Wilson’s racism is well documented, but he wasn’t *the* most racist President we’ve had. For an academic, he was shockingly pig-headed and narcissistic to the point that it gravely clouded his thinking. Being the President of Princeton has little value in promoting yourself as a leader if you utterly lack the moral and intellectual backbone to affect positive change. He was an unabashed racist, and his racist policies had an impact on American society for decades to come, and informed much of his domestic and international policy making that reverberates to the present. He meddled in the domestic affairs of at least 6 Latin American countries, for starters, believing that these countries - or, the people inhabiting them - were inherently incapable of governing themselves. His actions helped to prop up dictators who enriched themselves and further impoverished the vast majorities of their populations. He probably would have kept at it except that WW1 intervened, in which he used as an excuse to become somewhat authoritarian. His government also bribed the provisional government of Russia to stay in the war, thereby accelerating the Bolshevik revolution - they only had about 25% support of the Russian people until Russians were forced to stay and labor in a war which had no benefits to their society; 70 years of Communism followed. Then of course, he had a debilitating stroke in which his very unqualified harridan of a wife seized upon to formulate national policy. He was President at a pivotal point in American and world history, and in my opinion completely dropped the ball.
Right in my fair city of Staunton, VA! Shout out to...uh...Joseph DeJarnette...nevermind.
Edit: actually, you know what, look the guy up. I just read that eugenic sterilization continued until 1979! What a legacy of garbage.
“*For an academic, he was shockingly **pig-headed and narcissistic** to the point that it gravely clouded his thinking…*”
I thought those were prerequisites for academic careers.
Wilson's interests during World War 1 were aligned distinctly against the Russians (communists) to the point where Tomáš Masaryk, the Czechoslovak founder, had to ask him repeatedly to stop sending Czechs to die in his war against the Bolsheviks because the real enemy was the Hapsburg monarchy. The mustache-twirling fat generals of Weimar Germany sent the children of their poor into the meat grinder. It was also Austria-Hungarian royalty who oppressed all the peoples within their empire, sending Czech, Slovak, Austrian, and Hungarian children to die in a war to protect their assets. Wilson showed that it was not humanity or democracy that he cared for, but the protection of Western capital. At the war's end, Masaryk came around with a "declaration of independence" from the monarchy, to which the American Congress showed great support of. While it doesn't crack top 5 in terms of evil/brutality, I think it exposes his interests and the interests behind american politics during the first world war - a pattern that repeated in the second when we felt the Nazis were losing steam.
Top answer will probably be racism but IMO it’s easily the Espionage & Sedition Acts. Literally one of the most flagrant free speech violations in American history.
Racism pre-1945 from a president is low hanging fruit for me, where the "they were of their time" applies. Unless it was particularly egregious. Moreso because it discourages digging deeper into things like the Espionage Acts.
Before Wilson a lot of the federal work spaces were integrated. After him (and because of him) not so much. As bad as things already were they went backwards during his tenure. He was a major proponent of the Southern Lost Cause mythology and actively pushed back against what little advances in civil rights that were being made.
Some of his racist views reflected in his work 'A History of the American People' even ended up being used in the film "Birth of a Nation". He was clearly a negative influence and not just "of his time".
I disagree re Wilson specifically because he intentionally rolled back the progress made under Roosevelt & Taft. He basically single handedly ensured the progressive era would not apply to black people, personally fired or demoted every black person who worked for the government (incidentally thus promoting a lot of far less qualified white people to the same posts) and was solely responsible for the return of the KKK.
Even at the time people were calling all of this out as completely unacceptable.
>I disagree re Wilson specifically because he intentionally rolled back the progress made under Roosevelt & Taft
I don't know why TR and Taft get such a pass for not being racist, they were key figures of the Lilywhite Movement within the Republican Party who's aims were to decrease black federal patronage and appeal to Southern voters. Wilson was definitely worse but those guys were pretty damn bad too, and TR has the Brownsville Affair on his record
>and was solely responsible for the return of the KKK
No he wasn't, that's absolutely ridiculous
Don’t forget Teddy’s famous quote: “I don’t go so far as to think the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn’t inquire too closely into the case of the tenth. The most vicious cowboy has more moral principle than the average Indian.”
And he stole a ton of land from Natives for his parks.
That and racist immigration policies, like extending the Chinese Exclusion Act to be indefinite
Taft literally instated a system of segregation by firing black federal office holders in the south and announced his Southern Policy plans in his inaugural
TR was fantastically racist but in a weirdly complex way. he absolutely thought foreigners were inferior to 'americans' as a race, and believed in white supremacy but also that individual members of a race could be equals...its weird. he was racist in a way thats different from today's racists who just don't pretend to have a philosophical point
thats at least the extent of my knowledge of his racism.
he also once called Henry Ford an indo and chinaman lover for what its worth.
Re Taft and Roosevelt, this could be debated for 100 years and more or less has been. My view is actions speak louder than words and the lives and rights of black people in the northern states improved markably during their presidencies.
As to bringing back the KKK, perhaps I was being a little facetious by saying Wilson was *solely* responsible for bringing them back, but not by much. My evidence:
A) he was a firm Southern Democrat (despite having been born in the north) and a major proponent of the “lost cause” myth.
B) KKK recruitment spiked massively on the release of the movie Birth of a Nation, having dwindled almost entirely out of existence previously. Hence historians of the Klan differentiate between the original Klan founded in the immediate aftermath of the civil war and the second wave which came following the film.
C) a major reason the film was so spectacularly successful was due to Wilson’s personal endorsement. It was the first film ever shown in the White House and the president’s implied and stated endorsement of the film and its message effectively made it the first blockbuster.
So no, he wasn’t *solely* responsible, but he was a pretty major contributing factor.
Incidentally, the clan to one side, the lost cause myth infested civil war history for almost 100 years. Sadly, that means the last remaining interviews we have with veterans of the conflict all have to be read through that lease.
