Woodrow Wilson

The opening of this volume finds Wilson with neither the physical strength nor any strong desire to become heavily involved in the coming presidential contest between Cox and Harding. Nevertheless, he cannot remain silent on the single great issue of the campaign--American membership in the League of Nations. Not many people heed Wilson's appeals, however, and on November 2, the voters seemingly repudiate Wilson and all he stands for in a landslide majority for Harding and Coolidge. Meanwhile, Wilson gratefully accepts the decisions of his advisers on domestic affairs, and he generally follows the lead of Bainbridge Colby and Norman Davis on foreign policy, allowing them to draft the necessary correspondence with other governments. However, he maintains daily oversight over the State Department, and makes fundamental policy about the U. S. relationship to the new Soviet regime, Japanese control over the island of Yap, and various issues in Latin American affairs. As the volume ends, Wilson is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1919. With his retirement nearing, the pall of the election results still lies heavily on his circle. Nevertheless, the apotheosis of Woodrow Wilson has already begun, as personal friends and publicists begin to take stock of the Wilson presidency and legacy.

As this volume begins, controversy over ratification of the Versailles Treaty enters its climactic stage. Wilson, only partly recovered from a stroke, refuses the advice of supporters who beg him to accept Republican reservations in order to put the Treaty through the Senate, and he puts heavy pressure on those Democratic senators who want to consent to reservations. Twenty-one Democrats defy him when the Treaty comes up for a second and final vote on March 19, but their votes, combined with those of Republican reservationists, fall far short of the two-thirds Senate majority necessary for passage of the consent resolution. While Tumulty and the departmental heads carry on the domestic business of the federal government, Wilson follows their recommendations and signs a series of measures that bring various aspects of the progressive movement to fruition: the Transportation Act of 1920, the General Leasing Act, and the Water Power Act. Meanwhile, he devotes most of his strength to foreign affairs. He vetoes the "separate peace" embodied in the Knox Resolution, and the Democrats uphold the veto. In spite of Wilson's wish to run again for president, concern for his health prevails, and the Democrats nominate Governor James M. Cox of Ohio, who names Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, as his running mate. Wilson is deeply depressed, but he blesses the Cox and Roosevelt campaign with all the fervor he can summon.

The opening of this volume finds Wilson still severely disabled from the effects of his massive stroke of October 2, 1919, and unable to deal with a nationwide coal strike and a crisis with Mexico. Slowly recovering, he is able to prevent Democratic senators from voting for approval of a version of the Versailles Treaty that contains reservations. He issues his Jackson Day letter of January 8, 1920, and then vacillates between compromise and intransigence on the issue of reservations. In early February, when he gains enough strength to enter the political scene in person, he dismisses Secretary Lansing, threatens to withdraw from European affairs if his demands for an Adriatic settlement are not met, and begins to marshal all his resources to insure that Democratic senators do not compromise on reservations when the Versailles Treaty comes up for a second vote in March. Hitherto unpublished personal records kept by Wilson's associates and medical records, memoranda, and recently accessible letters from the papers of Dr. Grayson shed full light on the exact nature of Wilson's illness and the degree to which it was revealed to the public. This remarkable volume will compel major new revisions in all future accounts of the controversy over the Versailles Treaty and in biographies of Woodrow Wilson.

This volume opens with Wilson's tour of the Middle West and West to generate popular support for the League of Nations and to force the Senate to consent to the ratification of the Versailles Treaty without any significant reservations to the League Covenant. After the first speech of the tour, in Columbus, Ohio, Wilson travels to Missouri and Minnesota, the Northwest, California, and into the central Rocky Mountain states. His already dangerous hypertension escalates due to his punishing schedule, and he suffers increasingly from headaches, difficulties in breathing, and periods of cardiac arrest. After a stroke warning on September 26, his doctor cancels the remaining speeches, and the presidential special train returns to Washington. Wilson does suffer a stroke on October 2 and nearly dies from a urinary obstruction two weeks later. As he lies ill during October and early November, Tumulty and members of the cabinet carry on the domestic business of the country and deal with a nationwide coal strike. But Wilson will not permit Lansing to take any action on important foreign policy matters. The nation's state of affairs is parlous as the volume ends.

The opening of this volume finds Wilson facing domestic and international problems nearly as complex and urgent as those he had faced in Paris a month before. His main task is to assure the Senate's approval of the Treaty of Versailles, but his abilities are severely compromised by what was almost certainly a "small" stroke on July 19. Most Democrats in the Senate will follow Wilson's lead in the controversy over ratification, so his most important potential allies against Senator Lodge are Republican leaders like Taft and about twenty Republican senators, who favor ratification with reservations to be attached to the articles of ratification. Wilson is willing to accept certain interpretive reservations, but he insists that these must not be incorporated in the ratification document. A prime factor in this thinking is his angry reaction to what he perceives to be the continued atavistic imperialism of the Entente Powers and the resulting conviction that only the unqualified leadership of the United States can create a reformist and democratizing League. A pro-League coalition of two thirds of the Senate and victory on nearly all of Wilson's terms are now in sight. Yet, in a fit of anger, he decides on August 25 to embark on a month-long speaking tour on behalf of the League. As this volume ends, Wilson is still struggling with important domestic problems, and he and his party leave for what, in light of his precarious health, will be a journey with disastrous consequences.

