American Presidents: Totalus Rankium - 28.2 Woodrow Wilson

Episode Date: July 25, 2020

Wilson is in the Whitehouse. He has a simple plan: make the USA a better place to live in and stay out of the World War. Oh, and he'd quite like to do some racist stuff also. See which ones he manages! 

Welcome to Totalus Rankium. This week, Woodrow Wilson Part 2. Hello and welcome to American Presidents Totalus Rankium. I am Jamie. And I'm Rob, ranking all of the presidents from Washington to Trump. And this is episode 28.2. It's the second part of Woodrow Wilson. But before we even get into any of that, we need to queue up the sad music. Oh no. Yeah. Oh, is it the university thing?

I've got two apologies to make. Two, Jamie. Well, I say two apologies to make. Let's start with the first one. Bryn Mawr, the college that Wilson taught in for a while.

If you remember, we talked about it last episode um yeah I this this one's on me I'm I remember writing up my notes and looking at how that was spelt and going there's no way I'm pronouncing this correctly I'll need to look that up before we start and then I completely forgot and then we got to recording the episode and I was reading my notes and something in my head just went you know know what, Rob, just go for it. Dive in. Damn the consequences. Damn the offence. That's okay. Here are the consequences.

It's me apologising for butchering the pronunciation. It's Bryn Mawr. I can't even remember what I said. Probably Bryn Mawr or something. Yeah, so I got that one wrong. Yeah, it happens um the second one i'm just saying it now i'm not apologizing no i wouldn't it's it's ridiculous right well apparently it's not john hopkins which i thought all my life it's john's hopkins well we're not saying that i looked up why um it's actually something we've come across before. It's naming conventions in America. The Johns is actually the surname of a parent or

grandparent I should say that got placed in as a first name. Very much like Woodrow Wilson. Yeah. So it wasn't John Hopkins and then someone shoved an S on there. It was someone called someone Johns and someone Hopkins had a child. Their child got called Johns Hopkins, but I'm just not doing it. I feel sorry for the poor kid. Exactly. It should have been down with them. Someone should have come along and said, no, that's ridiculous. It's John Hopkins. And I'd like to think we're righting a wrong here, Jamie. I think so. I also wonder throughout history how many times people have put an apostrophe in the Johns. You know what? That's how I said it today when I've been saying it so correctly. I've not been. I've been saying it with

an apostrophe. There we go. Yeah, I have. I apologise to all of our listeners who have attended John Hopkins, who contacted me to say there's actually an S in there. Well, tough. I've never seen so much hate mail in my life. Yeah, so there you go. One apology. And if you hate me because I'm refusing to apologise over John Hopkins, well We're sorry you're offended, but again, that's not really our fault

It's a strange hill to choose to die on, but damn it Watch all the one-star reviews now Insulting American history Anyway, let's get into this episode, shall we? Are you ready for the intro? insulting American history anyway let's get into this episode shall we are you ready for the intro so I've got a nice one which should be quite dramatic and wool camera is zoomed in it's dark it's black to start with we can hear bangs in the background explosions muddy muddy muddy that's right muddy explosions that

kind of thing okay yeah no I think this can work so but then the camera zooms out you're actually looking at like like, a Hessian bag, maybe a sandbag or something, maybe on top of a trench, maybe somewhere in about 1914-ish. Muddy footprints, yeah? Right, yeah. Splashing with close-up of a sandbag. Yeah, why not?

Yeah, no, I can do this. I can do this. So, open with the sound of splashing muddy footprints. It's meant to be guns and explosions, but that's fine. No, no. It's splashing muddy footprints. That's what it is. Sandbags. And it's panning.

Yes, that's right. It's panning left across all these sandbags. And you just hear the dun-dun-dun the dun dun dun dun dun getting louder and louder and then all of a sudden smashing into screen is a young boy just running as fast as he can and the sandbag as you pan past them you see the word sugar written on them because it's just sandbags full of sugar because that's how you transport sugar don't correct me there will be no piano music next week. And then the camera sort of pulls out slightly and you realise it's just a kid running through the muddy streets past a sugar delivery that's going on. Yeah. Anyway, there's a crowd in the

distance and the boy's running full pout towards this crowd. Lots of people gathered round and he runs right into the back of the crowd and he's's small. And the camera sort of pulls right into him. Pans in to him. Close behind him. And he's pushing through the crowd. Pushing through the crowd. Lots of, oh, get off me kind of noises. Yeah, chuff it, heck.

Yeah. Slightly more American, but essentially. Yeah. I couldn't even, I can't even hear my head had that been an American accent. Chuff it' heck. No, no. That's two quarters, I'm just insulting. Yeah.

Yeah, anyway, the little boy, he's pushed through, he pushes through, he pushes through, and eventually he kind of bursts out into the front of the crowd. And by this point, you as the audience, what's he going to see? What's he seeing? of the ground. And by this point, you as the audience, what's he gonna see? What's he seeing? And you see, as he bursts out, you as the camera burst out into this sort of circle. And there in the middle of the circle is none other than President Wilson. Ooh.

Oh yeah. The boy stops, looks confused. The camera's panned rotating around and it sees the expression on the boy. He looks very confused and he's shouting, where is it? Where is it? Wilson looks down and says, well, I must be it. And the little boy says, oh, shucks. I thought it was a dog fight. Smash to black, Wilson part two. Because that's right, we've gone quite weird recently, and I'm just starting with a story that actually happened at the start of his presidency. Even in chronological order in the episode. We're going back to basics today, Jamie. Okay.

So he could have had a nice, exciting travel over the, like a, you know, travelling through Europe, bird's eye view of the ocean, but you're just content with stripping all the fun out of this, aren't you, Rob? I am pushing against your expectations, Jamie. You came into this expecting World War I talk, and now it's going to be about little boys expecting dogfights. Right, you ready for this episode? I think so. It's a long one. I'm going to try and

squeeze as much in as possible. Wilson, he's now president. He felt he was ready. He had, after all, if you remember, spent most of his life studying American politics, and then teaching American politics, and then just generally being around American politics. He was ready. But there was one area. He was slightly nervous about And that obviously is foreign affairs a quote it would be an irony of fate He told one friend if my administration had to deal chiefly with foreign problems for all my preparation Has been in domestic matters and then someone had to go and silence the irony gong Which was just smashing away in the background the poor guy in charge of the irony gong had to go and silence the irony gong, which was just smashing away in the background. The poor guy in charge of the irony gong

had to go and have a lie down for a while. Well, roughly what year are we in at the moment? 1913. Okay. Yeah, yeah. If he was worried about foreign affairs, he chose a popular man to be in charge of the foreign affairs because he chose his Secretary of State, and

it was going to be none other than Brian. The same Brian we have been coming across all over the place recently, the progressive leader of the Democratic Party. Brian accepted the role, although he pointed out that he would have no alcohol served in any of his functions. The prohibition movement is in full swing at the moment. Ah, the stupid... I see you feel strongly about this. Yes, yes I do. Yeah, enjoying your drink there.

It's delicious. Good. Yeah, Wilson was fine with this. Fair enough, don't serve drinks. No skin off my nose. So there you go, Brian is now Secretary of State. Wilson was also fine with the idea of a man named McAdoo becoming the Secretary of the Treasury.

That sounds like a dodgy, like a sequel to Wannadoo by ABBA. James Winslet. Is that ABBA? Wannadoo. Wannadoo? sequel to wanna do by uh abba is that abba wanna do no you're you're confusing waterloo water oh don't leave that in the episode song aren't you yeah don't leave that in the episode oh that's definitely staying in the episode. Ah, damn it. I'm going to frame it with a jingle saying Jamie's Weird Mistake. Jamie's Weird Mistake. Oh, man. Well, at least we're bringing humour to Wilson. Yes, we are. Anyway, McAdoo, huge ABBA fan.

McAdoo. It's McAdoo. Yeah. There's going to be a musical about his life one day. It's going to be all the other songs. It's going to be great. Solid Swedish pop. Yes. Anyway, Wilson's cabinet showed the country that this would indeed be a progressive government. He campaigned that he was going to be progressive. There were some doubts, remember, because he used to be a bit of a conservative. But no, it's fine. We're going to be progressive. We're going to make changes.

Wilson and the Democrats were already looking forward to the next election, hoping they were going to gain Roosevelt's progressive party voters. Remember, we've got a three-party system at the moment. Sort of, but yeah. Sort of, yeah. I mean, who knows which way that's going to go. Slight sense that the UK has a three-party system with Lib Dems, but they really don't. sort of but yeah sort of yeah i mean who knows which way that's gonna go slightly okay as a three-party system of them but they really yeah well um remember the roosevelt's progressive party were actually the second most popular in terms of votes of course they were weren't they yes

okay i'll eat my words yeah so um we're looking at uncertain political times and the democrats really want to make sure that any potential progressive voters in future either stay with the Democrats or move from Roosevelt's party. However, more important than any cabinet post was the appointment of one man. This was a man named House. And yes,

if you want, you can just picture House. That's what I've got pictured. Hugh Laurie can be part of this episode if you so wish slightly grumpy but oh he got his cane well i've been binging house recently so this is perfect for me yeah okay got him i can picture him straight away don't even describe his personality i've got it it's fine uh he was from texas his family were from England. His accent's quite good. I mean, most people don't even spot that he's English.

It's pretty good. Some of that was true. He was from Texas. He was also a backroom dealer in the Democratic Party, who Wilson had grown to like recently. House didn't have a formal position, but he was an advisor. And as an advisor, he informally outranked everyone, bar Wilson. So just know that House is hanging around the White House pulling strings in the background a lot. The two became firm friends, and they plotted the start of his presidency together. Occasionally they'd go off

to shows as a break, off to the theatre, but generally sat down and worked out what are we going to do in the first hundred days, that kind of thing. And what was created was Wilson's plan to make the country a better place. If he was going to be president, he was going to do it well, and he was going to improve the United States of America. Damn it. It was a new plan that he had, and what American doesn't love the word freedom? So it was called, this new plan. Freedom plan? The new freedom plan.

New freedom plan. New freedom plan. Freedom's good. New's good. And everyone loves a plan. It shows that you're organised. Yeah, exactly. So you can't go wrong with a new freedom

plan, is what he thought. Now, showing that this was the start of something new, Wilson headed to Congress and delivered a speech to both houses. You might not realise, because I've not dwelled on this for a very long time, but this is the first time a president has

gone to the Congress building to deliver a formal speech since john adams really yeah they've written letters to congress to be read out but the first time someone's actually turned up in person so look these are my plans does this continue yes this is why we still have the state of the Union addresses today. But yeah, so there you go. It's a change. There you go. He goes down in history then as a changer person.

