DBWI: Wilson per Robert Sobel

I just finished reading Robert Sobel's biographic work titled Wilson: An American Enigma. The book chronicles the career of Woodrow Wilson, academic and sometimes-politician--and also raises questions about how Wilson's career might have been different, and what effects that may have had on US and world history.

Sobel does an admirable job recounting Wilson's tenure as the president of Princeton, and his term as governor of New Jersey, including the falling-out with New Jersey's Democrats. He is candid about Wilson's support of President William Jennings Bryan during the latter's single term from 1909 to 1913, including Wilson's persistence in the face of Bryan's rising unpopularity given the significant downturn in the economy (largely attributed to Bryan's monetary policies).

Sobel covers neatly Wilson's search for a new situation in late 1912 / early 1913 when it became clear he would not be nominated for another term as governor, and the ensuing move to Baltimore when he assumed the presidency of Johns Hopkins University, which happy circumstance was overshadowed by the death of Ellen Wilson in early 1915.

Wilson threw himself into his work, eventually marrying again (a Baltimore widow), and was persuaded to run for governor of Maryland in 1918. He won, despite the acerbic opposition of H. L. Mencken, who scoffed at Wilson as a naive do-gooder who didn't learn much from his time as governor of New Jersey.

But what Sobel can't seem to explain completely is Wilson's behavior in 1920. Theodore Roosevelt was coming to the end of his second tenure in office (1913-1921), and Charles Evans Hughes was the GOP nominee. The American economy was riding high in 1920, buoyed by Roosevelt's actions (averting a European war by mediating the 1914 Austro-Serbian crisis; pursuing and capturing Pancho Villa and restoring relations with Mexico; creation of the Federal Reserve system), so the frequent incentive to change parties was largely absent. Wilson did not declare himself as a candidate, saying only that he would be open to a draft. That never materialized--and in the end, Hughes succeeded Roosevelt.

Some say that with Roosevelt's legacy, Hughes (or any GOP candidate) was a virtual shoo-in in 1920. Perhaps the prospect of a losing run deterred Wilson: he himself was silent on that issue. But for whatever reasons, Wilson's presidential window closed after 1920. He suffered a very mild stroke in late 1921, but that was enough to dissuade him from seeking a second term as governor. He retired to his home in the Homeland section of Baltimore, continuing to write, frequenting the libraries at Hopkins and the main branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in downtown Baltimore (many mornings, briefcase in hand, Wilson would be a familiar sight on the route 11 streetcar on his way to either library).

Wilson passed away in 1931, and is buried in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery, at the east end of North Avenue. But the questions of what might have been, had he been a declared candidate in 1920, persist.
 
Well, he had probably get the right idea...not only he will have fight an uphill battle due to the republican popularity (a little underserved, Germany restraining A-H as thought that was ready for war was a much much more important factor than Roosveelt diplomatic skill or the USA soft power capacity...as the attempt of Hughes to repeat his predecessor feat during the August Crisis and stop the A-H to launch their ill-fated invasion of Italy in 22 were greatly ignored) and the economy roaring, not considering the fact that the man was the image of the 'ivory tower intellectual with little know of the real world', so it's hard to believe that he will receive a lot of support beyond the solid south.

Nevertheless it's interesting answering at the most important question, he will or will not remain neutral in the great war and what side he will have took during the Great War, Quadruple Entente or Triple Alliance? IMVHO more on the entente as he was an Anglophile but much depend on the situation, even if the A-H aggression can tilt him even more on the entente side
 
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