Beginning with Wilson's tour of Belgium, this volume then moves to the last days of the peace conference. A great wave of relief sweeps over council chambers in Paris when a new German government sends word that it will accept the peace treaty unconditionally: restoration of peace occurs with the signing of the treaty in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles on June 28. That same night Wilson boards his train for Brest to return to the United States on the George Washington. The voyage provides a period of leisure for Wilson, but there are signs that his strength has been strained beyond endurance. On board ship he tries and fails to compose one of the most important speeches of his life--an address to the Senate to accompany his presentation of the treaty to that body. On his return he manages to complete it only hours before delivering it on July 10. And he responds equivocally to the challenge--the greatest in his career as a legislative leader--to create a solid pro-League coalition and outmaneuver his opponent, Henry Cabot Lodge, who seems bent on blocking American membership in the League of Nations. Then, on July 19, Wilson suffers what is most likely a small stroke. It disorients and disables him, and, as this volume ends, he is still without any strategy to assure ratification of the treaty. Publication of Volume 61 ends the Peace Conference Volumes, which began with Volume 53.

The opening of this volume finds the Big Four in the midst of the gravest crisis of the peace conference set off by the British cabinet's demand for drastic softening of the terms of the peace treaty to be concluded with Germany. In response to a wave of appeasement sweeping through the British Isles, Lloyd George says that he cannot and will not sign the peace treaty unless his colleagues agree to negotiate sympathetically with the Germans on their reparations obligations, their early admission to the League of Nations, and other matters. For the entire period covered by this volume, the atmosphere of the Council of Four is supercharged by bitter debates and recriminations. Wilson and Clemenceau try to hold to the terms of the preliminary treaty. As the bitterness of the debates in the Council of Four grows in intensity, Wilson, weakened by a small stroke just before the eruption of the crisis, gradually loses the will and strength to oppose Lloyd George. Throughout, Wilson tries to play the role of peacemaker between Lloyd George and Clemenceau but ends by capitulating to Lloyd George's demands. The result is that the final peace treaty taking shape constitutes the first step in the appeasement of Germany.

This volume begins coverage of that period of the Paris Peace Conference usually neglected by historians of the subject. It sees the lively interchange between the German government and the Council of Four over all aspects of the preliminary treaty of peace, but particularly over the Saar Basin, responsibility for the war, the fate of former German territory awarded to Poland, German membership in the League of Nations and the International Labour Organization, and reparations. The question of Italian acquisitions in the Adriatic area, still unresolved, further embitters relations between Wilson, Clemenceau, and Lloyd George, on the one side, and Orlando and Sonnino on the other. Other issues in which Wilson is deeply involved are the terms of the postwar occupation of the Rhineland, the protection of Jews and other minorities in the successor states, self-determination for Ireland, and growing opposition at home to American membership in the League of Nations. As this volume ends, a new crisis--over softening the terms of the peace treaty--is developing.

As this volume opens, Wilson faces new serious crises at the Paris Peace Conference: Italy demands not only territory along the Dalmatian littoral, but also sovereignty over the Adriatic port of Fiume, while Japan insists on the fulfillment of secret treaties that award her complete control of the Chinese province of Shantung. Achievement of these ambitions would in Wilson's opinion grossly violate the letter and spirit of the Fourteen Points. Debates in the Council of Four over Fiume reach a pitch of high emotion, and the victorious Western alliance seems on the verge of dissolution. Wilson issues an appeal to the Italian people for a fair and just settlement of the Adriatic problem. In response, the Italian leaders withdraw from Paris, and Italy's imperial ambitions continue to be the chief stumbling block to Western accord. Meanwhile, Wilson accepts a compromise that gives only Germany's former economic rights in Shantung to the Japanese and requires of them a promise to return Shantung to the full political control of China. In spite of all discord, the Big Four submit a preliminary peace treaty to the Germans on May 7, 1919. This begins a six-week period of intense negotiation between the victors and the vanquished.

This massive collection includes all important letters, speeches, interviews, press conferences, and public papers on Woodrow Wilson. The volumes make available as never before the materials essential to understanding Wilson's personality, his intellectual, religious, and political development, and his careers as educator, writer, orator, and statesman. The Papers not only reveal the private and public man, but also the era in which he lived, making the series additionally valuable to scholars in various fields of history between the 1870's and the 1920's.

This massive collection includes all important letters, speeches, interviews, press conferences, and public papers on Woodrow Wilson. The volumes make available as never before the materials essential to understanding Wilson's personality, his intellectual, religious, and political development, and his careers as educator, writer, orator, and statesman. The Papers not only reveal the private and public man, but also the era in which he lived, making the series additionally valuable to scholars in various fields of history between the 1870's and the 1920's.