Yes, he does. That's exactly what he goes down in history as. Right. Are you ready for the new Freedom four-point plan? Everyone loves a four-point plan. Yes. You can count them off on your fingers on one hand. It's great.

Okay. He was going to address the following. Number one, the conservation of natural resources. Number two, banking reform. Number three, regulation of the trusts. Oh, got on board

already. Number four, tariff reduction. Yeah. This is all stuff that's been on the forefront of politics for the last decade or so. This is all stuff I've been trying to skirt around for the last few episodes. It's now just, it's only built,

it's like a rising river, it's just building up buildings and it's broken the dam with Wilson. Don't know if you've anticipated this, but it's a busy episode today. And these four points of his new freedom plan kind of bubble along in the background throughout his presidency. So what I'm going to do is attempt to sum up how well the new freedom plan went in less than two minutes. Hang on,

let me just get my timer ready. Okay. Stopwatch. Stopwatch. Stopwatch. Okay. On your marks. Wait, wait, wait. Let me know every 30 seconds so I've got a rough idea if I'm doing all right. Okay. Three, two, one, go.

Number one, conservation. Wilson didn't actually do much in this area. He set up the National Park Service in 1916 to, and I quote, conserve the scenery and natural and historic objects and wildlife therein. So that's nice, isn't it? Well, that's not a bad thing. I have a few points on that if you'd like me to talk about them.

No, because number two, banking reform. Americans were sick and tired of the boom and bust economy that had only worsened during the Gilded Age, and it was recognised that something needed to be done about this. The same arguments over whether to have a national bank- Thirty seconds! Oh, the same arguments over whether we- I'm nervous, I'm nervous. About whether to have

a national bank that we saw at the start of our series popped up once more. The likes of J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, etc. had all met up on an island off the coast of Georgia, called Jekyll's Island. Yes, this is a real-life all-the-bankers-get-together-and-have-an-evil-meeting cackling. Anyway, they come up with a plan, a central bank, where they would have a large amount of control. Oh, and House... One minute! Ooh, House was there as well, by the way. Anyway, Brian, obviously horrified by this, this is awful.

This is an extension of rubber-bound control, so he let it be known that the central bank would work, but it should be controlled by the government. In the end, a compromise plan was put forward. Private banks would control 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, but a centralised board appointed by the President would control interest rates. It was enough to squeeze through, and in 1915, the Federal Reserve Act was passed. One minute thirty! Oh, I've got 30 seconds to do two more. Okay, three tariffs.15, the Federal Reserve Act was passed. One minute, 30.

Oh, I've got 30 seconds to do two more. Okay, three, tariffs. I'm not going to go into this. It's boring, but it was reduced by 40%. Oh, and the government started raising money through taxes rather than tariffs. That's quite important. I'll talk about it later. Number four, going after the trust.

He set up the Federal Trade Commission to investigate antitrust violations and unfair business methods. On top of this, an updated version of the Sherman Antitrust Act called the Clayton Antitrust Act was put through to deal with the many loopholes that have been found in the Sherman Act. Done. Oh, with a second to spare. So there we go. You might want to grab your inhaler, Rob.

All that happened. That's Wilson's new Freedom Act. I'll'll be honest i missed most of that because i was watching the timer so do you mind no i'm joking do you want me to sum up the summary lots of stuff happened legislation act stuff got done oh yeah ultimately wilson hoped that these improvements uh would lead to a fairer, more productive society. And generally, he made a good stab at doing this. It wasn't all perfect. Compromises were had.

But yeah, generally, the monopolies are being looked at in a bit more detail. Money is being raised a bit more fairly than it used to be. Good. And conservation, that's always good. So there you go. So what was his work day like near the start i hear you wonder uh what was his work day like rob well near the start of course well jamie uh he would arrive in the oval office at approximately nine o'clock in the morning he'd spend an hour on

his mail and then three hours or so with various visitors getting stuff done stop for lunch two more hours of meetings and then about four o'clock he'd clock off he'd go off for a drive with with his wife or a game of golf that was his daily routine nine till four with an hour for lunch that sounds okay i don't have a problem with that. He got the job done. The White House was said to be a much calmer place than when Roosevelt was there, or even when Taft was there. Apparently... Less shouting. Yeah, apparently everything just seemed calmly competent, and once you got the work done, you could go and do something else. Do you think he was school mastering at the end? I think so. There'd be a little bell that went off at a certain time.

Well, let's face it. No one understands the importance of a work-life balance than a teacher. So I think this is why. So yeah, I think things are ticking along is what I'm trying to say here. But then foreign affairs soon interrupted. Why, Rob?

Why? Why? Not because of what you're thinking of. Well, obviously, the aftermath of the Spanish-American War was still being felt. We are now entering the period of American history where the term Banana

Republic stems from. Oh, yes. We have already seen the United States invade Colombia to take Panama off them so they could set up the canal. And also they've done the same to Hawaii. Around this time, also, the United States start to interfere with several other Central and Southern American countries, shall we say. Brian, anti-imperialist Secretary of State, so you'd expect him to attempt to put an end to all of this, yeah? Yeah

Brian, however, was under the belief that it was the duty of the United States To help out their other American democracies In fact, I quote him here Those Latin republics are our political children, so to speak So if those countries were going in a direction that, I don't know, the United States didn't like the look of, they had a moral duty to interfere, surely, for democracy. Well, during Wilson's presidency, American troops invaded, or were stationed in, depending on how you want to say it, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Haiti

and Honduras. Honduras was essentially ruled by the United Fruit Company at this time. That's a terrible name for a political party. That's because it wasn't one. Yeah, this is an

extension of the hyper capitalism of the Gilded Age, just gone into foreign affairs. Hopefully we'll have time to go into this in more detail in Season 2, because we don't have time now. But all you need to know for this episode is that, in the name of helping democracy grow, the United States start to send their troops into various countries

to aid massive companies that had interest there. So in the case of Honduras, the United Fruit Company had certain interests, reasons for the government in Honduras to go a certain way to ensure that their banana plantations would be protected. And wouldn't it be simpler if some United States troops were nearby? Just in a kind of nudge, nudge, wink, wink kind of way. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I'm glad all this stops. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. This definitely stops. Now, obviously, it wasn't framed this way. And no one in America was using the term Banana Republic at the time. No one was.

We're liberating another country. Well, yeah. Wilson himself believed he was aiding these countries. For example, when violence erupted in Haiti in 1915, he said, I quote, I suppose there is nothing for it but to take the bull by the horns and restore order. So they did.

They went into Haiti. They took over for the next couple of decades yeah and restored order yeah which to be fair you can argue order was restored or the word restore is the one that a certain order was imposed I think is a better way of saying it yes but as you can imagine in the United States, very little attention was paid to these interventions in these far-off countries. It just didn't really matter to the average American. It's going on, bubbling away in the background. However, what's not bubbling away in the background is Mexico, because things in Mexico had gained the attention of the average

American, all right. Aren't they going through a revolution at this time? Oh, yes, they are. If you remember, Taft had supported the aging President Diaz in the hope that the status quo would be maintained in Mexico. Yeah. After all, there was a lot of US business interests in Mexico and no one wanted to see them suffer.

If you remember, he even visited Diaz in El Paso, maybe survived an assassination plot. Well, things have moved on in Mexico since then. Diaz had been overthrown shortly after meeting with Taft, sent into exile. The revolutionary sent into exile. The revolutionary Madero was now in charge. Or perhaps I should say was in charge because in February of 1913

the ten tragic days occurred. These were ten days that were not the best. Madero and his vice president were forced to resign and then assassinated for good measure. Yeah, like really kicked out of office. Like, fine, I'll resign.

There was one more thing, sir. One slight caveat. Yeah. Anyway, the General Huerta became the next president. Huerta had been supported by the US ambassador in Mexico, confusingly also called Wilson. So we'll just call him another name so we don't get confused. Willie.

Yes. I don't think I even say his name again, to be honest, but let's call him Willie. Anyway, Cuerta was supported by the US ambassador in Mexico at the time, but that didn't mean that that was what President Wilson's views were. But the ambassador, Ambassador Willey's idea, is that it would be a return to the old conservative faction and good for US business.

However, President Wilson heard the news and called his cabinet to discuss what's going on down in Mexico and whether the United States should formally recognise this new government or intervene and help remove it. I'll quote the Secretary of War, who voiced his opinion during this meeting, it might be well to recognise a brute like Huerta, so as to have some form of government which could be recognised and dealt with. So, that was an idea that, fair enough, let's just deal with this guy.

Wilson, however, wasn't happy. He really didn't feel he could support a government that had literally murdered their way into power. It just doesn't look good. Like, they're murdering on Wednesday, and then on Thursday the United States are going, yeah, that's fine. It's a bad look. Anyway, so looking for a way forward,

Wilson took advice from a lawyer who represented the mining and railway companies that had interests in Mexico, which tells you something about the political state at the time. I need advice over the Mexican Civil War. Call in the lawyer for the railways. The lawyer told Wilson that intervention in Mexico would be a national calamity. In other words, don't go in there and remove water. For the love of God, don't do that. This lawyer went on further to say that Mexicans did not want American help. We should stay out of it. They didn't want American help due to, and I quote here, the natural antipathy

between the Latin and the Anglo-Saxon. Which apparently was why the Mexicans were not keen on the Americans. Nothing to do with the fact that the United States had invaded and taken a third of their country only 60 years before. No, nothing to do with that. Must be

a race thing. It's always a race thing, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. No, nothing to do that. Must be a race thing. It's always a race thing, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. So, Wilson was still very undecided. What do we do? Do we endorse this guy or not? So, we decided to send a new ambassador down there to figure out exactly what was going on. Now, I want you to get into the shoes

of Wilson here. What size is he? I'm going to say 11. Oh, that'll do. Yeah. Okay. Are you in his shoes? Yes. Good. What type of shoes are they? Brogues.

Good. You're in his brogues. You need to send an ambassador down to Mexico to figure out what on earth's going on. You need more details. Yeah. What kind of person do you send? What qualities? What skills?

Well, you need a listener, you need someone that's very astute and can you know get the fine details like the minutiae so they can feed that back so we know it can balance the situation. Also somebody that can when they're talking they're not leaning towards one side maybe keeping it you know pretty non-biased. Nice, nice. How about someone who could speak spanish i didn't think about that no nor did wilson uh yeah he he just uh sent one of his friends down uh who couldn't speak spanish and had never been to mexico before jeff jeff got a job for you well i go to to Mexico? Yeah, no, no.

Like, Mexico, Mexico. Let me know how it goes. Yeah, yeah, it was a bit like that. It's a man called Hale. Hale was a trusted friend and speechwriter for Wilson. Hale pops off down to Mexico and soon reported back, Huerta was a drunk, but a determined one, was essentially the message. It's like, he's not great, but he's determined, he's brave, apparently, was another adjective used.