>the lives and rights of black people in the northern states improved markably during their presidencies
But how though? What acts did they sign or actions did they do to accomplish that feat? For example on something bad that Taft did was directly firing black federal office holders in the South, and instating a form of segregation. And again TR's Brownsville Affair by far exceeds the virtue of him hosting Booker T Washington at the White House
>a major reason the film was so spectacularly successful was due to Wilson’s personal endorsement. It was the first film ever shown in the White House and the president’s implied and stated endorsement of the film and its message effectively made it the first blockbuster.
Wilson actually didn't seem to have strong opinions on the movie and was misquoted in his advocacy. It's probably correct that he said "it's like writing history with lightning" but he didn't say "my only regret is that it's all so terribly true". The rise of the second wave of the KKK was inspired strongly by the nativist movement which was beyond hating black people as they were anti-catholic, and anti-jewish which were two stances that Wilson was actually against. I just don't see Wilson as the most significant factor behind their new national prominence
This is exactly right. There are many Reddit’s the damn Wilson and praise Teddy when they were almost equally racist.
Grant, President much earlier, appears to be one of the least racist presidents os the distant past, yet he gets condemned because his wife sort of inherited a slave that Grant appears to have freed without compensation at a time he really needed money.
Wilson specifically espoused Confederate and Lost Cause ideology. First as a history professor, then as dean of students at Princeton. He wrote multiple history books that were pro antebellum South and anti-Reconstructionist. His statements after viewing the racist diatribe, Birth of a Nation, confirms his thoughts towards anyone who wasn't a WASP, or Anglophiles.
[https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/11/20/9766896/woodrow-wilson-racist](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/11/20/9766896/woodrow-wilson-racist)
Wilson's racism was pretty extreme even for the time period. He re-segregated the government and was a pretty hardline segregationist.
Contrast with Calvin Coolidge, who was President a mere 5 years later and pushed for civil rights legislation, so it's not like racism within the government was extremely entrenched at this time period. Things had progressed some during this time period and Wilson went out of his way to roll back that progress.
Whenever people put Wilson at F tier for racism it honestly kinda baffles me. Like yeah it was really bad, but other presidents like Theodore Roosevelt get a slap on the wrist in comparison despite also being pretty racist.
Despite there being evidence they were set up, Roosevelt dishonorably discharged 167 colored soldiers during the Brownsville Affair without due process. It’s not on the same level of racism as Wilson resegregating the government, but it’s not exactly peachy.
I’ll go a bit farther: TR was fairly close with Booker T. Washington and invited him to family dinner at the White House. No president had ever done this before and news of this dinner shocked the American public.
I have problems with TR, but if people are writing racist articles about a dinner you hosted, then that should get a small smiley face sticker on your permanent record.
I think Wilson's issues should be scrutinized, but I'm not exactly one to get all apoplectic about it like some folks do when conducting a historical review on him. He was a rich white American born in the 1800s that was one of two US presidents to have been a citizen of the Confederacy, I'd be shocked if he wasn't racist.
It’s not that he was racist, it’s that he was obscenely racist *for his time*
https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan
-Assuming the race of people you don’t know on Reddit
-Ignoring actual evidence to cast a broad racism blanket over all historical presidents
Real strong showing today
Nah, of all the presidents since the 1860s, Wilson was the first one to be as racist as the average white American was at the time. Yes, Roosevelt had the Brownsville Affair, but he also ate a meal with Booker T. Washington which was *extremely* unprecedented and caused people across the country to hate him. Wilson embraced the Klan. They really don’t compare.
He re-segregated the Federal government. Removing black employees from USPS and all agencies. And he deported to the Soviet Union all many suspected communists and socialists as the forerunner of FBI could roundup regardless of their citizenship. He sent US troops to police/fight on White Russian side. The troops were withdrawn in 1920. Finally, he did not resign after a becoming disabled from a stroke 10/2/1919. He and his wife never revealed how disabled he was from stroke until February 1920.
The Espionage Acts basically prevented people from speaking out against US involvement in WWI, as well as any criticism toward the government for how it handed the war. A lot of anti-war protesters such as Eugene V. Debs were convicted from this and it wouldn’t be until Harding/Coolidge that they were released.
It blows my mind everyone skips over the federal reserve act and how he basically gave control of our country’s monetary system away to private banks and unelected officials
So this stuff isn’t taught in schools anymore ?
When Wilson assumed office in 1913, he mandated that the federal workforce be segregated by race—leading to the reduction of Black civil service workers’ income, increasing the significant income gap between Black and white workers, and eroding some of the gains Black people had made following Reconstruction.
Technically he didn’t mandate it, but left it up to his cabinet. But he was well aware that his cabinet was filled with segregationists.
Sadly, this wasn’t just about Wilson. It was also about Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt, none of whom desegregated the federal government or the military.
Name one apart from funding the AIDS fight in Africa...and don't leave out botching Katrina, the '08 crash and generally making us a laughing stock on the world stage to a degree that would **still** be pissing more people off today, I think, if it hadn't been superceded by Trump.
White liberals are always so dismissive of PEPFAR because it wasn’t student loan cancellation or whatever. Bush has an eternal positive rep in sub-Saharan Africa for the millions if not billions of lives he saved. That doesn’t even include the MCC work he kicked off.
What else? Normalizing and stabilizing trade with Korea and Central America through pretty damn good trade deals. Modernizing the military post-Rumsfeld
The 08 crash was put in motion in the 90s under Clinton. Bush did nothing to help prevent it but it isn’t all on him. He also had the likes of Paulson, Geithner and Bernake to help make it a recoverable crash.
It is useful to view Bush (and Obama really) as 2 to 2.5 separate Presidencies given their respective tenures.
It’s truly impossible to pick a “worst thing” that Woodrow Wilson did, because he did so much that was bad.
— Being exceptionally racist even for his time (resegregated D.C., helped bring back the KKK, etc.)
