Chapter 29 Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad, 1912–1916

I. The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912

• • Election of 1912: – Democrats met at Baltimore (1912): • Nominated Wilson, aided by William Jennings Bryan’s switch to his side • New Freedom program: – – – Called for stronger antitrust legislation Banking reform Tariff reduction Progressive Republican ticket: – A third-party with Theodore Roosevelt as the political candidate

I. The “Bull Moose” Campaign

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1912 (cont.)

They met in Chicago August 1912 with 2,000 delegates from 40 states • Dramatically symbolizing the rising political status of women • As well as the Progressive support for the cause of social justice • Settlement-house Jane Addams placed Roosevelt’s name in nomination for the presidency • Religious atmosphere suffused the convention • Fired-up Progressives entered the campaign with righteousness and enthusiasm.

• Roosevelt said he felt “as strong as a bull moose” thus the bull moose symbol.

I. The “Bull Moose” Campaign 1912 (cont.)

• • There were clashes of personalities between Roosevelt and Taft.

Roosevelt’s New Nationalism: – Preached theology of progressive thinker Herbert Cody in his book The Promise of

American Life

• Both favored continued consolidation of trusts and labor unions • Paralleled by the growth of powerful regulatory agencies in Washington • Campaigned for woman suffrage

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I. The “Bull Moose” Campaign 1912 (cont.)

• • For a broad program of social welfare, including minimum wage laws and “socialistic” social insurance Roosevelt and his “bull moose” Progressives looked forward to the kind of activist welfare state of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Wilson’s New Freedom: • Favored small enterprise, entrepreneurship • And the free functioning of unregulated and unmonopolized markets • Shunned social welfare proposals • And pinned their economic faith on competition— “man on the make,” Wilson.

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I. The “Bull Mouse” Campaign 1919 (cont.)

• • Keynote of Wilson’s campaign was not regulation but fragmentation of the big industrial combines Chiefly by means of vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws.

The election of 1919: • Offered voters a choice not merely of policies – But of political and economic philosophies--a rarity in U.S. History.

• The heat of the campaign cooled when, in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot in the chest by a fanatic • The Rough Rider suspended active campaigning for more than two weeks after delivering his scheduled speech.

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II. Woodrow Wilson: A Minority President

• Election’s returns: – Wilson with 435 electoral votes and 6,296,547 popular votes – Roosevelt, finished second, 88 electoral votes and 4,118,571 popular votes – Taft with only 8 electoral votes and 3,484,720 popular votes (see Map 29.1) – Wilson with only 41% of the popular votes was clearly a minority president, his party won a majority in Congress

II. Woodrow Wilson: A Minority President (cont.)

– Taft and Roosevelt together pulled over 1.25 million more votes than the Democrats – Progressivism rather than Wilson was the runaway winner • The progressive vote for Wilson and Roosevelt, totaling 68%, far exceeded the tally of the more conservative Taft who received only 23%.

– The Socialist candidate, Eugene V. Debs, rolled up 900,672 popular votes, 6% of the total cast; nearly twice as many as he netted four years earlier – Socialists dreamed of being in within 8 years.

II. Woodrow Wilson: A Minority President (cont.)

– Roosevelt’s lone-wolf course: • Was tragic for both him and his former Republican associates – He had bitten himself and gone mad—rephrasing William Allen White • The Progressive party had no future because it had elected few candidates to state and local offices • The Socialists elected more than a thousand • Death by slow starvation was inevitable for the upstart Progressive party • The Progressives made a tremendous showing of a hastily organized third party to spur the enactment of their pet reforms by the Wilsonian Democrats.

II. Woodrow Wilson: A Mighty President (cont.)

• Republicans: – They were in unaccustomed minority status in Congress for the next six years – Frozen out of the White House for eight years – Taft himself had a fruitful old age: • Taught law for 8 years at Yale University • In 1921 became chief justice of the Supreme Court—a job for which he was far more happily suited than the presidency.

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III. Wilson: The Idealist in Politics

• (Thomas) Woodrow Wilson: – The second Democratic president since 1861 • Professor-politician from one of the seceded southern states – Zachary Taylor, 64 years earlier.

• His ideal of self-determination was inspired by his sympathy for southern independence • His ideal of faith in the masses—if they were properly informed—came from Jeffersonian democracy • His inspirational political sermons from his Presbyterian minster-father.

