Talk:Presidency of Woodrow Wilson/Archive 1

Wilson protest
The article states that "After he left office Wilson wrote a letter of strong support to the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine and objected to territorial concessions regarding its borders". The only reference for this cable that I could find (except for other Wikipedia articles that use it) was from a political pamphlet by one Meir Abelson, who is not a historian of any standing. Furthermore, he does not provide a source for his quote, which makes it impossible to confirm it and consider its context (which is particularly important given the distinct political slant of his writing). I have been unable to find this quote in the 69 volumes of Arthur S. Link, The Papers of Woodrow Wilson. Unless a more reliable source is provided, I would like to remove this quote. Copies of this message are posted in other Wikipedia articles where this cable is quoted with the hope of finding more information about it.--128.139.104.49 (talk) 13:23, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * yes please delete it. If the Link edition does not have it that means Link rejected it as not authentic. Rjensen (talk) 14:56, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Federal Reserve 1913
I edited this section for grammatical and factual errors. It's not perfect yet, but it's better. This is my first time editing a wiki, so please let me know if I've done something wrong.

I edited the first 2 paragraphs of this section for a couple reasons. There was an unsubstantiated conspiracist claim that Wilson secured passage of the Federal Reserve in exchange for campaign support. While one of Wilson's closest advisors and campaign supporters, "Colonel" Edward House, was indeed an attendee at the infamous Jekyll Island meeting where the Aldrich plan was "hatched", the claim that Wilson signed the Federal Reserve act in exchange for campaign support from Mr. House and other banking interests is highly circumstantial. House and Wilson had a close personal relationship, and my readings indicate that they shared a great mutual respect. To suggest that their relationship was transactional is a leap. It is more likely that Wilson pushed for the Federal Reserve because he genuinely thought it necessary - most Americans at the time were in favor of banking system reform, with the establishment of a central bank being a popular option. Also, it should be noted that House's role in the Wilson white house was more focused on foreign relations than on banking.

I also edited some grammatical snafus, as well as some misleading/false chronology of how the bill was conceived, drafted, and passed, and by whom. From what I've read, Carter Glass actually drafted the bill with the help of H. Parker Willis. Wilson's contribution was the central Board of Governors, which may have been a nod to William Jennings Bryan, who represented the populist view that the Government should be in total control of the money supply.

The History of the Federal Reserve wiki was helpful in clarifying things for me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Omasback (talk • contribs) 22:52, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Stomach Pains?
This section doesn't really follow any coherent line of thought.. what exactly is it referring to? Why the random story of him arriving at the White House with severe digestive problems.. were they related to getting married?! lol.. please fix.

"Wilson's first wife Ellen died on August 6, 1914 of Bright's disease. In 1915, he met Edith Galt. They married later that year on December 18. Wilson arrived at the White House with severe digestive problems. He treated himself with a stomach pump." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.162.43.27 (talk) 04:07, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Rather than deleting it, shouldn't it have been moved to the Personal Life section of the main Wilson article?--Gloriamarie (talk) 17:26, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Flu Pandemic of 1918
I added this section mainly to link to the pandemic's own article, as it was a very important part of his presidency. I admit that it could probably use a citation or two, or even re-writing. But it should not be left out. - August 23rd 2009 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.80.70.54 (talk) 19:58, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

2 grafs moved over from related article
This has to do with foreign policy and was in the biographical article where it doesn't fit. Maybe someone who edits this article will see a place for it in this article. Or not. Thanks. Wilson was a friend of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. A sword, a gift from Selassie, is on display at Wilson's Washington, DC house, now a museum.

Wilson also appointed Dr. George Washington Buckner, to be minister to Liberia. Buckner served in the post from 1913 to 1915. Skywriter (talk) 06:47, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Expand introduction to discuss "President Edith", and Wilson's racist views
I believe it's important to briefly note that in the final 18 months (a not insignificant proportion of his term) of Wilson's presidency he suffered a debilitating stroke and his wife Edith essentially ran the country. His incapacitation, and the gossip surrounding it, were factors in the Republican landslide in 1920.

Also, one sentence at the end about Wilson's racist views probably isn't enough. They were the cornerstone of his Wilsonian philosophy, he screened "Birth of a Nation" at the White House (which should be mentioned in the introduction, I think), and encouraged racist, eugenicist policies domestically. I'm not trying to be a contrarian, leftist, or biased. In fact, I believe excluding the role racism played in his policymaking is more biased than including it.

I wanted to get the thoughts of more seasoned editors before I made any changes.108.176.148.239 (talk) 18:29, 7 June 2017 (UTC)


 * I added a couple sentences to partially address your concerns. Though Wilson certainly was a racist, based on what I've read of him I disagree that racism was the "cornerstone" of his political philosophy. His biographer, John Milton Cooper, argues that Wilson was as racist as the average northerner at the time (which is to say, extremely racist by today's standards but not especially racist by that era's standards). Cooper argues the main reason Wilson's administration had a poor record on civil rights was that several Cabinet members pursued racist policies; while Wilson didn't do anything to stop those policies, he also did not make implementing them a priority. Orser67 (talk) 08:22, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

listing a book twice?
I think it is very useful to readers to list a few books twice--indeed it is necessary in a very long article like this one or else readers will miss its dual role as further reading and as cite. Listing it once among scores of hundreds of footnotes means it's very hard to identify as recommended. We no longer worry about 1200 baud modems making long articles slow to load! Rjensen (talk) 08:23, 27 July 2018 (UTC)