Anyway, it was decided that the United States would demand that Huerta call for a free and fair election. That way, we've got a bit of wriggle room. He calls an election, he wins, then we can just endorse him and it's absolutely fine. Huerta received this demand from America and did what any self-respecting leader of a country would do. Completely ignored it. I'm sorry. I'm busy fighting a civil war here. I haven't got time for you, another country, to tell me to call an election. It'd be like Mexico or Britain, maybe, during America's civil war, saying, oh, by the way,

this is how you should run your election. Yeah, exactly. So Huerta just completely ignored it. Yeah, exactly. So Huerta just completely ignored it. But still, Wilson had asked for an election, so it looked a bit better that they were doing nothing at all. Then Britain suddenly arrived in the mix, because why not? The British ambassador came along to Mexico and formally recognised Huerta as the official president of Mexico. Ah, okay. Yes. Foreshadowing the next hundred years of American interventionism, one of the main factors in the speculation over whether to get drawn into the Mexican revolt or not

was, you've guessed it, oil. Well, yeah. Yeah. I'll quote the Navy Secretary after one of their meetings here. The chief cause of this whole situation was a contest between the British and

American oil companies to see which would control. So you've got some oil interest going on in Mexico and you've got... And now Britain

have basically said you can give us a good deal now because we support you. Well, yeah, exactly. Britain decided that their oil interests would be better protected by Huerta than anyone else. It's like, fair enough. I mean, it's early 1914 now.

We've got nothing to worry about. Yeah. Pretty stable. So. Exactly. Wilson was outraged by this, as you can imagine. He wrote a diplomatic note to all countries saying, wrote a diplomatic note to all countries saying,

the United States is and must continue to be of paramount influence in the Western Hemisphere. In other words, the Americas are nothing to do with Europe but out. Remember the Monroe Doctrine. Read his quote again. The United States is and must continue to be of paramount influence in the Western Hemisphere. In other words, the Americas are ours, is essentially what Wilson was saying there. Okay. Yeah, you're pulling a bit of an ooh face there. Yeah.

Yeah, apparently enough people around him also pulled that face because he changed his mind last minute and didn't send it. That's the equivalent of a send-all email, that is. Yeah. No, no coming back. CC to everyone. Three minutes later, it's like, how do you delete emails that you've sent? I can't remember. Can you do that? Get Bill Gates on the line. Yeah, no, instead, House had come along and he'd arranged some meetings between the president and a British foreign office official who just happened to be in Washington at the time. How about, Wilson essentially said, you back off Mexico, Britain. Why don't you just go away? And in return,

we will rethink the toll prices for British ships in the Panama Canal. Britain went, ha ha, perfect. Thank you very much, and backed out. Because at this point, Britain was elbow deep in like an arms race. Oh yes, yeah. They're trying to build everything up, so oil would have been good, but the fact you've got quick access to the the pacific oh yes very useful yeah definitely um i mean this is a britain doing some good negotiating but also america uh already the panama canal is paying off for them diplomatically because they can start

using it as a bargaining chip so um yeah so there So there you go. Britain back out. Fine. Like you say, they have other things to worry about at this time. Anyway, Wilson then formally recognised Huerta's opposition in the country and began to sell them arms. Fine. We've decided we're going to get rid of him. We cannot endorse him. He came to power illegally through murder. We cannot endorse him. He came to power illegally through murder. Then in April 1914, some American sailors were arrested in the Huerta-controlled port city of Tempeco. It was a mistake, and it was a soon-rectified one. The Mexican officials released the American soldiers and then apologised to the US Admiral in charge of the warship that happened to be nearby.

How did the warship take that? Well, the US Admiral said, of course we will accept your apology, as long as you raise the US flag and then give it a 21-gun salute. Oh. No, no. Yeah, understandably, the Mexican general refused general refused no i'm not doing that could you imagine if i did that yes well wilson heard this and he saw an opportunity he was able to make an argument to congress what was going to pull us into an armed conflict look he's arresting american sailors he does not control large parts

of the country of mexico so we could fight him and not invade mexico wink wink yeah it's like yeah we'll be we'll be going into mexico and we'll be fighting mexican troops but is huerta really the mexican president because we don't think he is, so if we fight him, we're not fighting Mexico? I mean, it's not our country, not our laws. If we happen to fall across and fall on an oil pit, I mean, you know. Well, he asked permission to use troops, and it was granted. It was also around this time that Wilson heard that Huerta was about to get a large shipment of arms from Europe,

because apparently Europe had no need for arms at this time. There's loads of them lying about. Let's just sell them to Mexico. Well, Wilson ordered for troops to invade the Mexican port city of Veracruz and seize the weapons as they were being taken off the ships. So, yeah, this is an invasion of Mexico. Two days of fighting led to over 150 Mexicans dead and 17 US dead. Oh, what?

Yeah. And the United States having control of the area. So there we go. The invasions began. Huerta obviously was not best pleased that his country was being invaded, and it looked to everyone like the Second Mexican-American War was well and truly on. However, Wilson seemed to have a sudden change of heart. He was reported to look visibly shaken after the reports of the dead US troops. 17 men

were dead because of him. He did not take that well. On top of this, the Republicans were already painting him as a warmonger. Internationally, the move was condemned. What the hell are you doing invading Mexico for? Germany said. Yes. Wilson sought a way to back down. Maybe I've gone too far here. Fortunately for him, the forces in Mexico fighting the Huerta regime started to gain the upper hand at this point, and Huerta was forced into exile.

So actually, the whole thing just went away, which was a bit lucky for wilson to be honest tensions with mexico subsided for now so there you go that was the problems with mexico but something else is taking up wilson's time at this point his family because first of all he noticed that his uh his daughter was listening to a lot of abba recently His daughter was listening to a lot of ABBA recently. Yeah, it's strange. Every time we walk past her room,

just refrains of money, money, money. That's like, what's going on? After a few weeks of this, his daughter announced, again, some of this might not be true, but yeah, she announced that she was in love with and engaged to the Secretary of the Treasury, McAdoo. McAdoo. This came as a shock to Woodrow and Ellen.

McAdoo was only a few years younger than Woodrow. Oh. Yeah. And worked in his cabinet. Oh. Yeah. But McAdoo and his daughter were very much in love so it's very little Wilson could do his daughter and the secretary of the treasury wed in the White House it was essentially the

film Mamma Mia yeah it just set in the White House I'm assuming that film is about a wedding I think it is I seem to remember seeing a wedding dress on the posters. I've never seen Mamma Mia. Yes, it was. Haven't you? No, have you? That's pretty good. Yeah. Oh, right. Is there a wedding in it? Yeah. Well, yeah, it's about a girl who wants to walk down the aisle. So she goes to Greece to find her mum, but her mum had been with three different guys, so she doesn't quite know which one her dad is why okay very similar to this then pretty much yeah yeah okay it's like wilson roosevelt taft there's definitely potential there anyway for a sitcom at least the wedding takes place in the white house in front of a small group of friends and family.

It wasn't a big affair. However, things were a bit tense between son-in-law and father-in-law after that. Nothing huge, no massive blow-ups, but things elevated to an almost British level of showing signs of displeasure. Oh my goodness. Oh yes.

For example, one day after receiving a report from McAdoo, Wilson sniped, Mac, why do you write under the circumstances? You can be in the circumstances, but not under it. The correct expression is in the circumstances.

Good God, man. That is top level British brutality. Yeah, definitely. Picking up on another's grammar. That is top-level British brutality, I think. Yeah, definitely. Picking up on another's grammar. That's the levels it got to. You fool! You've used the Oxford comma! Nothing wrong with an Oxford comma.

It's pointless. It's just the rift that finally breaks up Totale's ranking. Anyway, finding it hard to accept a son-in-law, however, was the least of Wilson's troubles because Ellen suddenly became ill. Oh, it's his wife. Yeah. She'd been a bit off for a while.

In fact, this is one of the reasons why the wedding was such a small affair was to keep it low-key because Ellen was suffering at the time oh quick get house well house unfortunately must have been busy or maybe not because she was diagnosed uh with what was wrong there we go it was Bright's disease that's right Bright's disease again it's already killed off Arthur and and Roosevelt's first wife in this series. Yeah, and it's about to kill

off the third person. Yeah, Ellen's health deteriorated. It became clear she wasn't going to make it. She asked her doctor to look after her husband after she had gone. In the summer of 1914, Ellen Woodrow dies. Very sad.

She wasn't the only person to die in the summer of 1914, however. Because half a world away, roughly the same time, there was a man called Franz Ferdinand. He also died. Not Bright's disease. No, it's much, much quicker, I think.

Yeah. Great, great band as well. The originator of the band. He was in the band. Yeah. Yeah. Need to sing it. Right, here we, I think. Yeah. Great, great band as well. The originator of the band. He was in the band. Yeah. Yeah. Need to sing it. Need to sing it.

Right, here we go, Jamie. Here we go. You ready? Again, there's a lot going on in this episode, and I don't want it to last forever, so are you ready for another two-minute summary? Ooh, see, on Twitter you put a thousand words. Can you do a thousand words in two minutes?

Jamie, Jamie, this isn't the entirety of the world war this is just why the world war started yeah yeah no i get that 250 words okay if i can do it less than two minutes okay what are you going for a minute and a half yeah let's do a minute and a half let's go for it okay why did world war one start in a minute and a half? On your marks. Three, two, one. We start with the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire collapsed in the West, but Christianity survived. The Holy Roman Empire grew to fill the power vacuum. Napoleon came along and dissolved the Holy Roman Empire,

but the region had cultural ties, so it became unified. Germany was created in the late 1800s. Soon enough, Germany was created in the late 1800s. Soon enough, Germany was a major power in Europe, overtaking France and catching up with Britain to become the most powerful nation. An arms race started between Germany and Britain and France. Three seconds! Three seconds? Thirty. Thirty, oh right, you made me panic. Got a minute left, right. So yeah, big power struggle, major players. Meanwhile, lots of other tensions

are going on in Europe over the land in North Africa and Eastern Europe. This included Austria-Hungary annexing Bosnia Herzegovina from the Ottomans and the Balkan states pushing the Ottoman Empire back to Constantinople slash Istanbul. So essentially Europe was a powder keg with the major powers in an arm race and the smaller powers fighting. One minute! And everyone started forming alliances and in the summer of 1914 some Yugoslavian nationalists who did not like the fact they're now part of Austria-Hungary It is. Bye. TALA! knowing that it was only a matter of time before France declared war on them. So Britain then declared war on Germany, seeing that they were getting closer to them. And in the end, there were two sides, the Allied powers, Britain, France, and...