III. Wilson: The Idealist in Politics (cont.)

– Wilson, a profound student of government: – – Believed the chief executive should play a dynamic role Convinced that Congress could not function properly unless the president was out front and provided the leadership – He enjoyed dramatic success, both as governor and president, in appealing over the heads of legislators to the sovereign people: – Wilson suffered from serious defects of personality: – Though jovial and witty in private, he could be cold and standoffish in public – Incapable of bending and with little showmanship, he lacked the common touch.

II. Wilson: The Idealist in Politics (cont.)

– He loved humanity in the mass rather than the individual in person – His academics caused him to feel at home with scholars, while he had to work with politicians – An austere and somewhat arrogant intellectual, he looked down upon lesser minds, especially journalists – He was especially intolerant of stupid senators.

– Wilson’s burning idealism: – – He had special desire to reform ever-present wickedness His sense of moral righteousness made it difficult for him at times to compromise: black was black, wrong was wrong, and one should never compromise with wrong – He had a strong and inflexible stubbornness.

IV. Wilson Tackles the Tariff

• Wilson’s programs: – He called for an all-out assault on what he called “the triple wall of privilege”: the tariff, the banks, and the trusts – He tackled the trust first: – – Summoned Congress into special session in early 1913 Precedent-shattering move, he did not send his presidential message over to Capitol to be read – He appeared in person before a joint session of Congress and presented his appeal with stunning eloquence and effectiveness.

IV. Wilson Tackles the Tariff (cont.)

– The Underwood Tariff: • When challenged by lobbyists, – Wilson promptly issued a combative message to the people urging them to hold their elected representatives in line • Public opinion worked: – He secured late in 1913 final approval of the bill he wanted • Provided for a substantial reduction of rates: • Land mark in tax legislation: – By the ratified Sixteenth Amendment—Congress enacted a graduated income tax beginning with a moderate levy over $3,000 – By 1917 revenue from the income tax shot ahead of revenue from the tariffs.

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V. Wilson Battles the Bankers

• The Banks: – The antiquated and inadequate banking and currency system • The nation’s financial structure was creeping under the Civil War National Banking Act – – Most glaring defects and shortcoming The inelasticity of the currency – Since most banks were located in New York, mobilization of bank reserves in times of panic were badly pinched – In 1908 Congress ordered an investigation of banking systems headed by Senator Aldrich.

V. Wilson Battles the Bankers (cont.)

• • The Aldrich report: – Recommended a gigantic bank with numerous branches—a third Bank of the United States – Democratic banking reformers heeded the findings of the committee – Also supported by Louis D. Brandeis in his scholarly book: Other People’s Money and How the Bankers Use It (1914) Wilson in June 1913 appeared personally before both houses of Congress, called for sweeping banking reform: – Endorse the Democratic proposal for a decentralized bank in governments – Opposed the Republican demands for a huge private bank with fifteen branches.

V. Wilson Battles the Bankers (cont.)

• The Federal Reserve Act (1913): • Wilson appealed to the sovereign people • The most important economic legislation between the Civil War and the New Deal • Federal Reserve Board: – – Appointed by the President It would oversee a nationwide system of 12 regional reserve districts – Each with its own central bank – The final authority of the Federal Reserve Board guaranteed a substantial measure of public control – The board would be employed to issue paper money

V. Wilson Battles the Bankers (cont.)

– The paper money—“Federal Reserve Notes”—backed by commercial paper – Thus the amount of money in circulation could be swiftly increased as needed for the legitimate requirements of business.

• The Federal Reserve Act was a red-letter achievement – Carried the nation through the financial crisis of the First World War 1914-1918 – Without it, the Republic’s progress toward the modern economic age would have been seriously retarded.

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VI. The President Tames the Trusts

• The Trusts: – Wilson appeared personally before Congress 1914 to present the third wall of privileges— trusts: • Federal Trade Commission Act (1914) – Empowered a presidentially appointed commission to research industries’ engagement in interstate commerce – The commission was to crush monopoly at the source by rooting out unfair trade practices: » Including unlawful competition, false advertising, mislabeling, adulteration, and bribery.

VI. The President Tames the Trusts (cont.)

– The Clayton Anti-Trust (1914): • Increased the list of practices deemed objectionable: – Price discrimination and interlocking directorates (where the same individual serves as director of supposedly competing firms) – Achieved through holding companies (see Figure 29.1) • Conferred long-overdue benefits on labor: – Sought to exempt labor and agricultural organization from anti-trust prosecution, while explicitly legalizing strikes and peaceful picketing – Samuel Gompers, Union leader, hailed the act as the Magna Carta of labor.