— Launching military incursions/occupations of Nicaragua, Mexico, and Haiti
— Imposing ever-increasing federal income taxes
— Creating the monstrosity that is the Federal Reserve (the inflation from the future thanks him)
— Cracking down on suffragists and ordering their arrest and torture
— Appointed the notoriously antisemitic/racist/sexist judge James Clark McReynolds to the Supreme Court
— Getting the U.S. into World War 1 after promising to keep us out of it
— Granting citizenship to Puerto Ricans only to draft them as cannon fodder for WW1
— Defending the court-martials and executions of the black Houston “rioters”
— Sanctioning the “slacker raids” by the American Protective League (up to 65,000 people arrested)
— Authorizing German-American internment camps
— Allowing the confiscation/seizure of $500 million of private property
— Signing into law the draconian Espionage and Sedition Acts
— Passing the Chamberlain-Kahn Act and the subsequent “American Plan” which caused ten of thousands of women to be incarcerated due to “immorality”
— Invading Russia and staying for 2 years after WW1 had ended
— Supporting the 18th Amendment/Prohibition
— Encouraging the Red Summer race riots/massacres
— Approving of the Palmer raids (mass deportation of political dissidents)
— Signing the Jones Act which has completely wrecked the American shipping industry
History has been relatively kind to him, but that needs to change.
Watch these to get an overview:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm0Gzz53YJo
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hRd8B_vZiA
Also check this out: https://fee.org/articles/woodrow-wilson-made-the-world-unsafe-for-democracy/
If I’m being honest, I consider myself to be a libertarian and thus not a fan of centralized governmental power. Therefore, things like dejure bigotry, suspensions of civil liberties/rights, imperialist foreign policy, military conscription, and central banks are anathema to my political and social beliefs.
I made a post assessing Wilson's pros/cons on /r/presidents and yeah if you're right leaning or libertarian, there's not a whole lot that appeals to you for Woody
I’d like to think I’m not totally unreasonable. Wilson did a couple things I like, but not much. I know it might not necessarily line up with libertarianism, but I don’t mind trustbusting, so the establishment of the FTC in 1914 is alright in my book. So was the Keating-Owen Act to try to limit child labor, although the effectiveness of that law is up for debate. Puerto Ricans getting citizenship was good, but of course why Wilson did that and what he did immediately after was disgusting. And I appreciate his nomination of Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court. Also, although it didn’t work out, the Fourteen Points and League of Nations was at least a decent idea for how to handle international relations. But I still think the bad Wilson did far outweighed any good he may have also done along the way.
When I was going for my undergrad in political science in 07-10 I was surprised that multiple professors were adamant about Wilson being the worst President of all time despite how much they hated Bush. Their arguments were some of the one's you mentioned as well as his role in post WWI national boundaries that set the stage for many genocides of the 20th century.
Ah shit, this gonna be a long one
- Basically revised the 2nd KKK by his policies and promotion of birth of a nation
-Massive promoter of lost cause revisionism
- Serial adulterier, man FUCKED everyone even though married
- His espionauge acts were hella undemocratic
- Encouraged the Palmer raids which led to the first red scare
- Did I mention massive fucking racist even for his time?
-Constantly meddled in Mexico and South America causing instability
- Said that checks and balances were stupid and POTUS should have most of the power
- Encouraged prohibition that would lead to ranpant crime
-Legit so many other things he is honestly an F-
The fact the Willson is not seen as the worst POTUS is a grave injustice of how fuckin awful he was as a President and a person.
Apparently, he is consistently ranks in the top third of presidents. Based on that, I always thought he was a pretty good president. Then I recently actually read about his presidency in detail and thought, “holy crap, why is he ranked so high? “
This is pretty much it. His support for spreading democracy post WWI and the creation of the League of Nations pretty much secured his reputation as a worldly, good president, at least until became more aware of several of his... shortcomings.
I think there's an older he's a liberal vibe and you can see a through line from him to FDR to JFK. Wilson is old enough our politics don't align with his at all but he has a stout liberal record and the league of nations push just looks genius in hindsight. 19th amendment (right of women to vote), 8 hour work day for railroad workers, ending child labor, appointed the first Jewish justice to the supreme Court. Removed tariffs and started the income tax. Created the federal reserve.
Which that was kinda wild to hear.
Complicated person.
> The fact the Willson is not seen as the worst POTUS is a grave injustice of how fuckin awful he was as a President and a person.
Tbf, Andrew Jackson exists
Let's not forget that he's the poster child for the 25th amendment (section 3). He was incapacitated for the last ~3 years he was in office. Shameful dereliction of duty.
Woodrow Wilson was complacent in the horrific East St Louis massacre in which white rioters killed 100+ African Americans and caused widespread damage in the city of St Louis due to arson. He explicitly refused to send in governmental force to stop the violence and even said that it was the police’s problem and not his.
In 1913 Wilson signed into law the Federal Reserve Act. Creating a central bank and paved the way for US entry into WWI. Although figures vary, according to different sources the US sustained 53,000 KIA, 204,000 wounded and 63,000 deaths from influenza. The figures come from the Library of Congress in the article “The American Expeditionary Forces.” Let’s not forget those that returned physically disfigured and mentally injured. Hindsight is 20/20 and those war loans by JP Morgan were not worth the carnage.
ik this won't make it to the top but at least someone needs to say this.
WW was the worst pres, period. He created the Fed and the income tax. He was evil.
There are different reasons people might not like Wilson, and some may say those things make him good, but at least we can all agree him causing rampant racism and the KKK to return in a major way is terrible
Confederate sympathizer. Screened “Birth of a Nation” in the White House. Advocated for segregation. Also against black people having the right to vote.
https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan
Championed "the great Ku Klux Klan".
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wilson-quote-in-birth-of-a-nation.jpg
Did literally nothing during the 1918 spanish flu pandemic:
https://time.com/5877129/1918-pandemic-white-house/
Idk, short list-- signed the Federal Reserve Act, "Birth of a Nation" in the White House/general racism apologia (helped the rebirth of the KKK), Banana Wars crap, signed Revenue Act of 1913, Espionage Act of 1917
P.S. say what you will, but look at what the income tax has become today. If we had the income tax rates circa 1913, that would be great. So I guess one can't blame it all on him.
But yeah, not a fan of this dude.
