American Presidency

1 total work

The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson

by Kendrick Clements

Published 23 March 1992

The best of presidents seem to serve in the worst of times, and Woodrow Wilson is no exception. Like Lincoln, Wilson was charged with leading the United States through a war of unprecedented scale. And like Lincoln, he is considered one of the half-dozen best presidents the country has ever had.

From 1913-1921, Wilson grappled with momentous issues: domestic reform, war, and peace. His administration did much to shape twentieth century America--from establishing the U.S. as the preeminent world power to reforming banking practices, from lowering trade barriers to establishing the federal income tax.

The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson is the best one-volume study available on this very productive presidency. Historian Kendrick Clements analyzes the reasons for Wilson's successes and failures in both domestic and foreign arenas, and investigates representative administrative departments to find out how the Wilson administration actually worked. Drawing upon the latest secondary literature and recently discovered medical records, Clements also reexamines the impact of Wilson's illness on his diplomatic and domestic leadership in the last year and a half of his presidency.