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VII. Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide

• • Other progressive legislation: – The Federal Farm Loan Act (1916): • Made credit available to farmers at low rates of interest—long demanded by the Populists – The Warehouse Act (1916): • Authorized loans on the security of staple crops— another Populist idea – Laws to benefit rural areas: providing for highway construction and the establishment of agricultural extension work in state colleges.

VII. Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide (cont.)

– La Follette Seaman’s Act (1915): • It required decent treatment and a living wage on American merchant ships • It did cripple America’s merchant marine.

– The Workingmen’s Compensation Act (1916): • Granting assistance to federal civil-service employees during periods of disability – In 1916 Wilson approved an act restricting child labor on products flowing into interstate commerce

VII. Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide (cont.)

• • The Adamson Act (1916): – Established an 8-hour day for all employees on trains in interstate commerce, with extra pay for overtime.

The Supreme Court: – Wilson endeared himself to the progressives when he nominated prominent reformer Louis D. Brandeis—first Jew to the high court bench

VII. Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide

• • Wilson’s limit on progressivism: – It clearly stopped short of better treatment for blacks His reelection (1916): • He needed to identify himself clearly as the candidate of progressivism • He appeased businesspeople by making conservative appointments to the Federal Reserve Board • He devoted most of his energy to cultivating progressive support • To remain in office he would have to woo the bull moose voters into the Democratic fold.

VIII. New Directions in Foreign Policy

– Wilson’s reaction to earlier foreign policies: • In contrast to Roosevelt and Taft he recoiled from an aggressive foreign policy • Hating imperialism, he was repelled by TR’s big stickism • Suspicious of Wall Street, he detested the so-called dollar diplomacy of Taft • In office only a week, he declared war on dollar diplomacy – He proclaimed that the government would not support American investors in Latin America and China.

VIII. New Directions in Foreign Policy (cont.)

• Persuaded Congress to repeal the Panama Canal Tolls Act of 1912 – – – exempted American coastwide shipping from tolls thereby provoked sharp protests from injured Britain • The Jones Act (1916): – Granted the Philippines the boon of territorial status and promised independence as soon as a “stable government” could be established – Wilson’s racial prejudices did not expect this to happen for a long time – On July 4, 1946—30 years later—the United States accepted Philippine independence.

VIII. New Directions in Foreign Policy (cont.)

• • His Japanese situation (1913): – – – California prohibited Japanese from owning land Tokyo, understandably irritated, lodged vigorous protests At Fortress Corregido, Philippians were put on around-the clock alert – Tensions eased when Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan pleaded the California legislature to soften its stance.

The Haiti political situation (1914-1915): – Political turmoil in Haiti 1914-1915 when an outraged – populace literally tore to pieces the brutal Haitian president – Wilson dispatched marines to protect American lives and property They remained in Haiti for 19 years making Haiti an American protectorate.

VIII. New Directions in Foreign Policy (cont.)

– In 1916 he used the Roosevelt’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and concluded a treaty with Haiti: » Providing for U.S. supervision of finances and the police.

– – In 1917 the United States purchased from Denmark the Virgin Islands – In 1916 he sent marines to the Dominican Republic » Their debt-cursed land came under American control for 18 years Uncle Sam was taking grip in the Caribbean Sea, with its vital approaches to the Panama Canal (see Map 29.2).

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IX. Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico

• Mexican revolution (1913): • In early 1913 the new revolutionary president was murdered and replaced by General Victoriano Huerta: – Caused a massive migration of Mexicans to the United States – More than a million Spanish-speaking newcomers came and settled in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California – They built highways and railroads, followed the fruit harvests as pickers – Segregated in Spanish-speaking enclaves » they helped to create a unique borderland culture that blended Mexican and American folkways.

IX. Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico (cont.)

• The revolutionary bloodshed also menaced American lives and property in Mexico: – – Hearst was among those crying for intervention in Mexico President Wilson again refused to practice the same old diplomacy of his predecessors: » Deeming it “perilous” to determine foreign policy “in terms of material interest” – – Wilson tried hard to steer a moral course in Mexico: In 1914 he allowed American arms to flow to Huerta’s principal rivals, white-bearded Venustiano Carranza and the firebrand Francisco (“Pancho”) Villa.