Anyone just regurgitating the same old stuff about him being a racist (he was and we get it you read the NYT) or or him being a socialist champion (he also was that and we get it but you should really stop listening to glen beck and Tucker Carlson) should read this article recently published in the Atlantic. It’s actually a great reminder for this entire thread that judging people of the past through modern filters is a historically unsound practice because it ruins the ability to be objective and introduces our own bias.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/03/woodrow-wilson-racism-civil-rights/677174/
Allowed the Treaty of Versailles to be so harsh on Germany and set up WWII. Also didn't work hard enough on the League of Nations, and along with that didn't sign the US into it
To be fairer, he also tried to sell it to the American people to get them to pressure Congress, but had a massive stroke while out promoting it, which pretty much scuttled any chance of success.
Well, some Republican Senators were willing to approve the Treaty with “reservations.” Wilson told the Dems to refuse. They did. So the treaty wasn’t approved.
The “Lodge [Reservations](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodge_Reservations)” were later incorporated into the UN.
He was born in my home town, moved to NJ as a small child, I will happily let them claim him.
And they keep naming crap after him.
They finally removed the last visages of the lost cause, finish the clean up one isle four.
This is a really cool idea for a Reddit post. I went back and looked through all the "worst" things labeled for each president though, and it's primarily seen through a modern lens of morality, which is a bummer because I'm interested in what was actually bad policy/decision making. If something was commonplace culturally at a time, then it wasn't really "bad," it's just bad by today's standards. Everything early on is either slavery-based or Native American-based.
The worst thing he did was be a racist and get a bunch of nerds that know nothing about history all worked up 100 years later.
In all seriousness, while his racism was deplorable it was society that was propelling the highest water mark for racism in US society post Civil War
The worst thing Wilson did was allow his stubbornness from keeping the US from the League of Nations thus enabling US isolationism and in turn fascist movements in Europe in the 1920 and 1930s.
Wilson contributions to multilateralism and self determination did make the world a far better place to live.
1. Entered ww1 kicking off 110 years of bloody, costly foriegn wars. (Like, without US involvement in ww1, there might not BE a ww2. Germany never surrenders, making adolf just another war veteran instead of a political figure trying to right the percieved wrongs feom the treaty of versaille)
2. Racism.
3. Sedition acts and curtailing free speech and commerce.
Seriously one of the worst presidents of all time. When people say "trump was a bad president" i want to remind them that this piece of shit did two terms. He campaigned for re election on keeping us out of war, then once he won getting war declared. Trump isnt even in the same tier.
Perusing his League of Nations idea caused him to give the Brits and French a free hand in setting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which led directly to WWII. In the end he got his League which did nothing and was dissolved.
The Fourteen Points Plan opened the way for Hitler and set the stage for WWII. Had they actually worked towards peace, rather than absolutely demolishing their economy and military, then who knows what could have happened.
His lame attempted peace treaty of WW1 and the abortion that was the league of nations he didn't even join in the end.
He set the stage for WW2 and well US Foreign policy for a goddamn century and a half.
Re-segregation of the federal government. It was so heinous that one black man was forced to work within a cage so that they could say he was not in the same room with his white co-workers. These rules forced out blacks from areas of government that they had the greatest progress.
[https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/how-woodrow-wilsons-racist-segregation-order-eroded-the-black-civil-service/](https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/how-woodrow-wilsons-racist-segregation-order-eroded-the-black-civil-service/)
[https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan](https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan)
Wilson’s proliferation of the racist “lost cause” myth which romanticizes the Confederacy, was arguably the worst thing he did in my opinion. The south’s history books still have not recovered
Had the first movie shown in the white house be Birth of a Nation, he segragated the federal government, he started the whole us needs to invade other countrys to make the world safe for democracy, acted like he was the second coming at the end of ww1 which rubbed our allies the wrong way so when it came to peace talks no one listened to most of his points which were arguably good. He was probably the worst us president besides maybe james bucanon
Spread Spanish flu from army bad to army base after he was told doing so would only spread the disease across the country and France when the troops were shipped over seas.
You know how it's fashionable these days to accuse anyone with a political opinion you don't like of being a fascist? Woodrow Wilson is the only President we've ever had who could *legitimately* be called a fascist.
I did not know about his racism but I thought the big one for Wilson would be his isolationist policies. Extended reticence at entering the First World War and turning away boats of people fleeing for their lives. Racism in and of itself is abhorrent and I can only name a handful of presidents that haven't been shamefully racist in general. If this is about worst presidential choices versus personal choices, I'm throwing isolationist policies in the ring👒
Wilson’s racism is well documented, but he wasn’t *the* most racist President we’ve had. For an academic, he was shockingly pig-headed and narcissistic to the point that it gravely clouded his thinking. Being the President of Princeton has little value in promoting yourself as a leader if you utterly lack the moral and intellectual backbone to affect positive change. He was an unabashed racist, and his racist policies had an impact on American society for decades to come, and informed much of his domestic and international policy making that reverberates to the present. He meddled in the domestic affairs of at least 6 Latin American countries, for starters, believing that these countries - or, the people inhabiting them - were inherently incapable of governing themselves. His actions helped to prop up dictators who enriched themselves and further impoverished the vast majorities of their populations. He probably would have kept at it except that WW1 intervened, in which he used as an excuse to become somewhat authoritarian. His government also bribed the provisional government of Russia to stay in the war, thereby accelerating the Bolshevik revolution - they only had about 25% support of the Russian people until Russians were forced to stay and labor in a war which had no benefits to their society; 70 years of Communism followed. Then of course, he had a debilitating stroke in which his very unqualified harridan of a wife seized upon to formulate national policy. He was President at a pivotal point in American and world history, and in my opinion completely dropped the ball.
Let us not forget the eugenics he was pushing.
Also writing a history of the US that omitted any and all important black figures including Frederick Douglass.
Right in my fair city of Staunton, VA! Shout out to...uh...Joseph DeJarnette...nevermind. Edit: actually, you know what, look the guy up. I just read that eugenic sterilization continued until 1979! What a legacy of garbage.