Ah, so close! And two sides fighting. That's good. I think you lost some of the minutiae in that, but I think that's a good overall summary. Yeah? Does that work? Yeah, so if you're unsure and you're listening and now you're just going what the hell is going on um essentially you've got two sides in europe you've got the

allied powers britain france and russia and italy and various others and the central powers germany austria hungary and later on the ottomans those two sides form alliances and they go to war with each other. I mean, the assassination was just the excuse needed. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's all it was. Yeah, that's all it was. It was the catalyst, the spark. It wasn't the cause.

The fluffy feather. Yeah, exactly. You ever tickled a gorilla? What? The fluffy feather that tickles a gorilla makes him mad. Rip your arms off. They're huge. Is this a saying that i've never come across no just you're just being weird fair enough okay continue history yes uh meanwhile in the united states people were looking at europe with feelings ranging from yeah to utter horror uh depending on how much they cared.

The biggest feeling at the time was, this won't last long, it'll be fine. Yeah, it's war in Europe. There's always war in Europe. It's the old world. Yeah. Always happens. Nothing to do with us.

So you've got people who just didn't really care. It didn't affect them. It was half a world away. Then you've got people who maybe paid attention a little bit more to politics and war and what technology was like at the moment. And then they were a little bit more horrified that this could actually look quite bad. Anyway, the first effects of the war in the United States was the hit to the economy. Overnight, trade with Europe was overturned.

Of course, yeah. The stock exchange plummeted due to the uncertainty. However, as we've seen time and time again in the last hundred years, nothing quite makes money in a capitalist society like war. And despite the initial stutter to the United States economy,

soon enough, orders for munitions came flooding in from the Allied forces. Be great if it's both. Central powers and Allied. Well, I mean, it would have been if it wasn't for the fact that Britain still dominated the seas. I mean, yes, Germany were catching up, but they didn't catch up. Britain controls the seas still. So they were able to just lock down the central powers. They blockaded Germany. The only side who was capable of trading with the United States

was the Allied side. Let's just hope Germany doesn't develop a new type of ship that can go underwater. Don't be crazy. That'd be ridiculous. Anyway, representatives from Britain and France were soon

meeting up with the true power in the United States asking for aid. That is, of course, none other than J.P. Morgan. Could we perhaps maybe have I don't know, $100 million

as a loan, please? Wow. Bit of cash because this is going to be expensive and we'd like some money. And, you know, after war, everyone knows it's easy to pay things back, so we're swimming in... Yeah, it'll be fine. We have an empire.

We'll raid India, it'll be fine. Yeah, exactly. Brian, remember, Secretary of State at the time, heard of this and was not happy. No. He'd spent his entire life fighting against the likes of J.P. Morgan. He did not like the idea of the robber barons of America controlling the purse strings of the powers in Europe.

Brian steps in, supported by Wilson. United States banks could not lend to foreign nations at war. It was made illegal to do so. It's like, no, we are staying out of this. It's all kicked off in Europe and we do not want to be dragged into it. If we start loaning money to one side, that's hardly impartial, is it? In fact, I'll quote, it is inconsistent with the true spirit of neutrality. And neutrality was certainly the line that the Wilson government was keen to take. Why on earth would they get involved with the old world as they tore themselves apart? I mean, yes, historically, the United States have been close to France and Britain in the past, but historically, they'd also fought the British more than anyone else.

So, I mean, it's a mess over there. Let's just leave them to it. I mean, if anything, they could give a few tips to Germany. Well, some wanted to. Really? Yeah, yeah. In the start of the war, feelings in America generally were fairly neutral. It wasn't a case of we want to be on Britain and

France's side, but we're not sure if we should. It was, let's just stay out of this. Because, I mean, as ever, things are complex politically. The United States needed trade with Europe. It was willing to trade with anyone. But as I mentioned, Britain had set up the blockade around Germany, so they weren't trading any time soon. Now, Wilson didn't voice an opinion on the blockade, essentially accepting the fact that trade would only be done with the Allied forces. Now, that's not neutral. No.

But he didn't want to cut off trade with all of Europe, because that would be silly. So Wilson needs to tread a fine line between remaining neutral but only trading with one side. The illusion of neutrality. Yeah, it was a difficult path to tread. Quite a lot of arguments occurred in the cabinet over whether this was true neutrality or not. Debates happen throughout the country. But generally, like I say, the idea is stay out, trade if we can. Anyway, it's around

this time that Wilson received a phone call. Ding-a-ling-a-ling. That's good. Realistic for the time phone. Yeah, that's good. Do your research there. It was a fellow student from John Hopkins. This was a man named Thomas Dixon.

Woodrow, said Thomas Dixon. Remember that book I wrote about ten years ago? You'd never guess what. Someone's only gone and turned it into a moving picture. You've got to see it. It's the future of entertainment. It will blow your mind. You have a look on your face.

I recognise the name. Oh, you'll see why in a moment. future of entertainment, it will blow your mind. You have a look on your face. I recognise the name. Oh, you'll see why in a moment. Wilson agreed, and soon afterwards a projector was being set up in the White House for a viewing of the three-hour film. That's right. They were going to watch a film called The Birth of the Nation.

Oh, no. Oh, yes. Oh, no, no, no. One of the most depressing things about early cinema and the history of early cinema is that one of the most revolutionary films in terms of technical achievement is an awful racist propaganda film that glorifies the ku klux klan i, this was the first film, apparently, that used close-ups, fades, orchestras, extras. Yeah, it genuinely was a revolutionary film. And it was... CGI, yeah.

Yeah. And it was essentially a this-is-why-the-Ku Klux Klan were brilliant after the war. Oh, my God. Some historians have claimed that Wilson was duped into watching this film, that he was distracted by the death of his wife and the war in Europe. He didn't really know what it was going to be about. It just

was on in the background. He barely even looked up. He was in the next room, is what I heard, listening to music at the time. I mean, he had no idea what was going on. That's absolutely fine, but what was his opinion of the film? Well, that's debatable. You get some reports that he claimed

that the film was completely truthful and accurate afterwards. You get some reports that he said nothing afterwards and just walked off. I personally think saying that he was duped is far too generous. He knew the man who wrote the book It was an old acquaintance and he watched the film I mean there was no way he didn't realize what this was going to be about and even then if he didn't He did see the film. So if he didn't like what he saw he should have done something about it

Yeah, and he didn't uh in fact when the naacp the national association for the advancement of colored people organized protests over the film oh just to be clear this film was hugely controversial at the time this is not something that has aged badly it was bad at the time it's bad bad now. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, obviously... I didn't know that. You've got the massive racists to love it, but yeah, yeah.

Lots and lots of people in the country saw it for what it was at the time. So, massive protests over the film, and Wilson refused to say that he did not endorse the film. The reason why he refused to say he didn't endorse the film is because he did not like the man who was the spokesperson for the NAACP.

This was a man named Trotter. Now, Wilson had disliked Trotter for a while now, ever since Trotter was invited to the White House. The meeting hadn't gone well. If you remember, Wilson had ran a campaign essentially saying, vote for me. The Republicans are the real racists. Look at all that problems down in Texas with Roosevelt. I'm going to be another Lincoln. And it worked with a lot of people.

Trotter then visited Wilson a few months into his presidency, essentially to tell him off. Lovely. He told Wilson he had not done enough to help race relations. In fact, I quote him, two years ago, you were heralded as perhaps the second Lincoln. But then Trotter went on to say that Wilson had done nothing but spread segregation and that he was a huge disappointment. Because Wilson, sure enough, had been spreading segregation under him all the post offices were being segregated different bathrooms different break rooms all of that's going on in the background was this nationally oh yes yeah this is a federal level and this lasts until yeah 60s yeah this is not good um anyway Wilson was not best pleased that, let's put it bluntly,

a black man had come into his office and told him off. So Wilson snapped back and said if the NAACP wanted to talk to him again, they would have to send another spokesperson. I'll quote Wilson here, you have spoiled the whole cause from which you have came. Yeah. Anyway, the meeting, like I say, ended very badly. And due to this, when asked to distance himself from the birth of a nation, Wilson initially refused to do so because it looked like he was responding to agitation from, and I'll quote, that unspeakable fellow, meaning Trotter.

So to sum all that up all i didn't know this about wilson oh yeah to sum all that up wilson refuses to distance himself from an incredibly racist film because it would look like that he was doing something a black person asked him to still apart from his racism sort of spewing out all over the place um and the international problems uh things started looking up for Woodrow. Oh, good. Good. I couldn't be happier. Because although he had had a hard time after Ellen's death eight months previously, he'd met someone else.

Edith Galt was a widow in her early 40s. She was experiencing a bit of freedom since her husband had died. A little interesting fact I found out about her. Apparently, she was the first woman in the city of Washington to gain a driving licence. Wow. So there you go. Freedom in the city.

Just imagine her cruising around, speeding around the corners. Our windows down, elbow out. Yeah. And again, don't forget, this is full-on suffragette movement time yeah good times so she should be used as sort of a as a beacon in some way yeah yeah definitely she was from an old plantation class family from virginia um and had met the president yeah and met the president through a cousin edith and and Wilson met several times over dinner or going riding, Wilson arranging times for them to meet up.

And just like when he had met Ellen for the first time, he fell for Edith immediately. Within two months, Wilson declared his love for her. Edith replied, you can't love me. You don't know me. It's less than a year since your wife died. Which, uh... I'm still, by the way,

coming across phrases in the books I'm reading saying things along the lines of, This was standard back in the day. It was custom for women to turn down the first request. And I'm still not buying it. I still think... I still think the women are just going no no go away yeah well books are in my men so yeah exactly um you're just being awkward like beat her down yeah well wilson had a reply for this uh one that i can't help but feel he prepared for are you ready for this it comes

across as a little bit creepy, I must say, but for the time I'm sure it's fine. So after being told no, your wife's only just died, he replied, yes, I know that you feel that, but little girl, in this place, time is not measured by weeks or months or years, but by deep human experiences. And since her death, I have lived a lifetime of loneliness and heartache. I was afraid, knowing you, I would shock you. I would be less than a gentleman if I continued to make opportunities to see you without telling you that I want you to be my wife. Yeah, we don't measure time with the standard units of time.

We measure it by my horniness. Exactly. And right now I've been single for, phew, at least six inches. Edith replied that if she had to answer immediately, the answer would be no. But they could

carry on seeing each other. It took a couple more months, but eventually Edith finally agreed, and the two were due to wed in December 1915. However, before they could wed, Wilson had to deal with the fact that there were a whole bunch of German submarines, which is always annoying when you're trying to get married and German submarines get in the way. Yeah and everyone's going what what the hell's a submarine? I don't get that.