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IX. Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico (cont.)

The Tampico Incident: – The Mexico volcano erupted at the Atlantic seaport of Tampico in April, 1914: • When a small party of American sailors were arrested • • Mexicans released the captives and apologized But refused to salute with twenty-one guns the affronted American admirals demanded • Wilson asked Congress for authority to use force against Mexico

IX. Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico (cont.)

• • • A full-dress shooting conflict was avoided by an offer of mediation from the ABC powers—Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.

• Huerta collapsed in July 1914 under pressure from within and without He was succeeded by his archival, Venustiano Carranza “Pancho” Villa, chief rival to President Carranza – Killed 16 American mining engineers traveling through northern Mexico in January 1916 – And a month later Villa and his followers crossed over into Columbus, New Mexico and murdered another 19 Americans.

IX. Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico (cont.)

– General John J. (“Black Jack”) Pershing: • • Was ordered to break up the bandit band He hastily organized force of several thousand mounted troops; penetrated deep into Mexico • • They clashed with Carranza’s forces Mauled the Villistas but missed capturing Villa

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X. Thunder Across the Sea

• Europe’s powder situation: – A Serb patriot killed the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo: • Vienna presented a stern ultimatum to Serbia • An explosive chain reaction followed: – – Serbia, backed by Russia, refused to back down The Russian czar began to mobilize his war machine, menacing Germany on the east – – France confronted Germany on the west Germans struck suddenly at France through unoffending Belgium

X. Thunder Across the Sea (cont.)

• • • • Great Britain, its coastline jeopardized by the assault on Belgium, was sucked into the conflagration on the side of France Now Europe was locked in a fight to the death The Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, later Turkey and Bulgaria The Allies: France, Britain, and Russia, later Japan and Italy – Americans thanked God for the ocean and self-righteously congratulated themselves on having ancestors wise enough to have abandoned the hell pits of Europe – America felt strong, snug, smug, and secure—but not for long.

XI. A Precarious Neutrality

– President Wilson’s grief at the outbreak of war was compounded by the death of his wife – He sorrowfully issued the routine neutrality proclamation and called on Americans to be neutral in thought and deed – Both sides wooed the United States, the great neutral in the West • The British enjoyed: – The boon of cultural, linguistic, and economic ties with America – – The advantage of controlling the transatlantic cables Their censors sheared away war stories harmful to the Allies and drenched the United States with tales of German bestiality.

XI. A Precarious Neutrality (cont.)

• The Germans and the Austro-Hungarians: – Counted on the natural sympathies of their transplanted countrymen in America – – Powers numbered some 11 million in 1914 Some of these recent immigrants expressed noisy sympathy for the fatherland – But most were simply grateful to be so distant from the fray (see Table 29.1).

• Most Americans: – Were anti-German from the outset – To them Kaiser Wilhelm II seemed the embodiment of arrogant autocracy » An impression strengthened by German’s ruthless strike at neutral Belgium.

XI. A Precarious Neutrality (cont.)

– German and Austrian agents tarnished the image of the Central Powers in American eyes : » When they resorted to violence in American factories and ports – – American opinion, already ill-disposed, was further inflamed against the kaiser and Germany – When a German operative in 1915 absentmindedly left his briefcase on a New York elevated car: » Its documents detailing plans for industrial sabotage were quickly discovered and publicized.

Yet the great majority of Americans earnestly hoped to stay out of the horrible war.

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XII. America Earns Blood Money

– When war broke out in Europe it was in a worrisome business recession: • British and French war orders pulled American industry out onto a peak of war-born prosperity (see Table 29.2) • Part of the boon was financed by American bankers: – Notably the Wall Street firm of J.P. Morgan and Company, which advanced to the Allies the enormous sum of $2.3 million during the period of American neutrality – The Central Powers protested bitterly: » Against the immense trade between America and Allies » But this did not violate the international neutrality laws.

XII. America Earns Blood Money (cont.)

» Germany was technically free to trade with the United States » It was prevented from doing so not by American policy but by geography and the British navy » The British blockaded the mines and ships across the North Sea gateway to German ports » Over protests from various Americans, the British forced American vessels off the high seas » This harassment of American shippers proved highly effective, as trade between Germany and the United States virtually ceased.