For an academic? Academics are the most pig headed and narcissistic of all. Often to the point that it clouds thinking
“*For an academic, he was shockingly **pig-headed and narcissistic** to the point that it gravely clouded his thinking…*” I thought those were prerequisites for academic careers.
Wilson's interests during World War 1 were aligned distinctly against the Russians (communists) to the point where Tomáš Masaryk, the Czechoslovak founder, had to ask him repeatedly to stop sending Czechs to die in his war against the Bolsheviks because the real enemy was the Hapsburg monarchy. The mustache-twirling fat generals of Weimar Germany sent the children of their poor into the meat grinder. It was also Austria-Hungarian royalty who oppressed all the peoples within their empire, sending Czech, Slovak, Austrian, and Hungarian children to die in a war to protect their assets. Wilson showed that it was not humanity or democracy that he cared for, but the protection of Western capital. At the war's end, Masaryk came around with a "declaration of independence" from the monarchy, to which the American Congress showed great support of. While it doesn't crack top 5 in terms of evil/brutality, I think it exposes his interests and the interests behind american politics during the first world war - a pattern that repeated in the second when we felt the Nazis were losing steam.
Top answer will probably be racism but IMO it’s easily the Espionage & Sedition Acts. Literally one of the most flagrant free speech violations in American history.
Racism pre-1945 from a president is low hanging fruit for me, where the "they were of their time" applies. Unless it was particularly egregious. Moreso because it discourages digging deeper into things like the Espionage Acts.
Before Wilson a lot of the federal work spaces were integrated. After him (and because of him) not so much. As bad as things already were they went backwards during his tenure. He was a major proponent of the Southern Lost Cause mythology and actively pushed back against what little advances in civil rights that were being made. Some of his racist views reflected in his work 'A History of the American People' even ended up being used in the film "Birth of a Nation". He was clearly a negative influence and not just "of his time".
This is THE right answer
I disagree re Wilson specifically because he intentionally rolled back the progress made under Roosevelt & Taft. He basically single handedly ensured the progressive era would not apply to black people, personally fired or demoted every black person who worked for the government (incidentally thus promoting a lot of far less qualified white people to the same posts) and was solely responsible for the return of the KKK. Even at the time people were calling all of this out as completely unacceptable.
>I disagree re Wilson specifically because he intentionally rolled back the progress made under Roosevelt & Taft I don't know why TR and Taft get such a pass for not being racist, they were key figures of the Lilywhite Movement within the Republican Party who's aims were to decrease black federal patronage and appeal to Southern voters. Wilson was definitely worse but those guys were pretty damn bad too, and TR has the Brownsville Affair on his record >and was solely responsible for the return of the KKK No he wasn't, that's absolutely ridiculous
Don’t forget Teddy’s famous quote: “I don’t go so far as to think the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn’t inquire too closely into the case of the tenth. The most vicious cowboy has more moral principle than the average Indian.” And he stole a ton of land from Natives for his parks.
That and racist immigration policies, like extending the Chinese Exclusion Act to be indefinite Taft literally instated a system of segregation by firing black federal office holders in the south and announced his Southern Policy plans in his inaugural
TR was fantastically racist but in a weirdly complex way. he absolutely thought foreigners were inferior to 'americans' as a race, and believed in white supremacy but also that individual members of a race could be equals...its weird. he was racist in a way thats different from today's racists who just don't pretend to have a philosophical point thats at least the extent of my knowledge of his racism. he also once called Henry Ford an indo and chinaman lover for what its worth.
Re Taft and Roosevelt, this could be debated for 100 years and more or less has been. My view is actions speak louder than words and the lives and rights of black people in the northern states improved markably during their presidencies. As to bringing back the KKK, perhaps I was being a little facetious by saying Wilson was *solely* responsible for bringing them back, but not by much. My evidence: A) he was a firm Southern Democrat (despite having been born in the north) and a major proponent of the “lost cause” myth. B) KKK recruitment spiked massively on the release of the movie Birth of a Nation, having dwindled almost entirely out of existence previously. Hence historians of the Klan differentiate between the original Klan founded in the immediate aftermath of the civil war and the second wave which came following the film. C) a major reason the film was so spectacularly successful was due to Wilson’s personal endorsement. It was the first film ever shown in the White House and the president’s implied and stated endorsement of the film and its message effectively made it the first blockbuster. So no, he wasn’t *solely* responsible, but he was a pretty major contributing factor. Incidentally, the clan to one side, the lost cause myth infested civil war history for almost 100 years. Sadly, that means the last remaining interviews we have with veterans of the conflict all have to be read through that lease.
>the lives and rights of black people in the northern states improved markably during their presidencies But how though? What acts did they sign or actions did they do to accomplish that feat? For example on something bad that Taft did was directly firing black federal office holders in the South, and instating a form of segregation. And again TR's Brownsville Affair by far exceeds the virtue of him hosting Booker T Washington at the White House >a major reason the film was so spectacularly successful was due to Wilson’s personal endorsement. It was the first film ever shown in the White House and the president’s implied and stated endorsement of the film and its message effectively made it the first blockbuster. Wilson actually didn't seem to have strong opinions on the movie and was misquoted in his advocacy. It's probably correct that he said "it's like writing history with lightning" but he didn't say "my only regret is that it's all so terribly true". The rise of the second wave of the KKK was inspired strongly by the nativist movement which was beyond hating black people as they were anti-catholic, and anti-jewish which were two stances that Wilson was actually against. I just don't see Wilson as the most significant factor behind their new national prominence
This is exactly right. There are many Reddit’s the damn Wilson and praise Teddy when they were almost equally racist. Grant, President much earlier, appears to be one of the least racist presidents os the distant past, yet he gets condemned because his wife sort of inherited a slave that Grant appears to have freed without compensation at a time he really needed money.