Yeah well these German sub- That means below water, boats don't go below water. Some do, Titanic had just three years ago. The German submarines. Just imagine the dictionary. What's the American dictionary called? Webster's. Webster's Dictionary. Submarine. Sea Titanic. Yeah, they had to update it.

Anyway, that's what I'm trying to say. The German submarines I'm talking about had just sank the world's fastest luxury ocean liner, the Lusitania. Yes. Yes. This is one of the triggers, isn't it? Oh, yes, it is. The Lusitania was hit and sank in just 18 minutes,

killing over 1,000 passengers, including... It's what big holes do in ships. Yeah, including over 100 US citizens. Ooh. This, as you could imagine, sent shockwaves over the United States, and the US were a neutral in the European war. Nothing to do with us. Yes, we're selling arms to just one side, but it's nothing to do with us. How dare Germany kill US citizens? It was a difficult tightrope for Wilson. He desperately did not want to be dragged into this war, but public support started

to go away from him. He looked for a way to appear firm with Germany without making it look like he was taking sides. So he met with the German ambassador and suggested if Germany promised not to do that again and recall all of their submarines, the United States would see if it could lift the British blockade. Now, that was obviously never going to fly. I mean, Germany are not going to pull back their submarines in the middle of a war. And Britain won't lift their blockade. Yeah, exactly. It was just nonsense. It was never going to work. This led to a falling out with Brian.

Brian was not happy which way the wind was blowing. He knew that the Germans wouldn't accept this proposal. He knew it couldn't happen. And he could see the inevitable slide into the conflict. Do you think Wilson knew? Or was he grasping at straws? I think he's grasping at straws at this point, yeah. Brian suggested to Wilson,

if they were going to be truly neutral, they should object to the British blockade regardless. Let's just do it now. Britain shouldn't be doing it. We should be free to trade with whoever. Which is a very US-centric view, but I suppose he's American, so. Wilson disagreed.

So Brian, increasingly frustrated that House was actually being listened to rather than him, resigned. Essentially saying, I've never been your Secretary of State. It's been that damn house all along. I'm not doing this anymore. Yeah.

Now, this is far from ideal. It potentially would split the Democrats. Remember, Brian is the lead of the progressive faction. You don't want to annoy them. And also, the next election's coming up. However, in the end, Wilson need not have worried so much. He was nominated by the party to run for president without opposition. It was fine. So if you're an incumbent, do you need to be nominated?

Oh yeah, yeah. Almost always you're not fought against, but we've come across it a few times where the person goes to run but isn't allowed to. Off the top of my head. Arthur. That's one. He wasn't rechosen. Yeah, so he went up with no opposition. He was going to run in the

election. And the election is a two-horse race once more. One of the horses had been put down to end its suffering. Oh, it turned into glue. Yes. And that particular horse was the Progressive Party horse. Yes, Roosevelt's

party fell apart. For reasons we'll get into more in another episode I think. But yeah, the Progressive Party collapses. So the Democrats were up against the Republicans, once more familiar territory. The Democrats ran on a campaign that all centred around the fact that Wilson had kept them

out of the war. This was a popular message. Campaign slogans such as, he saved your son from being a soldier, that kind of thing. Think of all the countless lives he's saved by not getting us into the war. The Republican Party was unable to fight back against this really

especially since they were a recovering party they attempted to paint wilson for not preparing for any potential conflict enough but this only made wilson appear more anti-war yes wilson could just say why do we need to prepare we're not going war. We want to look after all the citizens of the USA. Yes. And there's no chance in hell I'm going to send American citizens over to Europe to fight in that war. Quite literally, America first, which was a campaign

slogan used. Wow. Yes. Gong. Gong. So, um, it was close, actually. Closer than perhaps the Democrats would have liked since how easily they won the last one. It often is an unaccumbered though, isn't it? Yeah.

Wilson won with 277 Electoral College votes to 254. His anti-war message meant that he was re-elected, though. That anti-war message really got through. It cut through anti-war when we're not going to war. Three months later, the US go to war. Which is an impressive turnaround in campaign promises. You could argue it's the same as, like, we're going to protect our NHS, we're not going to sell that,

and then six months later... I mean, you've got the Liberal Democrats with their tuition fees. Yes, that's true. But I'd argue entering World War I is on a different scale. You could argue that. I mean, you know, swings and roundabouts, right? Anyway, I should probably go into slightly more detail. I'm just, they entered the war.

In an attempt to break the blockade, Germany had decided to go all out with the submarines, is I believe how they put it. They were in a meeting. How about we go all out with the submarines? And everyone nodded. With our U-boats. I've been calling them submarines.

You've just thrown U-boat in there. I'm sorry. Why do we always call them the U-boats? I'm guessing there's a German name for them. Yeah, but it seems a bit odd. Bunte Wasser boat or something. It's almost as if Britain and America use submarines. Good, sensible warfare technology.

Whereas the evil Germans use U-boats. Yes. Yeah, that's what it seems like to me. Anyway. Where were we? Submarines, that was it. Germans. The German strategy was now to attack without warning any ship that they found was necessary to attack.

No more of this coming to the surface with their submarine saying, Oi, do you have any ammunition on your boat hand over certain people no it was now just attack let's just break this blockade we need to get out the blockade they knew that it would anger the united states probably even drag them into the war but germany figured they could probably break out of the blockade and win the war before the United States could mobilize. It's a long way away. Apologize and give. Yeah, exactly. Terribly sorry, didn't see your ships there. But since we're now in charge of Europe, how about a trade agreement? Yeah, exactly.

That kind of thing. And the Germans were absolutely correct. It really did anger the United States quite a bit. Wilson met with his cabinet to try and figure out what to do. Wilson really didn't want to go to war. He'd literally just spent an entire campaign based on the premise that they were not going to go to war. I mean, not only was there the human cost of Americans dying, but he had his racism to worry about as well. With all the fighting between the white nations, he said in one of these cabinet meetings to discuss what to do. Oh yeah, I'll quote, would the yellow races take advantage and attempt to subjugate the white races? He asked. I'd like to think everyone else in the cabinet pulled the face you're pulling now, Jamie, but I doubt they did.

Well, I guess as well, at this point, a lot of the news outlets were just saying, these American people have died again under the boat attack. What are we going to do? Yes. I don't know. I'm guessing the feeling at this point is actually the feeling of the American public are going, no, we need to protect ourselves yeah uh although they had won the election on let's not go to war there's only so many ships with american citizens on that being blown up can happen before public

mood turns and it turned quickly wilson formally broke diplomatic relations with Germany, but still sought a way out of the war. He said only overt acts on behalf of the Germans would drag him into the war. So they've claimed that they're going to open fire on all our ships. Well, only overt acts, only if they really do something concrete will I get dragged in. Then Germany started the overt acts, immediately sinking US vessel after US vessel, plus many others. But yeah, lots of American citizens started to die. And then, not only this, but then it came to light that Germany had been speaking to Mexico, on the down low, as it were. Germany essentially had said to Mexico, do you remember the American-Mexican war? America really did you over there, didn't they?

Would you like all that land back that you lost? Yeah. It's like, seriously, would you like New Mexico, California back? Because that's really yours, Mexico. So tell you what, how about you Because that's really yours, Mexico. So tell you what, how about you scratch our back and we scratch yours? You keep America distracted whilst we finish the war in Europe and then we'll come over and we'll invade America with you. How did Mexico respond? Because I get the feeling they just went, nah. Mexico were very busy still having their revolution.

Okay. Yeah. still having their revolution okay yeah uh literally the guy on the phone sword in hand and beating somebody off so i'd love to help it sounds very interesting but i in fact yes next person picks up the phone hello yeah you can imagine how this goes down in america i mean that's it yeah it's uh public opinion just goes full on we need to go to war now um and wilson could ignore it no longer he tried to stay out it wasn't possible any longer in april 1917 he asked congress to declare war on germany uh and from this point on wilson becomes a wartime president. The country's economy shifted rapidly.

It was very messy for the first few months because the Republican attack line during the election wasn't wrong. Wilson had not prepared for war. However, things soon start to slot into place. Taxes were hiked up dramatically for the richest in the country. We're seeing income tax here, like real income tax, for the first time. The chair of the Ways and Means Committee stated that since the eastern businesses wanted war so much, they should be the ones to pay for it.

So the rich business owners, here's some tax. But most of the money was raised using war bonds that were issued in vast quantities. So the push to develop munitions gathered steam. Employment, therefore, soared. Wages, therefore, increased. And labour disputes lessened. After a messy start, very quickly... Golden Age.

Yeah, the economy, all the problems that have been going on throughout the entire Gilded Age, it seems to have a bit of a shock and sort of jumps onto the rails and starts heading in one direction. This was aided by Wilson creating the National War Labour Board to force management

into actually settling labour disputes. We don't have time for strikes anymore. We need to do this. So if you're refusing to speak to your labourers who are striking, we will come in and we'll sort it out for you. And this is the first war for the US that's actually out of North America as well. Yeah. It's a travelling war, so you're going to have to invest.

You've got the Philippinesilippines um which is always forgotten i know what you mean though completely different scale this is much much larger i mean the mobilization was nothing short of phenomenal uh i mean the gilded age had created a deeply unfair society full of bitter bubbling resentment but it had also produced a society that was able to, if needed to, build arms for two million men and ship them halfway across the world within a year. Wow. Yeah. Capitalism certainly has its faults, but some things it does well. And this is one of them. Four million men were drafted in total. As you can imagine, the drafts don't go down too well, but we don't see anything quite like the draft riots that we saw in the Civil War.

Half of that number end up in Europe, and then half that number again end up on the front line. To aid enlistment, it was decided they needed as many men as possible. So it was decided to give Puertoerto rico citizenship which is nice there you go puerto rico we kind of invaded you not long ago uh you're now u.s citizens by the way we're conscripting at the moment so line up yeah so there you go that's how puerto rico becomes american that's nice that's insane because they're still fighting for states oh yeah i'm sure they said when they gave them citizenship a statehood is just around the corner don't worry yeah you become

you become a territory and then you become a state it's how it's always been done yeah yeah any day now any day uh the committee on public information was set up to encourage the way people perceived the war shall we say this was headed by a man named creel who used all the methods they could think of to spread pro allied propaganda although i should quote him here not propaganda as the germans define it but propaganda in the true sense of the word, meaning the propagation of faith. Oh. Or in other words, it's not propaganda when we do it, it's patriotism. Yeah. Yeah. In fact,

I've got another quote from him because I did enjoy his quotes. We did not call it propaganda, for that word in German hands had come to be associated with deceit and corruption. Our effort was educational and informative. So there you go.

