Thomas+Woodrow+Wilson

**Introduction ** "The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people" (BrainyQuotes). Thomas Woodrow Wilson must have believed this. For he encountered many people with different opinions. He had many career options, yet he chose presidency. Wilson as a president had numerous qualities and traits, some of which we may not agree were the best, but no one is perfect. During his time being president he faced challenges and obstacles day in and day out.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson did many things throughout his life. Wilson was born in Staunton on December 29, 1836 (Weinstein). Very early in his life his father decided Wilson should become a minister like himself (Skau). Wilson did not want to pursue his families' careers. It must have been difficult to have your own parents tell you what to be when you grow up. Defying his father's opinion, Wilson instead became a professor, Princeton's President, Governor of New Jersey, and President of the United States of America (Skau).
 * Personal Background **

Wilson "preached attractive openness to a diversity of views"(Cleveland). Wilson had to have had an open mind himself in order to do this. Since he was President of the United States he dealt with many ethnicities with different beliefs. He also supported of the United States Volunteers (Chambers). Wilson was a military genius since he took part in many significant wars throughout his presidency (Shoewalter). This must have taken much effort and dedication on Wilson's part.

Wilson was a very religious man. Along with being religious he had a tremendous amount of faith. Wilson's religion was Presbyterianism (Skau). Being president during these times of war must have been hard and having faith must have helped him get through it. However, he was known for being racist, which is expected from many people in that time period (Steedman). Wilson was also accused of being in others' businesses (Shoewalter). Some even characterized him as a university president "without a future academe" (Svonavec). Here it is quite noticeable how not everyone was fond of Wilson.

Wilson had many distinct traits about himself. He showed a certain portion of himself to certain people. Many people saw Wilson one way as others may have seen him in a completely different way. He was described as a man with no principles. Some came to believe that he was unable to recognize his own imperfections (Svonavec). It is hard to believe that Wilson had no principles even though he was in charge of the United States. Some even saw him as naïve and close minded (Svonavec).
 * Personality Traits **

One is capable of having multiple qualities and Wilson is an example of that. Many people sought to believe that Wilson was needy for power. He was also seen as insecure and shifty (Chambers). It must have been confusing and frustrating to have people see you in so many ways. Some believed him to not only be a war leader but a peace maker (Shoewalter). Wilson was traditional and believed in the "fair way" (Chambers). He was most likely traditional because he must have followed the ways of past presidents. All of these traits must have been very helpful to Wilson in manipulating the minds of people.

**Obstacles** Just like any other president Wilson was faced with many obstacles. After all he is only human and he happened to stumble upon complications. Wilson had to overcome the fact that some of people doubted him in his decisions and as a president. They also believed that he did not have any idea of what he was doing (Svonavec). Wilson had brought "world affairs" upon the nation, which added to the list of problems that the United States already had (Cleveland).

 In this war that Wilson had brought upon the U.S. many lives were lost defending their country (Cleveland). The families of these poor soldiers must have been furious and incredibly sad. This of course led to him doing all he could possibly do to try and end World War I (Shoewalter). A very difficult obstacle Wilson had to get under control was post war planning after World War I (Cleveland). He must have had to have done so many things to get the country up and running again like it was before the war.

Wilson had a goal of "Peace without Victory" and it was challenged by the members of the Allies. His main political rival was the republican Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, like much of the people at that time, challenged Wilson's leadership (Chambers). Wilson must have felt pressured to have a rival question his ways of running a country. He most likely did not pay any attention to Roosevelt's remarks since he was used to hearing people doubt him.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson played a crucial role during his time as president of the United States. Every little decision or move that Wilson did made him historical in a way that would make Americans know his name. The decisions he made not only impacted the lives of Americans but other countries as well. This of course eventually led to wars and other mishaps that could have possibly been avoided completely. Wilson implemented laws and was even part of World War I that lasted from 1917-1921 (Shoewalter). Many of the decisions Wilson made caused some of the wars during his presidency (Cleveland).
 * Historical Significance **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the laws or policies that Wilson implemented was the Wilsonian Foreign Policy in 1998 (Shoewalter). This allowed Wilson to get his perspective across to his people. Along with this policy he made the decision for conscription, armed forces, in March of 1917 (Chambers). The decision for conscription meant that people were going to be drafted into a war of some sort. He also made sure to take part in the Revolutionary world (Shoewalter). Wilson then began "to voice a more forceful opposition" to overt racism (Steedman). This must have caused him to get a series of multiple reactions from Americans.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wilson was highly involved in his military because he signed the selective Draft Act (Chambers). Wilson and the United States was in need of a strong <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Diaz 1military to serve in World War I. Americans must have not been at all happy about having to register for a war. Wilson's decision to leave the United States Volunteers changed America's traditional military format (Chambers). Wilson's changes to the military format may have possibly caught the American people by complete surprise. The progressive era of 1954 was part of the New America Nation series (Shoewalter).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Religion was very important to Wilson and that is why his Presbyterian beliefs influenced public policy. This led him to process facts to fit his view of divine providence. Some even believed he was a "statesman in a divinely predestined nation" (Skau). Wilson had a commitment to the use of force in the Western Hemisphere and and Europe (Shoewalter). He sought to avoid rather than to create tension which led to the development of all these policies (Steedman). Wilson could only hope that with these policies that he established peace would soon emerge after World War I.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Brainy Quotes "Woodrow Wilson Quote." BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reference **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chambers, John Whiteclay, II "Decision for the Draft." Magazine of History 17.1 (2002):26-30. ProQuest. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. **SE#3**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Clevland, Harlan "Learning from the Nightmares of the Past." The Futurist 36.4 (2002): 55-7. ProQuest. Web. 2 Oct. 2014. **SE#2**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Showalter, Dennis "The United States in the Great War: A Historiography." Magazine of History 17.1 (2002): 5-13. ProQuest. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. **SE#4**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Skau, H, George "What the World Should Be: Woodrow Wilson and the Crafting of a Faith-Based Foreign Policy." Journal of American History 1(2009):252. eLibrary. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. **SE#6**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Steedman, Marek "Jefferson, Lincoln, and Wilson: The American Dilemma of Race and Democracy." Journal of Southern History 4(2012):964. eLibrary. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. **SE#5**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Svonavec, Stephen "The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I." Canadian Journal of History 3(2005):564. eLibrary. Web. 16 Sep. 2014. **SE#1**