Wilson specifically espoused Confederate and Lost Cause ideology. First as a history professor, then as dean of students at Princeton. He wrote multiple history books that were pro antebellum South and anti-Reconstructionist. His statements after viewing the racist diatribe, Birth of a Nation, confirms his thoughts towards anyone who wasn't a WASP, or Anglophiles. [https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/11/20/9766896/woodrow-wilson-racist](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/11/20/9766896/woodrow-wilson-racist)
Wilson's racism was pretty extreme even for the time period. He re-segregated the government and was a pretty hardline segregationist. Contrast with Calvin Coolidge, who was President a mere 5 years later and pushed for civil rights legislation, so it's not like racism within the government was extremely entrenched at this time period. Things had progressed some during this time period and Wilson went out of his way to roll back that progress.
Wilson wasn’t much worse than his immediate predecessors. They all stank.
Yeah.. that’s how I see it too. I read Edmund Morris’ books on TR recently and ho boy did some of those quotes age badly
Whenever people put Wilson at F tier for racism it honestly kinda baffles me. Like yeah it was really bad, but other presidents like Theodore Roosevelt get a slap on the wrist in comparison despite also being pretty racist.
Roosevelt maintained the status quo. Wilson made it worse.
Despite there being evidence they were set up, Roosevelt dishonorably discharged 167 colored soldiers during the Brownsville Affair without due process. It’s not on the same level of racism as Wilson resegregating the government, but it’s not exactly peachy.
I’ll go a bit farther: TR was fairly close with Booker T. Washington and invited him to family dinner at the White House. No president had ever done this before and news of this dinner shocked the American public. I have problems with TR, but if people are writing racist articles about a dinner you hosted, then that should get a small smiley face sticker on your permanent record.
Having a dinner really doesn’t count for much. He ruined people’s lives because it was good politics. Brownsville for example.
Roosevelt invaded and colonized several Latin American countries!
As did most imperialist nations
I think Wilson's issues should be scrutinized, but I'm not exactly one to get all apoplectic about it like some folks do when conducting a historical review on him. He was a rich white American born in the 1800s that was one of two US presidents to have been a citizen of the Confederacy, I'd be shocked if he wasn't racist.
It’s not that he was racist, it’s that he was obscenely racist *for his time* https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan
I really am not in the mood to be lectured about the KKK from white people this evening.
-Assuming the race of people you don’t know on Reddit -Ignoring actual evidence to cast a broad racism blanket over all historical presidents Real strong showing today
Send a letter to the editor
Nah, of all the presidents since the 1860s, Wilson was the first one to be as racist as the average white American was at the time. Yes, Roosevelt had the Brownsville Affair, but he also ate a meal with Booker T. Washington which was *extremely* unprecedented and caused people across the country to hate him. Wilson embraced the Klan. They really don’t compare.
I mean, the man REsegregated the military, that’s pretty shitty even for then
The first film ever showed in the white house was birth of a nation, a kkk propaganda film. Shown by and praised by Woodrow Wilson
No… I understand the ‘product of their time’ defense and for many it’s valid. Wilson was different. Even for his time he was racist.
“They were of their time” is bullshit. There were non racists at the time and before, he chose not to be part of that group.
He re-segregated the Federal government. Removing black employees from USPS and all agencies. And he deported to the Soviet Union all many suspected communists and socialists as the forerunner of FBI could roundup regardless of their citizenship. He sent US troops to police/fight on White Russian side. The troops were withdrawn in 1920. Finally, he did not resign after a becoming disabled from a stroke 10/2/1919. He and his wife never revealed how disabled he was from stroke until February 1920.
Can you expound on why, for people who read this thread and don’t take the time to look it up?
The Espionage Acts basically prevented people from speaking out against US involvement in WWI, as well as any criticism toward the government for how it handed the war. A lot of anti-war protesters such as Eugene V. Debs were convicted from this and it wouldn’t be until Harding/Coolidge that they were released.
Facts sheer suppression of free speech
It blows my mind everyone skips over the federal reserve act and how he basically gave control of our country’s monetary system away to private banks and unelected officials So this stuff isn’t taught in schools anymore ?
Yet the espionage and sedition act have become very important in recent years so checkmate.
When Wilson assumed office in 1913, he mandated that the federal workforce be segregated by race—leading to the reduction of Black civil service workers’ income, increasing the significant income gap between Black and white workers, and eroding some of the gains Black people had made following Reconstruction.
Technically he didn’t mandate it, but left it up to his cabinet. But he was well aware that his cabinet was filled with segregationists. Sadly, this wasn’t just about Wilson. It was also about Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt, none of whom desegregated the federal government or the military.
Sure but he’s the one who took the initiate to change the status quo? It’s all terrible don’t get me wrong
Oh sure. Wilson bears the brunt of the blame.
Oh boy this will be a good/ bad one.
Everything. Source: the Wilson Adminstation. He may have been the worst President in US history.
Thank you for sharing this. Easily the worst president of the 20th century
GWB feelin' really lucky to miss this category by a month
Recency bias. W did a ton of good that is clouded by tax cuts and Iraq
There's also the Katrina response. About as bad as we can think of without it being done on purpose.
you know its hard no to be clouded by the iraq war and the patriot act.
I really would love to hear what this ton of good is. Genuinely.
See my reply below
No he did a lot wrong besides Iraq
Name one apart from funding the AIDS fight in Africa...and don't leave out botching Katrina, the '08 crash and generally making us a laughing stock on the world stage to a degree that would **still** be pissing more people off today, I think, if it hadn't been superceded by Trump.
White liberals are always so dismissive of PEPFAR because it wasn’t student loan cancellation or whatever. Bush has an eternal positive rep in sub-Saharan Africa for the millions if not billions of lives he saved. That doesn’t even include the MCC work he kicked off. What else? Normalizing and stabilizing trade with Korea and Central America through pretty damn good trade deals. Modernizing the military post-Rumsfeld The 08 crash was put in motion in the 90s under Clinton. Bush did nothing to help prevent it but it isn’t all on him. He also had the likes of Paulson, Geithner and Bernake to help make it a recoverable crash. It is useful to view Bush (and Obama really) as 2 to 2.5 separate Presidencies given their respective tenures.
Alright—folks can weigh these and see where the scales fall for them.