It's only propaganda when the other side do it. Yeah. Yeah, we're talking posters, we're talking film adverts, obviously newspaper adverts, billboards, all sorts of stuff going up around the country. But, like I say, public support was with it, so they didn't have to push too hard. There was some worry, though, that there would be some people in the country

who weren't too happy with the way the country had been ran for quite some time. And in fact, looking over at Russia at the moment, it's like, we definitely need to squash this. So much so that the Sedition Act was also put through. Worried that the public would soon tire of this war halfway across the world, Wilson didn't want anyone bad-mouthing it. So the Sedition Act forbade the use, and I quote, of disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the United States government, its flag, or its armed forces. abusive language about the United States government, its flag or its armed forces. It also gave the Postmaster General the right to refuse to deliver anything

it felt that was covered by this. So were this act implemented in a state of emergency because that goes against the First Amendment? Well there were very very few cries of my first amendment rights because like i say the public were very much on board with the war um sure so those few who spoke against it were seen in suspicious light why why are you speaking against this you obviously want america to fail so yeah um it's surprising how little protest there was against this. And yes, it was an emergency power. We will repeal this after the war's won. Promise. Yeah. I mean, to be fair, it was.

It was repealed in 1920. But it didn't... Two years after the war, yeah. Yeah, and also there were definitely some people who wanted it to stay during peacetime. Yeah. One man named Palmer, for example, who we will come across more as we get into the Red Scares. But that's for a future episode.

Oh, no. Yeah, of course. Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah, all that's going on in America. But obviously there's a lot going on in Europe. I'm not going to cover it. Not really at all. It's just not the podcast for that

I'm going to sum up very briefly I think I can do it in you give me a timer this time do you want two minutes? no no I can do it quicker than that if I give you two minutes then I give you less of a stress ok give me two minutes you ready?

ok I'll be kind this time ok on your marks get get set, go. The influx of so many United States troops on the Allied side in 1918, approximately 10,000 a day, led to the German forces being pushed back. Several battles were won by the Allied side, to the point that the German Kaiser Wilhelm was forced to abdicate.

Germany surrounded. 30 seconds, that's pretty good. That wasn't 30 seconds. You dropped your phone and I had to pause and wait for you to pick it up again. That was quicker. Okay, okay. I could have been, yeah. Trust me, if you don't know much about World War I and you're listening

to this, you perhaps don't know how much it pains me to sum it up like this. We are completely skipping over huge, huge things like the Armenian Genocide, the Russian Revolution, the other Russian Revolution, the Arab uprising against the Ottomans, New Zealand invading Germany,

or at least an island controlled by Germany in the Pacific, Japan's role in the war, let alone all the actual fighting that happened on the Western Front. I mean, a lot happens. It's a crazy time in history, but it's not what we're focusing on. So we're just not going to. Because of the Empire building, essentially. Yes, exactly.

That's why it was considered a world war the first time. All you need to know for now is that after the German Caesar stepped down, or Kaiser as they called him for some weird reason, the Weimar Republic took its place. Yeah, it did. And they realised that they needed a way out of the war, so they started looking for one. Now, during

this time, Wilson was attempting to figure out a way to bring an end to the war. If the United States were going to be in this bloody thing, they would at least decide how it would end. In January 1918, he gave a speech outlining 14 points that countries would have to agree on for there to be peace. These 14 points are quite wordy and not easy to quote, so I'm just going to summarise them. Are you ready for the 14

points? Yeah. Imagine Wilson sitting down with all the other countries in the world. Everyone sat in a room wearing their most stereotypical outfits. Suits. Yes. Number one. First thing we need to agree on, Wilson said, no more secret pacts between countries. I'm looking at you, Germany and Mexico, he said. And Germany and Mexico looked a bit sheepish. Also, the pact between Germany, Austria, Hungary. Oh yeah, yeah. All of those that are going on. But I imagine from an American point of view, definitely that one. Number two,

the sea. No one owns it. Okay? Including wartime. I'm looking at you, Britain. Number three, free trade between all peaceful countries. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Which I imagine many in America went, what, about that one? After all the tariff happy talk that's been going on recently.

But still, free trade between everyone. Number four, we all need to agree to stop making so many weapons. Seriously, there are just too many weapons. Number five, we need to chill out with all the colonies i mean we can have them obviously because we all love a bit of colony uh but they need to be fair just don't ask what fair means because i mean that's really i don't know but that can be anything more fairness in our colonies yeah Do we all agree with that? Good.

Fairness between empires that own them. Exactly. Number six, let's leave Russia alone. They're having a few problems at the moment, but let's just leave them to sort it out, shall we? I'm sure that'll work out brilliantly. That's fine. Number seven, Belgium.

I've had a think. You get to exist, so that's fine. Number seven, Belgium. I've had a think. You get to exist. So that's nice. And Germany, get out of Belgium. Come on. Out you go. It's not yours anymore. So off you go. Good. Number eight, France. France, yes, you get all your land back. Plus you get a little bit that you've been arguing with Germany about for a while. The bit that sounds a bit like a quiche. Number nine. Wilson's just going around the countries at this point.

Italy. Italy. Yeah, you get to be Italy with the borders that you asked for before the war. That's fine. And so ends the Roman Emperor podcast. Yes. Austria-Hungary. We've had a think. you do get to stay we're a bit annoyed with you but you get to stay let's hope you stay one country eh i mean you're asking for trouble

when you've got hyphenated country yeah yeah 11 serbia oh and montenegro and romania i'm lumping you all together because i don't know where to find you on a map. But you get to be countries free from the central powers messing with you. Okay? That's what you wanted. That's what you get. Number 12. The Ottoman Empire. Sorry. Sorry, you're out.

We're going to cut you up into little bits because we can and we're going to. 13, Poland, you get to exist as well. So that's nice. And finally, number 14, and this is the big one I've been really excited to tell you all about. We're all going to join a club. Yeah. And we're all going to agree on all of these ideas that I've talked about. And it's going to be a lovely club. And it's going to be called the League of Nations. And we get badges and everything. Yes. And if you're one of the top members, you get a cape. Yes. Yes, exactly.

And if you're one of the top members, you get a cape. Yes, yes, exactly. I've already made my cape and then he got a big star and banner cape on and he jumped off the podium. Yeah, so there you go. I mean, that is in no way how his speech went in January of 1918. But I'd prefer it if it had gone that way. Those were essentially the 14 points. It's interesting because it sort of implies that the implication of that speech is just basically,

we know you're going to lose. Let's stop it now so it's not so bad in the future. Yeah, yeah. It's America being the kingmakers. That's what it is. It's Wilson saying, no, we as America are going to come over to Europe and tell you what to do. How their tables have turned.

And then he cackled. The new German government realised that it couldn't win. I mean, they're going to lose, like you say. And they saw Wilson and his 14 points, and they didn't agree with it all, but they saw it as a starting point. So they approached the United States and asked them to set up an armistice. Let's stop the fighting and let's talk through peace talks.

Let's end this. This would have been, what, like, January or February? We've moved on a bit from then. OK. Wilson talked about the 14 points for a while. I'm having to condense. Yeah. November then.

We're getting close to November, yeah. Wilson sent House to go and talk to Britain and France. Oh, I imagine that. Well, House essentially said, look, the Germans are willing to give him. So shall we sign an armistice? Britain and France weren't too keen. It's like, no, we've got them on the ropes.

We could really just really make them suffer. We could really twist the knife if we wanted to, they said whilst their eyes were twitching. Period. Yeah, but then the House said, well, if you don't join us, we're going to do it without you, so I suggest you join us. So Britain and France got on board, so I suggest you join us.

So Britain and France got on board and the armistice was signed on the 11th of November 1918, the 11th day of the 11th month. What time was it signed? No, I'm not going to say it because it's not true. That's right, at 5.45am. Oh, that's really early. Yeah, they got up at the crack of dawn for that one.

However, they said, as they signed this very important document... Let's do the photo opportunity at 11 o'clock. Yeah, well, it's just not very inspiring, is it? And look, look, said someone, some bright spark. Look, we've got two 11s. We've got, like, it's the 11th day of the 11th month. Why not keep fighting for the next five hours and 15 minutes so it will look cool in the history box?

Yeah. So the armistice was signed. Everyone carried on fighting for a few hours and then it came into effect at 11am. The estimated nearly 3,000 men who died in those hours, I'm sure, were very pleased with the roundness yeah there was a lot to just shake your head in bewilderment about world war one but this is one of the biggest ones in my mind seriously you've signed the agreement that you're going to stop

fighting but we're not going to do it yet over It's optics over morality. It's just, yeah. Still, there you go. I mean, who wants to do a minute's silence at 5.45am? It'd be easier. It would have been easier, actually, wouldn't it? Anyway, the fighting stops. 116,000 United States soldiers had been killed in the war. A horrific number, but compared to the Civil War the civil war was 620 000 so actually it was possible for wilson's government to spin it as not too bad i mean yeah pretty bad

but i mean it wasn't the civil war so uh see i've heard that spin very recently yeah it's an interesting uh perspective to uh to make though because obviously being in england being brought up in europe the two world wars are just so ingrained in our psyche over here as being the two most horrific wars in history the idea that a country could go through one of the world wars and go, oh, that wasn't as bad as the other one we had not long ago. It's like, wow. You really don't get a sense in Europe how bad the American Civil War was. No, you really don't. Anyway, so Armistice is signed.

Fighting stops. It's time to talk peace. So Wilson heads to Europe to discuss peace. He'd be there for the next six months he'd take a two-week holiday back in america during that but for half a year he's in europe and obviously this is where the famous treaty of the side takes place although only the end signing took place in the side uh or the discussion took place in Paris. So Wilson spent most of his time in Paris talking with lots of people from all over the world, obviously, but mainly with the other three who became known as the Big Four, the leaders of France, Britain, and Italy. So they start talking

peace, and Wilson's 14 points is what's put on the table to begin with. Let's start here and see where we can go. The 14 points were met with less than enthusiasm from the rest of the leaders from the Allied side. Wilson, in fact, soon got the nickname Jesus because everyone thought he was just walking around thinking he was brilliant and talking about world peace all the bloody time. Yeah.

Yeah. Bloody Americans swanning over here was essentially the attitude. Taking our time. Yeah. Yeah. Bloody Americans swanning over here was essentially the attitude. Taking our jobs. Yeah. Apparently the British and French prime ministers would exchange looks whenever Wilson went off on one of his idealistic rants. They'd just kind of look at each other, oh god he's going off again. Yeah, Wilson was hell-bent on his proposed idea of a League of Nations. That was his big idea. It would establish a world peace.

Everyone would agree to it. No more fighting. A league where all the nations involved would look after each other, defend each other, and generally be very nice to each other. Now, as you can imagine, it's a lot harder to just set up a League of Nations than it is to say, let's set up a League of Nations. And lots of discussion goes into it. I simply can't go into it all, but one bit stood out to me that I'm going to relate to you. At one point, Japan suggested a racial equality clause be added. If we're all going to be in this league together, can we get it down in writing that all races are equal?

