He Kept Us Out of War

While several American presidents can contribute their successful campaigns to their equally successful military accomplishments, America isn’t always looking for a fight. During his first term, Woodrow Wilson kept America out of the war that was consuming Europe and used this feat in his slogan for his reelection campaign.

(Image Courtesy of Britannica.com)

The first Democratic president of the 20^th century, Woodrow Wilson was faced with a difficult first term. After an era of Republicanism, Wilson and the now Democrat senate set out to create some legislation (politics actually did stuff that mattered for once). These progressive laws, which set up the structure for many of FDR’s New Deal policies and ultimately social services today, are overshadowed by the world conflicts of the same time period.

The major issue was the war going on in Europe. Initially limited to only the European countries, America- Germany tensions began to grow as submarine warfare started hitting shipping lines and passenger vessels. The American public was furious, but Wilson insisted on diplomacy. However, there was another war closer to home: the Mexican Civil War. Although there were some U.S. troops involved in the conflict, America did not take sides and withdrew quickly from the country.  

The election of 1916 had Wilson running for a second term against Charles E. Hughes. Hughes found it extremely difficult to run against the “peace” platform. Wilson was promising peace and had proven that he could do it. Hughes took to attacking Wilson’s labor laws (which many workers were actually happy with). “He kept us out of war” proved to be more powerful than Hughes could handle.

This slogan focused on Wilson’s most notable achievement of his first term. While he made progressive legislation that regulated business, Wilson is best known for his foreign policy. This could be a result of his political alignment. As Republicans were sided with business, his new policies did not settle well with everyone. However, there is no denying that the prevention of war appeals to the vast majority of people. Additionally, the slogan states an undoubtedly true fact; Wilson had many opportunities to declare war (with the support of the American government and people), but he chose not to.

It is worthy to note that Wilson’s slogan (as well as his actual platform and campaign) did not promise to keep them out of war. Becoming involved in the conflict was not in Wilson’s interest, yet there was a limit to how many American deaths from submarine attacks could be forgiven. As much as Wilson tried to keep America out of war, the rising death toll combined with the Zimmerman note begged for something to be done. The nation entered the Great War, now a true World War, on April 4, 1917. It became the war to end all wars and, quote Wilson, “to make the world safe for democracy.”