WI: Woodrow Wilson Assassinated

During the time the U.S. was in WWI, Woodrow Wilson put his political opponents in prison, allowed the IWW to be obliterated by mob violence, tolerated the popular abuse of German-Americans, and put the entire economy under government control, all in the name of the war effort.

Randolph Bourne, based on all this, said "war is the health of the State." H.L. Mencken, not exactly the most respectful sort himself, was put under surveillance, although it seems the government left Bourne alone.

So what if someone had concluded Wilson was a dictator in the making and needed to die? And done it?

Wilson's VP, Thomas Marshall, doesn't really seem like the strongest personality, so I can't imagine him behaving as iron-fistedly as Wilson did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_R._Marshall

If the assassin can be traced to the radical labor movement or the German-American community, things are going to get ugly for them. Many of the abuses of the WWI era were popular hysteria, not Wilson sitting in an evil tower somewhere signing death warrants, and although there was eventually a reaction to Wilson's behavior, it did not come until later on. Most people would not be glad--they'd be upset. He is, after all, the President of the United States, and it's not like the declaration of war was unprovoked.
 
Last edited:
When are you thinking about this happening? Wilson shot the day after war is declared is going to do things differently than Wilson shot right before he leaves for Europe.

During the Paris Peace Conference, as a related item, there was an anarchist assassin that nearly killed the French PM, Clemenceau. Would it be wholly unreasonable to have Wilson shot instead, either by accident or on purpose?
 
When are you thinking about this happening? Wilson shot the day after war is declared is going to do things differently than Wilson shot right before he leaves for Europe.

During the Paris Peace Conference, as a related item, there was an anarchist assassin that nearly killed the French PM, Clemenceau. Would it be wholly unreasonable to have Wilson shot instead, either by accident or on purpose?

1. If the assassin is someone who thinks Wilson is going to become an American Caesar, it would probably be after things like the Sedition Act. If it's in reprisal for the suppression of the IWW, probably in late 1917.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWW#Government_supression

2. That might be doable. As popular as Wilson seems to have been, getting a successful American conspiracy against him, especially one composed of people who weren't terroristically-inclined before, might be difficult.
 
1. If the assassin is someone who thinks Wilson is going to become an American Caesar, it would probably be after things like the Sedition Act. If it's in reprisal for the suppression of the IWW, probably in late 1917.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWW#Government_supression
I could see that, but the question comes up of how good was Wilson's security?

We're taking the tack that someone who didn't try to kill Wilson does, not changing anything Wilson did?
2. That might be doable. As popular as Wilson seems to have been, getting a successful American conspiracy against him, especially one composed of people who weren't terroristically-inclined before, might be difficult.
I think the French assassin was specifically against Clemenceau, so Wilson would have to be an accident.
 
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/presidential-security/

After 1901, the Secret Service was responsible for protecting the president.

If they failed 16 years in, I could imagine them getting a lot of criticism. Maybe they go back to dealing exclusively with counterfeiting and a new presidential-protection service is established?
Possibly, I suppose.

Perhaps, if we want to have an assassin, have there be an earlier, unsuccessful attempt on Wilson's life, that leads to a new round of laws and persecution aimed at the 'responsible' group. Then a serious assassin, driven to it by whatever measures Wilson forced in, takes him out.

I expect the Palmer Raids to focus more on anarchists than Communists then, especially since anarchists had killed a lot of important people IIRC.

If the national response is what you'd expect, the Palmer raids will probably target anyone they can get their hands on.
 
Perhaps, if we want to have an assassin, have there be an earlier, unsuccessful attempt on Wilson's life, that leads to a new round of laws and persecution aimed at the 'responsible' group. Then a serious assassin, driven to it by whatever measures Wilson forced in, takes him out.

Given how presidential security has been seriously upgraded since McKinley, I would expect someone thinking it'd be easy to fail.
 
Given how presidential security has been seriously upgraded since McKinley, I would expect someone thinking it'd be easy to fail.

Maybe it depends on how they kill Wilson. Modern security takes into account all sorts of nasty possibilities (snipers, suicide bombers, pre-placed explosives) that 1917 Presidential security might not.

A sniper, especially, would be a nasty way to go about it, given that they may not catch the shooter, and people will be aiming fingers every which way in the aftermath of the 'cowardly murder.' It would certainly differ from most assassination attempts before that, which seem to have all been pistols at arms length.
 
Top