Oh, I can imagine that was vetoed straight away absolutely not well wilson wasn't too keen on the idea um he wasn't there at the time it was another uh u.s representative but yeah the u.s negotiator pointed out that this would be too much for britain to accept so they should possibly leave it to one side for now which is just genius we're not racist but britain definitely are so let's just let's just not talk about it and it also holds up to scrutiny as well yeah yeah it was it was an amazing diplomatic move so yeah it was put to one side then wilson became ill. Flu. There was a fair amount of it about. In 1918? We're in 1919 now but yes. Yeah we uh well actually the height of the uh global flu pandemic of uh 1918 had passed. Incidentally killing more people than had died in the war. Yeah. Uh but I mean there's still a fair

amount of it about. Those around Wilson didn't use the word flu, and they tried to play it down. They were so successful, in fact, that it's still very much debated on whether he had the Spanish flu or not. We just don't know, but it seems more than likely. Yeah, so for a while, Wilson was just not able to join in the peace discussions. But eventually, he managed to drag himself back to work, just in time for Japan to put forth the idea of racial equality once more. It's like, well, you said let's put it to one side, and we did, but we as Japan are sitting around a table with a lot of white nations. We quite like it in writing that we are equal.

I'm not saying that you try anything, but I like it in writing, was essentially what's going on wilson was chairing this meeting and uh it went to a vote there were 11 voters nine voted for a racial equality clause two voted against oh it's gonna be us and uk isn't it no no it's the united states and pol, interestingly. Oh. Wilson ruled that the motion had not passed because it was not unanimous. I would argue it was. Well, I mean, it wasn't, but, I mean, the majority certainly was there.

The United States delegate who was actually voting, remember, Wilson was chairing it, so you had another United States representative in there. actually voting. Remember, Wilson was chairing it, so you had another United States representative in there. He criticised Wilson afterwards for not arguing against racial equality enough. I'll quote, he did not show as much courage as I would have hoped for in resisting the amendment. So the US delegate was arguing that Wilson wasn't being racist enough. Yeah, Wilson tried to reassure those who had voted for it. There was a room full of people going, no, I really think this clause should be in there.

And Wilson said, the league is obviously based on the principle of equality between nations. So much so, we don't need to put it in writing and sign our names against it. Yeah. Interesting. Overall, however, the 14 points provided the backbone for the peace talks, and it did a good job. Wilson was forced to compromise in several areas, obviously. The Allied forces in Europe, in particular, were determined that Germany would pay for the war.

Quite literally. Europe was a mess. Someone needed to pay to clean this up so germany uh were essentially given a big bill to pay in large installments for many many years and i'm sure they'll do that and no one will get really annoyed and refuse to do it shortly in the future yeah of course yeah yeah be fine yeah so the document was finally drawn up. At that point, Germany were invited to have a look at it, and they agreed. Short version of that. The war was officially over. Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts,

which is nice. Yes. However, when Wilson headed home, he had a much harder task than restoring peace in Europe, because he had to get the united states congress to ratify the treaty essentially america were not going to join the league of nations until congress had agreed to do it yeah wilson can just say i've invented this club so now we're joining it doesn't work like that it'd be so easy for the the opposition to just say yeah but you

know we're taking away control and power. Yeah, you've got it exactly. The Democrats were mostly in favour of the treaty, understandably. It was their president who created it. However, the Republicans fell into largely two groups. Group one, I'm not too sure about this. And group two, no. Wilson had a lot of work to do. He had to sway a lot of those I'm not too sure about this people over. The no faction were essentially saying, as you just alluded to, we don't want to lose any control over what we do as America.

If we sign up to this and, for example, Britain gets attacked, we're automatically going to get drawn into it. because one of the stipulations in the League of Nations is that all the countries will defend all members in the League of Nations. American autonomy. They were not keen. So Wilson went on tour trying to attempt the public to get behind him and therefore convince the senators to back him. All of this took place in the backdrop of the race riots that started.

Oh yes, this is again something I hope to cover more in season two, but this is the summer that became known as the Red Summer, which might give you an indication of how fun it was. To sum up very briefly, due to the amount of men being sent abroad to fight and increasing job opportunities, many black families started moving north. There were jobs up there, and in theory, less racism. So why not let's move up north? Yeah, they soon realised that there was just as much racism up north. Anti-slavery doesn't mean anti-racist. That was just as much racism up north. Anti-slavery doesn't mean anti-racist.

Anyway, the influx of black men into traditionally majority white workforces led to tensions, as you can imagine, especially when the black workers were starting to be used to break up strikes. So you'd get white workers striking for better pay and then watching as groups of black men worked in to do the jobs. On top of this, because believe me, it's a powder keg, it's not just that, the first Red Scare starts up. As we've seen, there were already worries of worker uprisings over the last few decades that we've covered,

and the Russians have just had a revolution and then another revolution. And there were many leaders in America who feared a far-left uprising. We've been treating our working class like utter dirt for decades. There's a good chance they're actually quite annoyed. In fact, who's going to be the most annoyed? Who is the most likely to lead a far-left revolution against the United States? Well, Wilson himself had an idea. I'll quote him here. The American Negro returning from abroad will be our greatest medium in conveying Bolshevism to America.

So, yeah, it's the black soldiers coming back. They probably got lefty ideas. Oh, no. Yeah, so those tensions were thrown on top. You're just amplifying the racism again. Don't worry, there's more. There's more. More on the powder keg.

Oh, thank goodness. Yeah, because speaking of those black soldiers returning home, they'd gone through hell fighting. World War I, notoriously unpleasant. So I've heard. Yeah, they came back home to find that they were second-class citizens in the country that they had literally been fighting for uh i mean this is obviously something that they'd already always known

but they were just even more angry about it now yeah it's like why have i been fighting and dying in a trench for this country when i can't even go and use the same bathroom as that person over there. Then there's more. Because The Birth of the Nation was quite a hit, shall we say, in certain areas. So much so that a lot of people got ideas from the film and the second Ku Klux Klan rose. Yeah, Grant did a good job at just squashing the first one, but it's back. And this time, unlike

last time, feel free to picture the robes and the hoods because yeah, that's where we are. So yeah, there you go. All that's going on. Race riots all over the country. They pop up all over the place. They're all sparked off by different events, different catalysts. But they're all caused by the racism in the country. They pop up all over the place. They're all sparked off by different events, different catalysts,

but they're all caused by the racism in the country. I'll choose one out of many for an example, just so we get a sense of what's going on. Chicago. A black youth swam into a white only section of the bay.

So, white people nearby threw stones at him until he drowned. Yeah, the Chicago police force did the only sensible thing, which was refuse to arrest the murderers. So fighting broke out, rioting started, 38 people died, over a thousand homes belonging to the black community were burnt down. Wilson ordered in the National Guard. All over the country the National Guard was brought in, including the National Mall. Lincoln Memorial was surrounded by troops. If you could imagine such a scene, very hard to imagine. Yes. A hundred years ago, Jamie, how has nothing changed? It's a hundred years.

Almost dead on. I just can't comprehend it. Yeah. Anyway, Wilson, like I say though, was far more interested in promoting the United States' entry into the League of Nations than to deal with this. The States can deal with this. I'll send in the National Guard if I need to, but he really doesn't really get involved in it at all. But just know that's going on in the background. But Wilson's on his tour. Let's join the club. But it took a toll on him. Wilson's starting to get on in age, and he's never been the most healthy of men.

He was exhausted when he got back to the White House after an extensive tour. And then one morning, Edith noticed that Wilson's arm was just hanging limply by his side. He asked Edith to rub it, and then she helped him to get to the bathroom. But as they went, Wilson collapsed. The family doctor was called for. Dr. Grayson arrived as quickly as he could, diagnosed the situation quickly. Wilson had suffered from a severe stroke. He was paralyzed down his left side for the rest of his life. He could only see partially out of his right eye. He was in a serious way. For weeks he lay in bed recovering, prone to, and I quote, disorders of emotion, impaired impulse control, and

defective judgment. A series of phrases that you want to hear about your president. Yeah. Oh, good. Not good timing. I mean, it's never good timing, having a stroke. But at this time, Wilson was trying his hardest to get the United States to join the League of Nations.

The Senate had actually accepted to join with a few amendments. A couple of changes here and there. Wilson was advised that a compromise was the only way to get this through. If you want America in the League of Nations, you've got to agree with this. It was Cabot Lodge, the Republican we've come across before, who had put in the amendments. And Wilson was not best pleased. Let Lodge compromise, came the grumpy reply when he was told that he would have to compromise.

The reply came to him, well Lodge must compromise also, but we might as well hold out the olive branch. There was a pause and then Wilson very grumpily replied, let Lodge hold out the olive branch. He's just sulking now. Oh yes, very much so. The ratification fell apart. The United States do not join the League of Nations that their president had won a Nobel Peace Prize setting up. That must be politically very embarrassing. Yeah.

Next election's coming up, though. A recent world war, global pandemic, national race riots, fear of a communist revolution, and nationwide strikes were all being swirled around America at this point, and the president was incapacitated. Wilson was slowly, slowly, slowly getting better, so therefore expressed his interest in running for a third term. He was told very gently but firmly, no, no, Mr President, you're in a bad way. Yeah. We need something else.

You can't even hold a pen. And this is a kind of environment, you know, in 100 years, this kind of situation would never happen. Yeah, exactly. If this much crap's going on, you need a president who's really with it, Mr President. That is vitally important in these kind of situations.

So, going up to the next election, the Republicans, knowing that in a year's time there'd be a podcast done by people with a very juvenile sense of humour, selected a man named Cox to run.

President Cox. Yeah, Cox went up against Harding in the 1920 election. Oh, oh. Yeah. Unfortunately, genuinely one of the great tragedies of US history is that Cox loses and we don't get President Cox. Unfortunately not. Anyway, Wilson never recovers.

His health was poor. He attempts to set up a law firm interestingly, even though he always hated the idea. He never ever wanted to do that. And obviously he couldn't do it. His health deteriorated and he died three years later. And that's

Wilson. Thought that's Wilson. Thoughts on Wilson before we rate him? I didn't know much about his political views. Well, no, not political views. His racism. Yeah. Yeah, that was a bit of a horrible surprise. Yeah.

What an arse. Bit like when you put your foot in your shoe and you go, oh, no, there's a stone in here, and then you realise it's not a stone, it's a beetle. Oh, yeah, or a moth. Oh, yeah. Or a racist president. Big shoes. Wilson, what are you doing in there?