As this volume opens, the Supreme War Council holds a long session that results in an agreement on the military, naval, and aerial terms to be imposed on Germany. The harmony of this meeting is in stark contrast to the discord of the four heads of government recorded in the balance of the volume. In the weeks covered by these documents, controversy erupts over the disposition of the Rhineland and demands by France to annex the Saar Basin. The fight over reparations reaches a crescendo and is far from resolved as the volume ends. Wilson, Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Orlando agree to meet secretly, away from the distractions of the Council of Ten, but they are at another impasse by early April. Meanwhile Wilson reconvenes the Commission on the League of Nations in order to obtain amendments to the Covenant necessary for Senate approval of a treaty that includes the Covenant. The statesmen in Paris struggle with a host of difficulties, including the takeover of the Hungarian government by the communist Bela Kun, and Wilson is faced with problems in achieving de facto recognition of the Soviet regime. In addition, he must deal with domestic controversy between the Industrial Board and the Director General of Railroads.

This massive collection includes all important letters, speeches, interviews, press conferences, and public papers on Woodrow Wilson. The volumes make available as never before the materials essential to understanding Wilson's personality, his intellectual, religious, and political development, and his careers as educator, writer, orator, and statesman. The Papers not only reveal the private and public man, but also the era in which he lived, making the series additionally valuable to scholars in various fields of history between the 1870's and the 1920's.

This massive collection includes all important letters, speeches, interviews, press conferences, and public papers on Woodrow Wilson. The volumes make available as never before the materials essential to understanding Wilson's personality, his intellectual, religious, and political development, and his careers as educator, writer, orator, and statesman. The Papers not only reveal the private and public man, but also the era in which he lived, making the series additionally valuable to scholars in various fields of history between the 1870's and the 1920's.

This volume begins on November 9, 1918, the eve of the Armistice between the Allied and Associated Powers and the principal Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary. It ends on January 11, 1919, just before the first plenary session of the Paris Peace Conference. The interval finds Wilson preoccupied with preparations for the conference. Accompanied by a large entourage of State Department officials and "experts" from the Inquiry grup, Wilson sails for France on December 4, convinced that he alone will represent the liberal, forward-looking peoples of the world. After initial meetings with Allied leaders in Paris, he makes triumphal tours of England and Italy. At the same time, he begins to focus his attention on what he now considers to be the foundation stone of future peace -- the League of Nations.

This massive collection includes all important letters, speeches, interviews, press conferences, and public papers on Woodrow Wilson. The volumes make available as never before the materials essential to understanding Wilson's personality, his intellectual, religious, and political development, and his careers as educator, writer, orator, and statesman. The Papers not only reveal the private and public man, but also the era in which he lived, making the series additionally valuable to scholars in various fields of history between the 1870's and the 1920's.

Although previous Presidents had maintained contact with reporters, Woodrow Wilson was the first to conduct regular press conferences. This volume contains the transcripts of all of these sessions, which reveal the range of Wilson's day-to-day concerns and his stance in what might be termed intellectual combat. The bulk of the material comes from approximately the first two and a half years of his presidency. We see Wilson jousting and sparring with reporters, scolding them, joking with them, "grazing the truth" in order not to disclose secrets of state, and, more often, engaging in frank and open dialogue. Wilson began a new era in presidential press relations on March 15, 1913, when his Secretary, Joseph P. Tumulty, ushered some 100 correspondents into the President's office. The idea for regular meetings had been Tumulty's, rather than Wilson's, but the President quickly grasped their potential for positive public relations and persisted in them through initial problems in their regulation. Robert C. Hilderbrand includes annotations that clarify the transcripts and add to our knowledge of the Wilson presidency.

This massive collection includes all important letters, speeches, interviews, press conferences, and public papers on Woodrow Wilson. The volumes make available as never before the materials essential to understanding Wilson's personality, his intellectual, religious, and political development, and his careers as educator, writer, orator, and statesman. The Papers not only reveal the private and public man, but also the era in which he lived, making the series additionally valuable to scholars in various fields of history between the 1870's and the 1920's.

This massive collection includes all important letters, speeches, interviews, press conferences, and public papers on Woodrow Wilson. The volumes make available as never before the materials essential to understanding Wilson's personality, his intellectual, religious, and political development, and his careers as educator, writer, orator, and statesman. The Papers not only reveal the private and public man, but also the era in which he lived, making the series additionally valuable to scholars in various fields of history between the 1870's and the 1920's.

This massive collection includes all important letters, speeches, interviews, press conferences, and public papers on Woodrow Wilson. The volumes make available as never before the materials essential to understanding Wilson's personality, his intellectual, religious, and political development, and his careers as educator, writer, orator, and statesman. The Papers not only reveal the private and public man, but also the era in which he lived, making the series additionally valuable to scholars in various fields of history between the 1870's and the 1920's.