Similar Agenda for Two Presidents Pertaining to Different Periods in American History, Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

When he was a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University in the mid-1880s, Woodrow Wilson wrote a dissertation that argued that Congress had become the ruling power in Washington, dangerously so, and that presidents had become more and more obscure and less and less powerful. President Theodore Roosevelt had very similar thoughts to Woodrow Wilson. He not only thought that Presidents were weak but he thought big business men were dangerous also.

Woodrow Wilson’s second term in office was dominated by World War 1. Although the president was very much against dragging the Unites States into war during the initial years of the war. On April 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. In early 1917 German submarines were launching unrestricted submarine attacks against U.S merchant ships. Around the same time, we learned about the Zimmerman Telegram, in which Germany tried to persuade Mexico to enter into an alliance against America. America’s participation helped bring about victory for the Allies though we didn’t contribute to a lot of the fight. A seize fire was signed by the Germans because of Wilson`s 14 points. Paris and Britain didn’t want a peace treaty because they were winning the war nevertheless Wilson made it happen. Wilson helped negotiate the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty included the League of Nations, an organization intended to promote international peace and prevent future wars. This is where I see how the government has more power than the president and or the president has very little power. When Wilson returned from Europe in the summer of 1919, he encountered opposition to the Versailles treaty from congress who feared the League could limit America’s independence and draw the country into another war. Frustrated after two failed attempts to have the treaty passed, the president embarked on a cross-country speaking tour to promote his ideas for the League directly to the American people. During his tour, he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. Wilson’s condition was kept largely hidden from the public, and his wife worked behind the scenes to fulfill a number of his administrative duties. The League of Nations held its first meeting in January 1920 and the United States never joined the organization. However, in December 1920, Wilson received the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in chartering the League of Nations in the Treaty of Versailles.

President Theodore was a very successful president, He got a lot accomplished during his terms. He managed this because he used the presidency as a “bully pulpit” to promote his views to the people. He was very tough when it came to foreign affairs. He blocked efforts by Great Britain, Italy, and Germany to meddle in South America and Central America. He favored a treaty to build the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Though very successful he still believed that the president was very weak. He believed in inherent executive power, basically any power that wasn’t designated to someone or that prohibited him was ultimately his to take. Using this inherent power, he went against these vastly powerful corporate trusts that were trying to dominate finance and industries across the country. He took it as an affront that the trusts were abusing their power and only a few months after taking office declared war on them including J.P. Morgan, who might have thought he was more powerful than the president due to his ghastly wealth and who was building a railroad monopoly in the Northwest. The president campaigned across the country, arguing that the rich were consolidating their wealth and the poor were getting poorer. Americans backed him overwhelmingly.