Right, let's rate him, shall we? Statesmanship! Okay, statesmanship. Tale of! Okay, uh, statesmanship. A tale of two halves, really, I'd say. Let's start with the home front, shall we? His four-point plan was the start of some truly progressive ideas that genuinely improved the lives of many Americans. The Federal Reserve was set up during this time. The introduction of income tax stabilised and made America fairer

instead of this reliance of tariffs all the time. I mean, there was no doubt at all that he improved American society for many. This was a good direction America started going in after decades of Gilded Age. But it might have been a better society for many, but it certainly wasn't a better society for many, but it certainly wasn't a better society for all. Now, obviously, we're getting to his racism in Disgracegate, because that's personal, but it does actually need to be discussed here, because it bled into his policy. Despite the hopes of many in the black population, Wilson turned out not to be the next Lincoln,

and like I mentioned earlier, promoted segregation in his departments. Under him, post offices became segregated, as did many other governmental departments, separate break rooms, bathrooms, offices. Upon receiving criticism for this, Wilson simply stated that his plans for a new freedom were, and I quote, as far as possible from being a movement against the Negroes. I'm the least racist person you know, he said. Yeah, he just denied it. I'm not racist. He also did next to nothing to help with the race riots. He sent in some troops, but I mean, he did nothing to actually try and solve the problem. So that's the home front. I mean, some genuinely good things

there. Some genuinely bad things there. It's a tricky one. There we go abroad. Creating the League of Nations. I mean, that's a big one. I mean, it didn't work. The League of Nations just fell apart completely. But it was a genuine attempt.

How many people in history can claim to have come that close to achieving world peace? Not many. That's true. You can argue it was never going to work, but you've got to try. And he did. Genuinely try. And he got quite far. So that's not to be scoffed at.

Except he didn't allow Asian people to be part of it. Oh, he allowed them to be part. He just wasn't prepared to put down in writing that he thought they were equal to him. Yeah. Yeah. And then, of course, as you're going on to the bad, the whole Banana Republic thing starts to hot up in this time.

That's not great. I mean, you can argue this isn't necessarily straightforward uh american government policy uh but it is a byproduct of it it's the companies in america have become so powerful they can pretty much now take over countries that's what's going on well i say you can't imagine that now but actually yeah you really can economic invasion that's what's starting and then you got all the stuff in mexico um to be honest it was a bit dodgy for a while but he pulled back from it so it's not the worst thing in the world. It was a tricky situation with Mexico. I'm not sure whether to give positive or negative for that, to be honest,

so I'm just going to leave it. I'm just going to mention a couple of landmark amendments that go through during his term, but he had little to do with them, so I left them out, but we need to know about them. Didn't know where to put them, so I'm putting them here. Just know the 18th and the 19th amendments have just gone through. Which are? Well, good news and bad news.

Good news, women can now vote. Bad news, no one can have a drink to celebrate. Then what's the point, Rob? The temperance movement and the suffragette movement is all going on in the background throughout this, and there's just no time to go into it. again season two we certainly will be and wilson didn't have much

to do with this uh he didn't have many opinions on the suffragette movement despite his daughters being very pro and the temperance movement he wasn't too bothered either so as it had little to do with him and had more to do with Congress. I've just left it out. But obviously it's important. We need to know they've happened. Sorry, I missed out one of the bad things. The Sedition Act. Sedition Acts are always a bit dodgy.

I mean, you can argue why they're needed in a time of war, but he did get rid of the First Amendment for a while there. Yes, he did. But like I say, it came back. So yeah, it's fine. I don't know. This is a while there. Yes, he did. But, like I say, it came back. So, yeah, it's fine. I don't know. This is a tricky one.

If you took away the Banana Republic-y stuff and the segregation stuff and just looked at the positives, I'd be saying 10. There was some amazingly good stuff there. League of Nations bringing peace at the end of World War I. I mean, that is huge.

And then, actually, good stuff at home as well. But, I mean, he also did some awful stuff. Mainly because he just didn't care about it enough to do anything about it, and he was racist. This one's a tough one. I think, then, we need to go five. I think he's got slightly more positives than negatives. Although the negatives are gut-wrenchingly bad.

I'm going to go for six. It's a shame because he was a potential ten and his racism got in the way. Right, next. Disgracegate. He proposed to his cousin. I thought about that. Yeah, he did.

And she was like, no. That's the light-hearted disgracegate that I'm here that. Yeah, he did. And she was like, no. That's the lighthearted disgrace gate that I'm here for. Yeah. Yeah, let's just forget about the rest. Let's focus on that. Yeah, and then the rest. So much racism, Jamie, so much.

I mean, he wasn't writing it down and publishing it like Jefferson did or ruling over an entire group of islands like a great white saviour like Taft did. But oh, oh, he's full on racist. I'd argue he is the most racist president we have had since Johnson. And it's not racism because he owns slaves and he grew up with that mentality. This is racism on, I think, down to black people. No, remember his family didn't own slaves because the church lent them off their parishioners. Ugh.

Yeah. Yeah. That's worse though because he's just in his head. Yeah. Yeah. Let's not forget he didn't want black people in princeton he just said it's a moot point there's no point discussing this because no black person would ever want to come to princeton was essentially his attitude he did not want black people in

government um or at least he wanted them separated and segregated uh, again, we come down to this idea of separating slavery and racism and how they're so intertwined in American history. It's hard to separate them. But slavery's off the cards now, but the racism is very, very, very much so there. And... Let's continue from that. I would argue that Wilson, in spending his life using his power to oppress citizens of his own country, is worse than being born into a family that owns slaves and then doing everything you can to try and move away from that, which we've seen before.

Even though technically at one point you owned a slave. Let's take Grant, for example. So I'm willing to go fairly high with this I'm gonna go for Seven. I'm not gonna go into the full marks because he doesn't have any other real scandal stories around him I'm gonna match your score if that's okay. So it's minus 14. Minus 14. It's not doing too well is it? Let's see if the next round he can score some points Silver screen Silver screen Minus 14. He's not doing too well, is he? Let's see if the next round he can score some points. Silver screen.

Silver screen. He saw the war as a boy. Or rather, he saw a southern church with some soldiers in it. He went to school. He went to another school. He proposed to his cousin. He went to another school. He got married.

He went to another school. He taught at a school. He taught at another school. He taught at a school. He taught at another school. He taught at another school. He became president of a school. He became the governor and then the president. He tried to stay out of the world war. He entered the world war. He attempted to establish world peace and then he had a stroke and then died. Two. I mean maybe maybe I'm being a bit flippant here but I mean his entire life was just studying and teaching. Yeah. And don't get me wrong I'm being a bit flippant here, but his entire life was just studying and teaching. Yeah.

And don't get me wrong, I'm a teacher. There's nothing wrong with being a teacher, but I'm not expecting anyone to make a podcast about me in the future. And if they do, I'm not expecting to score high on silver screen, unless I do something just crazy. It's not good, is it? No. No.

I'm giving it a two. Two. I'm agreeing just crazy. It's not good, is it? No. No. I'm giving it a two. Two. I'm agreeing with you. Two. Inversibility. Okay. There he is. Pretty standard.

It's gone almost old school with the curtain in the background, the big wooden chair. Yeah, we've got some more red. Book, yeah. It's got his sort of fluffy tie. And a nice waistcoat he's got on there yeah a red book gray trousers though that's that's a very like end victorian it's very of this era you wear your gray pinstripe trousers and a black morning coat he does look like he needs to get up

he doesn't look comfortable yeah it's like's like, oh, sorry, I've got to go. I've got to go and be racist somewhere. And try and establish world peace. Because that's what I do. Racist hemorrhoids. Yeah. Fairly good painting. But does he look like

a president or does he just look like a head teacher? Oh, he looks like a head teacher does he just look like a headteacher? Oh, he looks like a teacher. Yeah, he does, doesn't he? By an absolute mile. Looks like a Victorian schoolmaster because he was a Victorian schoolmaster. I'm going middle of the road. I'm going five.

I'm going four. Okay, that is 2.25. Terms, two. That's two points there. No one tried to knock him off, so no points for assassination. And just one point for election. He almost got two, but he didn't quite make it.

His second election pulled him down. Remember the first one, he won in an absolute landslide because the Republican Party fell apart. The second election was actually really close. So he just misses his two points there. So there you go. What's his score? 6.2

6.25 to the president who led America through World War I and established the League of Nations. Shouldn't have been a boring racist, should he? There you go. Last question, though.

American or American? Reasons for, obviously, we've already discussed this, League of Nations is a huge thing. Perhaps if America had actually joined it, you could argue. That's not his fault, though. No, but he is not an interesting enough person for me to do it.

That is true. I mean, historically, a lot of things are new and, you know, USA is now a global power. I power i mean it was before but now it's like we changed the tide of the war sort of power um yeah no i have to agree no as well but i you say yes you could debate you could debate it no oh yeah you could definitely debate it uh but i'm i'm just not going to yeah i'm just gonna say no uh it's if he if he had a fascinating life story you could maybe overlook his shortcomings yeah but he he's just not interesting and he was not a pleasant person well there we go so no sorry wilson you're not getting it no to you. There we go. Oh, well.

We are now in the modern era, Jamie. Yeah, we are. We are officially scary. Right, OK. Well, I hope you enjoyed that episode. Next up, Harding. Looking forward to him? He's made me learn he's hilarious. He is.

Yes. Yeah, I think there's a couple of things you'll like about Harding. Warren Harding. Yes. Yeah. I think there's a couple of things you'll like about Harding. Warren Harding. Yes. Yeah. Okay, then. Thank you very much for listening. Don't forget you can download some popping on iTunes.

And until next time, then, goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Ah, I see you've got my list. Yes, your 72-point plan. Indeed it is, 72 solid gold points. Oh yes, that is the title solid gold points for world peace um yes i was just thinking that 72 is a lot i mean your four point plan brilliant that that opened your presidency with a with a bang four points here are four points that's what we're going to get done. 72? Well, I wanted to be, you know, concise. Did you mean there was a longer one?

Oh, yes. Right. There's my 582-point plan, but I thought I'd narrow it down somewhat. Okay, well, I think we might need to get the old editing scissors out a bit more, because I'll be honest, though, I'm not entirely sure all of these are needed. Fine house, what do you recommend? I mean, what's this one? Free ice cream to everyone? You know, world peace, everyone loves ice cream.

Cheers everyone right up. And how are you going to source all the kittens? Well, we'll make some sort of agreement with, I don't know, Africa or something. Oh, okay. I mean, some of these you get strangely specific with certain countries. I mean, points 39 through 54, you are just listing countries and saying yes and no next to them. Oh, that depends on whether they have...

Yes, I've seen the correlation, sir. Yes, I have.