) |
| Secretary of Labor | William B. Wilson |
| United States Events During His Administration | |
| Population in 1921 108,600,000 | |
| March 15, 1913 | Wilson held the first ever regular presidential press conference. |
| April 7, 1913 | Congress was called into special session to consider a new tariff bill. |
| 1913 | The Department of Commerce and Labor was split into two separate Cabinet-level departments. |
| 1913 | The 17th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for the direct election of U.S. Senators, became law. |
| October 1913 | Congress passed the Underwood Tariff Act. |
| December 1913 | Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act. |
| 1914 | The Federal Trade Commission was established by act of Congress. |
| 1914 | Congress passed the Clayton Antitrust Act. |
| 1915 | The first telephone line linking New York City and San Francisco began operation. |
| 1916 | Congress passed the Adamson Act, establishing the eight-hour working day for railroad employees. |
| 1916 | Congress passed the Child Labor Act. |
| 1916 | Congress passed the Jones Bill, greatly increasing Philippine self-government. |
| 1917 | The United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark. |
| April 6, 1917 | Congress declared war against Germany. |
| 1918 | The first airmail route was established between New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. |
| 1919 | The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages, became law. |
| 1919 | Congress rejected the Versailles Treaty and American membership in the League of Nations. |
| 1920 | The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, became law. |
| 1920 | The first commercial radio broadcasts were made from Detroit and Pittsburgh. |
| World Events During His Administration | |
| April 1914 | American forces occupied the Mexican port of Veracruz. |
| 1915 | A German submarine sank the liner Lusitania. |
| 1916 | American General John J. Pershing pursued Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa deep into Mexican territory. |
| January 8, 1918 | Wilson delivered his "Fourteen Points" speech. |
| October 6-November 11, 1918 | Wilson negotiated the armistice with Germany. |
| January 18-June 28, 1919 | Wilson helped draft the Versailles Treaty at the Paris Peace Conference. |
| 1920 | The League of Nations was established. |
| July 12, 1920 | The Panama Canal opened. |
William Howard Taft
Theodore Roosevelt
World War I
William Jennings
Bryan
Department
of Commerce
John J. Pershing
Pancho
Villa
Panama Canal
This page was last updated on 11/25/2011.