XII. America Earns Blood Money (cont.)

– Germany did not want to be starved out: • Berlin announced a submarine war area around the British Isles (see Map 29.3) – They posed a threat to the United States—so long as Wilson insisted on maintaining America’s neutral rights – Berlin officials declared they would try not to sink neutral shipping – But they warned that mistakes would probably occur – Wilson emphatically warned Germany that it would be held to “strict accountability” for any attacks on American vessels or citizens.

XII. America Earns Blood Money (cont.)

– The German submarines (known as U-boats): • These “undersea boats” meanwhile began their deadly work – In the first months of 1915, they sank 90 ships in the war zone – The British passenger liner Lusitania was torpedoed and sank off the coast of Ireland, May 7, 1915: » With the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans.

• The Lusitania was carrying forty-two hundred cases of small-arms ammunition – – A fact the Germans used to justify the sinking Americans were shocked and angered at this act of “mass murder” and “piracy.”

XII. America Earns Blood Money (cont.)

– Talk of war: • • From the eastern United States Not the rest of the nation – – Wilson did not want to lead a disunited nation into war By a series of strong notes, Wilson attempted to bring the German warlords sharply to book – Secretary of State Bryan resigned rather than sign a protestation that might spell shooting – Wilson resolutely stood his ground • The British liner, the Arabic was sunk in August, 1915: – With the loss of two American lives – Britain reluctantly agreed not to sink unarmed and unresisting passenger ships without warning.

XII. America Earns Blood Money (cont.)

– The pledge appeared to be violated in March, 1916: » When the Germans torpedoed a French passenger steamer, the Sussex – Infuriated Wilson informed the Germans: » That unless they renounced the inhuman practice of sinking merchant ships without warning he would break diplomatic relations— » An almost certain prelude to war.

• Germany reluctantly knuckled under President’s Wilson’s Sussex ultimatum: – Germany agreed to not sink passenger and merchant ships without warning » But attached a long string to their Sussex pledge.

XII. America Earns Blood Money (cont.)

• The German Sussex pledge: – The United States would have to persuade the Allies to modify what Berlin regarded as their illegal blockade – – This obviously, was something that Washington could not do Wilson promptly accepted the pledge, without accepting the “string.” – Wilson won a temporary but precarious diplomatic victory– precarious because: » » Germany could pull the string whenever it chose And the president might suddenly find himself tugged over the cliff of war.

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XIII. Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916

• The presidential campaign of 1916 – Both the bull moose Progressives and the Republicans met in Chicago: • The Progressives nominated Theodore Roosevelt: – But the Rough Rider had no intention of splitting the Republicans again – In refusing to run, he sounded the death knell of the Pro gressive party – Roosevelt’s Republican admirers clamored for “Teddy” – But the Old Guard detested the renegade who split the party in 1912

XIII. Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916 (cont.)

– They drafted Supreme Court justice Charles Evans Hughes • The Republican Party platform: – Condemned the Democratic tariff – – Assaults on trusts Wilson’s wishy-washiness in dealing with Mexico and Germany.

• Hughes on the campaign trail: – In anti-German areas Hughes assailed Wilson for not standing up to the kaiser – – In isolationist areas he took a softer line This fence-straddling operation led to the jeer “Charles Evasive Hughes.”

XIII. Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916 (cont.)

– Hughes was further plagued by Roosevelt, » Who was delivering a series of skin-’em-alive speeches against “that damned Presbyterian hypocrite Wilson.” » Frothing for war, TR privately scoffed at Hughes as a “whiskered Wilson,” the only difference between the two, he said, was “a shave.” – Wilson, nominated by acclamation at the Demo cratic convention in St. Louis: • His campaign slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War.” – Democratic orators warned that by electing Hughes, the nation would be electing a fight—with a certain frustrated Rough Rider leading the charge.

XIII. Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916 (cont.)

– On election day: • • Hughes swept the East Wilson went to bed that night prepared to accept defeat • But the rest of the nation turned the tide: – Midwestern and westerners, attracted by Wilson’s progressive reforms and antiwar policies, flocked to him – The final result, in doubt for several days, hinged on California which Wilson carried with 3,800 votes out of about a million

XIII. Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916 (cont.)

– The final count: • Wilson with a final vote of 277 to 254 in the Electoral College, • 9,127,695 to 8,533,507 in the popular column (see Map 29.4) • The prolabor Wilson received strong support from – The working class and from renegade bull moosers • Wilson did not specifically promise to keep the country out of the war.

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