Woodrow Wilson: Liberal Idealism Stifled by Illness
by Konrad Katterle
In the early months of 1924, two monumental historical figures died from strokes. Both made a major impact on the political life of their nations and died before they believed their work was complete. The first man was Vladimir Lenin, who created the world’s first communist state but died shortly afterward. The other was Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States of America, who left a different legacy for both the United States and the world as a whole. It is worth examining his legacy, and how it was impacted by disease.
Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856, in Staunton, Virginia. He originally pursued a career as a lawyer, and then as a History Professor at Princeton. Prior to his political career, Wilson was plagued by recurrent bouts of gastritis and headaches. These ailments flared up whenever Wilson experienced periods of heightened stress, and he became acutely aware of the direct link between his mental state and physical condition. Upon entering politics, Wilson entered a long period of good health, which he attributed to at last working in a field that he enjoyed.
After winning the 1912 presidential election, Wilson wanted to prioritize domestic affairs during his time in office, but the outbreak of World War I in 1914 forced Wilson to more seriously consider how to orient America’s foreign affairs. Though he was sympathetic to the Entente, Wilson wanted America to remain out of the war.
However, America’s neutrality was not to last. Germany adopted a military policy of unrestricted submarine warfare against Great Britain in order to break Britain’s naval blockade of Germany. This resulted in the deaths of many Americans who were traveling aboard British ships. This controversial policy later was expanded in 1917 to include all ships around the British Isles. Later that year, a telegram from the German Foreign Minister to Mexico was leaked to the American press, revealing that the German government had promised the Mexican government aid in taking back land lost to the USA during the Mexican-American war. These two events turned American public opinion against Germany, and so war was declared on April 6, 1917.
Wilson maintained his good health during the war, but this was not to last. Wilson chose to take part in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference following the armistice, arguing for a peace treaty underlined by liberal principles such as self-determination for national minorities, free trade, and most importantly, the establishment of a League of Nations that would arbitrate over international affairs and prevent future conflict. While attending the conference, Wilson became violently ill, experiencing headaches, coughing, and a high fever. Historians suspect he either had influenza or had experienced another stroke.
Exhausted from the months-long peace conference, Wilson’s health worsened when the ratification of the Versailles Peace Treaty, containing the formation of his beloved League of Nations, faced resistance in the US Senate. Wilson embarked on a cross-country tour of the country in the fall of 1919 to try and rally public opinion in favor of the treaty. In Colorado though, Wilson experienced an asthmatic attack and lost sensation on his left side, which prompted him to abandon the rest of his tour.
Shortly after returning to the White House, on October 2, Wilson suffered a severe ischemic stroke. He found himself completely paralyzed on his left side, though he retained his ability to speak. Instead of retiring, Wilson allowed his wife, personal physician, and chief of staff to essentially run the country for him in what remained of his term. After leaving the White House, Wilson’s health failed to recover and he died on February 3, 1924.
Wilson has left behind a complicated legacy. Some historians have praised him for putting in place many progressive reforms and infusing American foreign policy with liberal idealism, while others have criticized him for his racist views and for creating what conservative columnist George Will has called ‘America’s Imperial Presidency’ by enlarging the federal government. Wilson himself would likely have hoped that his League of Nations would be his most important legacy, but his ill health interrupted his grand effort to rally support for America’s place in it. So what is Wilson’s most important legacy? Historian Arthur Herman believed that it was establishing US global hegemony through its intervention in World War I, and infusing this global dominance with the belief that America was to be a beacon for other countries to follow. There are many who criticize this belief for being utopian and acting as a cover for US global dominance, but perhaps one should compare this lasting vision with that of Vladimir Lenin, Wilson’s contemporary. Lenin bequeathed the World a vision of terror, international communism, and perpetual class warfare. The state he founded collapsed in 1991, while the United States continues to stand despite many trials. Viewed alongside Lenin’s legacy, perhaps Wilson’s vision of a liberal world order safeguarded by the USA was not such a bad thing after all.
Sources
Berg, A Scott. Wilson. New York, Penguin Books, 2013.
Herman, Arthur. 1917: Lenin, Wilson, And The Birth Of The New World Disorder. New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 2017.
Will, George. “The best way to tell if someone is a conservative.” Washington Post, 25 May 2018.
Konrad Katterle is a second-year medical student at the UTCOMLS.
