Lessons From America’s First ‘Professor President,’ Woodrow Wilson, for America’s Second ‘Professor President’ (Whenever That May Be)

Abstract

Of all American Presidents, Woodrow (PhD 1886, Johns Hopkins; lecturer and professor for 24 years, 1886-1910, at Cornell, Bryn Mawr, Wesleyan, New York University, Princeton) is the only one who had been a career academic, professorial intellectual prior to entering politics; and his-pre-Presidential electoral political career was only two years (Governor of New Jersey) prior to assuming the Presidency. While other persons have been elected after having served short-terms as professors, Woodrow was America’s first, and so far only, real “Professor President.” Examining American politics as we approach the elections of November, 2018, we have seen the American electorate turn against both career politicians, and, in the accusations surrounding Republican Trump, a turn against individuals wealthy from investments. Considering that wealth from investments enriches many leading Democrats, this is an issue that affects not only Trump’s Republican Party, but also the Democratic Party. Thus the American people may find it wise to put into the Presidency a person whose life proves a character that has neither a desire for personal vast power, nor a desire for personal vast wealth. Such a person might well be a career – as Woodrow was. As we peer forward past the 2018 elections into the 2020 Presidential campaign year, and to subsequent election years, the most electable Presidential candidate likely will be found in the ranks of today’s Professors, to become America’s second “Professor President,” after the first one, Woodrow Wilson. In two prior papers on SSRN, the author has examined Professor President Wilson's conduct at the end of World War I. This present paper examines many actions by the from the outset of his Administration, including: 1913, March 18: Refuses to Commit the United States to Interfere in the New Republic of China Despite the Request of American Investors. 1913, April 6: Welcomes the New Republic of China “Into the Family of Nations.” 1913, October 27: Declares Policy Limitations on the Use of American Military Power, Which Continue Today, More Than 100 Years Later. 1914, April 6: Apologizes to Colombia for T. Roosevelt’s Actions Regarding Panama, and Offers to Pay Colombia $25 Million; T. Roosevelt Prevents Senate Ratification of the Treaty Throughout Wilson’s Admin-istration Because Refuses to Withdraw the Words of Apology. 1914, April 9: Restoring Democracy in Mexico Wrecked by Taft: Tampico, Veracruz, and Mexican Dictator Huerta’s Arms-Ship the Ipiranga. 1914, August: 59 Million English-Speaking People and 252 Million People of India – More Than 300 Million People – Are Put to War by British King-Emperor George V, Without Those 300 Million People Having Any Vote. 1916, June: Americans Invade Mexico Because Pancho Villa Invaded the U.S. 1917, April: Popularity Among Americans for Fighting in World War I. 1917, May: Communicating to Americans Reasons to Fight, and for the Draft. 1917, May: Ruins His Chance to Promote Democracy in Russia After the Abdication of the Czar, Serving Britain and France, But Leaving Democracy in Russia Vulnerable to 1917, October: Lenin the Bolshevik/Communist, Now In Charge of Russia, Implements His Long-Planned Mass-Murder Program to Create Mass Terror. 1918, September: Documents Purportedly from the Bolsheviks/Communists. 1919 Postscript: Why a Popular War Led America to Dislike War. More than half the paper is in the section Wilson Ruins His Chance to Promote Democracy in Russia After the Abdication of the Czar, Serving Britain and France, But Leaving Democracy in Russia Vulnerable to Lenin. This is a study in how to promote democracy in previously anti-democratic cultures - and how to ruin the chance, through misjudgments and temptations to be too supportive of yet other cultures, that are not inclined to promote democracy anywhere else. Throughout the paper, the focus is on lessons that America's second Professor President can learn from America's first Professor President. The paper examines Wilson's admirable ideals, and his often-flawed efforts to implement those ideals. Also noted periodically is how Wilson's true protege, Franklin Roosevelt, kept all the ideals, and, having learned from his mentor's implementation errors, found a way to bring to reality what Woodrow envisioned but was unable to make real.