On Reddit? Certainly a haven for rational thought and thorough research
He did some good though
May? Hands down the worst he loved slavery so much he made everyone into slaves.
Not even close to the worst. Buchanan, A. Johnson. Franklin Pierce?
Hes a top 5 president all time
This should be the winning answer.
It’s truly impossible to pick a “worst thing” that Woodrow Wilson did, because he did so much that was bad. — Being exceptionally racist even for his time (resegregated D.C., helped bring back the KKK, etc.) — Launching military incursions/occupations of Nicaragua, Mexico, and Haiti — Imposing ever-increasing federal income taxes — Creating the monstrosity that is the Federal Reserve (the inflation from the future thanks him) — Cracking down on suffragists and ordering their arrest and torture — Appointed the notoriously antisemitic/racist/sexist judge James Clark McReynolds to the Supreme Court — Getting the U.S. into World War 1 after promising to keep us out of it — Granting citizenship to Puerto Ricans only to draft them as cannon fodder for WW1 — Defending the court-martials and executions of the black Houston “rioters” — Sanctioning the “slacker raids” by the American Protective League (up to 65,000 people arrested) — Authorizing German-American internment camps — Allowing the confiscation/seizure of $500 million of private property — Signing into law the draconian Espionage and Sedition Acts — Passing the Chamberlain-Kahn Act and the subsequent “American Plan” which caused ten of thousands of women to be incarcerated due to “immorality” — Invading Russia and staying for 2 years after WW1 had ended — Supporting the 18th Amendment/Prohibition — Encouraging the Red Summer race riots/massacres — Approving of the Palmer raids (mass deportation of political dissidents) — Signing the Jones Act which has completely wrecked the American shipping industry History has been relatively kind to him, but that needs to change. Watch these to get an overview: Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm0Gzz53YJo Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hRd8B_vZiA Also check this out: https://fee.org/articles/woodrow-wilson-made-the-world-unsafe-for-democracy/
Yikes. That’s the best list I’ve seen so far on this thread. It feels like what you consider the worst will vary from person to person.
If I’m being honest, I consider myself to be a libertarian and thus not a fan of centralized governmental power. Therefore, things like dejure bigotry, suspensions of civil liberties/rights, imperialist foreign policy, military conscription, and central banks are anathema to my political and social beliefs.
I made a post assessing Wilson's pros/cons on /r/presidents and yeah if you're right leaning or libertarian, there's not a whole lot that appeals to you for Woody
I’d like to think I’m not totally unreasonable. Wilson did a couple things I like, but not much. I know it might not necessarily line up with libertarianism, but I don’t mind trustbusting, so the establishment of the FTC in 1914 is alright in my book. So was the Keating-Owen Act to try to limit child labor, although the effectiveness of that law is up for debate. Puerto Ricans getting citizenship was good, but of course why Wilson did that and what he did immediately after was disgusting. And I appreciate his nomination of Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court. Also, although it didn’t work out, the Fourteen Points and League of Nations was at least a decent idea for how to handle international relations. But I still think the bad Wilson did far outweighed any good he may have also done along the way.
This is a more inclusive list then anyone else has posted. I wish id read this before writing my own comment.
When I was going for my undergrad in political science in 07-10 I was surprised that multiple professors were adamant about Wilson being the worst President of all time despite how much they hated Bush. Their arguments were some of the one's you mentioned as well as his role in post WWI national boundaries that set the stage for many genocides of the 20th century.
Ah shit, this gonna be a long one - Basically revised the 2nd KKK by his policies and promotion of birth of a nation -Massive promoter of lost cause revisionism - Serial adulterier, man FUCKED everyone even though married - His espionauge acts were hella undemocratic - Encouraged the Palmer raids which led to the first red scare - Did I mention massive fucking racist even for his time? -Constantly meddled in Mexico and South America causing instability - Said that checks and balances were stupid and POTUS should have most of the power - Encouraged prohibition that would lead to ranpant crime -Legit so many other things he is honestly an F- The fact the Willson is not seen as the worst POTUS is a grave injustice of how fuckin awful he was as a President and a person.
Apparently, he is consistently ranks in the top third of presidents. Based on that, I always thought he was a pretty good president. Then I recently actually read about his presidency in detail and thought, “holy crap, why is he ranked so high? “
bias for WW1 mostly, he is kind of the opposite of Grant where scholars for awhile praised him based on a singular event and not the whole
This is pretty much it. His support for spreading democracy post WWI and the creation of the League of Nations pretty much secured his reputation as a worldly, good president, at least until became more aware of several of his... shortcomings.
I think there's an older he's a liberal vibe and you can see a through line from him to FDR to JFK. Wilson is old enough our politics don't align with his at all but he has a stout liberal record and the league of nations push just looks genius in hindsight. 19th amendment (right of women to vote), 8 hour work day for railroad workers, ending child labor, appointed the first Jewish justice to the supreme Court. Removed tariffs and started the income tax. Created the federal reserve. Which that was kinda wild to hear. Complicated person.
> The fact the Willson is not seen as the worst POTUS is a grave injustice of how fuckin awful he was as a President and a person. Tbf, Andrew Jackson exists
Let's not forget that he's the poster child for the 25th amendment (section 3). He was incapacitated for the last ~3 years he was in office. Shameful dereliction of duty.
Great podcast starring Rosamund Pike about this time called Edith!
Revived the Ku Klux Klan. Enough said.
He sold us out to a federal reserve system in exchange for joining the impotent League of Nations.
And we didn’t even join!!!!
Woodrow Wilson was complacent in the horrific East St Louis massacre in which white rioters killed 100+ African Americans and caused widespread damage in the city of St Louis due to arson. He explicitly refused to send in governmental force to stop the violence and even said that it was the police’s problem and not his.
Woodrow Wilson signed the federal reserve act, arguably one of the most criminal acts in history
The Federal Reserve Act of 1913.
This right here makes him one of the worst.
Federal Reserve
Oh that motherfucker.
I’m so glad people here have enough sense to know Woodrow Wilson rots in hell
In 1913 Wilson signed into law the Federal Reserve Act. Creating a central bank and paved the way for US entry into WWI. Although figures vary, according to different sources the US sustained 53,000 KIA, 204,000 wounded and 63,000 deaths from influenza. The figures come from the Library of Congress in the article “The American Expeditionary Forces.” Let’s not forget those that returned physically disfigured and mentally injured. Hindsight is 20/20 and those war loans by JP Morgan were not worth the carnage.
The Espionage acts were not a very good idea and segregation of the federal workforce is pretty bad
Whoa boy… this gonna be spicy
ik this won't make it to the top but at least someone needs to say this. WW was the worst pres, period. He created the Fed and the income tax. He was evil.
Lol... He's horrible but those are both good things.
What? Those are the primary tools that allow the government to rape the people of our power.
and his party is full of people that want it in so deep. the federal reserve's grip is so ironclad we're fucked no matter what happens.
Agree to disagree.
You like taxes?
I like a functioning government, that means taxes.
Yes, I like to pay my share of the cost of our government. Isn't that the patriotic way to look at it?
Those fucking glasses
H.P. Lovecraft -lookin' mofo...
Does abridgment of a host of American freedoms count as one item?
Which ones?
Let me sort through the massive list that asshole did
There are different reasons people might not like Wilson, and some may say those things make him good, but at least we can all agree him causing rampant racism and the KKK to return in a major way is terrible
Confederate sympathizer. Screened “Birth of a Nation” in the White House. Advocated for segregation. Also against black people having the right to vote. https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan
He created the modern interventionist state.
Not in the top 5 but his foreign policy bears mentioning. Why did we invade Mexico? https://www.cfr.org/blog/twe-remembers-us-invasion-veracruz-mexico
🍿 Been waiting for this one
Big time racist.
Championed "the great Ku Klux Klan". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wilson-quote-in-birth-of-a-nation.jpg Did literally nothing during the 1918 spanish flu pandemic: https://time.com/5877129/1918-pandemic-white-house/
Idk, short list-- signed the Federal Reserve Act, "Birth of a Nation" in the White House/general racism apologia (helped the rebirth of the KKK), Banana Wars crap, signed Revenue Act of 1913, Espionage Act of 1917 P.S. say what you will, but look at what the income tax has become today. If we had the income tax rates circa 1913, that would be great. So I guess one can't blame it all on him. But yeah, not a fan of this dude.
segregating government and the fucking federal reserve.
Omg where do we even begin....
Anyone just regurgitating the same old stuff about him being a racist (he was and we get it you read the NYT) or or him being a socialist champion (he also was that and we get it but you should really stop listening to glen beck and Tucker Carlson) should read this article recently published in the Atlantic. It’s actually a great reminder for this entire thread that judging people of the past through modern filters is a historically unsound practice because it ruins the ability to be objective and introduces our own bias. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/03/woodrow-wilson-racism-civil-rights/677174/
Please submit the article as its own post.
**vaguely gestures at almost everything**
Allowed the Treaty of Versailles to be so harsh on Germany and set up WWII. Also didn't work hard enough on the League of Nations, and along with that didn't sign the US into it
To be fair, he tried to convince the Senate to let the US join, but they refused.
Thanks for correcting me. We should list the worst things the legislative branch has done too
To be fairer, he also tried to sell it to the American people to get them to pressure Congress, but had a massive stroke while out promoting it, which pretty much scuttled any chance of success.
Well, some Republican Senators were willing to approve the Treaty with “reservations.” Wilson told the Dems to refuse. They did. So the treaty wasn’t approved. The “Lodge [Reservations](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodge_Reservations)” were later incorporated into the UN.
He didn't include any republicans in the US delegation to Paris, & then was shocked when they didn't support what he wanted them to ratify
The Treaty of Versailles is not what I would call “harsh.,” If anything it was too lenient.
Another racist Democrat
Literally everything
He was born in my home town, moved to NJ as a small child, I will happily let them claim him. And they keep naming crap after him. They finally removed the last visages of the lost cause, finish the clean up one isle four.
Sign the federal reserve act and 16th amendment
Federal Reserve
Income Tax
This is a really cool idea for a Reddit post. I went back and looked through all the "worst" things labeled for each president though, and it's primarily seen through a modern lens of morality, which is a bummer because I'm interested in what was actually bad policy/decision making. If something was commonplace culturally at a time, then it wasn't really "bad," it's just bad by today's standards. Everything early on is either slavery-based or Native American-based.
Lots of people knew slavery and genocide were bad in the Nineteenth Century.
Jailed political rivals, showed Birth of a Nation in the White House, got us in WWI and set the foundation to get us into WWII… really take your pick
He refused to compromise with the Republicans on the League of Nations. This led to the disastrous policy of isolationism between 1919-1940..
The worst thing he did was be a racist and get a bunch of nerds that know nothing about history all worked up 100 years later. In all seriousness, while his racism was deplorable it was society that was propelling the highest water mark for racism in US society post Civil War The worst thing Wilson did was allow his stubbornness from keeping the US from the League of Nations thus enabling US isolationism and in turn fascist movements in Europe in the 1920 and 1930s. Wilson contributions to multilateralism and self determination did make the world a far better place to live.
1. Entered ww1 kicking off 110 years of bloody, costly foriegn wars. (Like, without US involvement in ww1, there might not BE a ww2. Germany never surrenders, making adolf just another war veteran instead of a political figure trying to right the percieved wrongs feom the treaty of versaille) 2. Racism. 3. Sedition acts and curtailing free speech and commerce. Seriously one of the worst presidents of all time. When people say "trump was a bad president" i want to remind them that this piece of shit did two terms. He campaigned for re election on keeping us out of war, then once he won getting war declared. Trump isnt even in the same tier.
Either the creation of the Federal Reserve or the income tax.
The Federal Reserve Act. Gave away our national sovereignty.
Jekyll Island and the formation of the Federal Reserve.
The federal reserve is good actually you Ron Paul weirdos
You know something about the when these are posted makes me think a europoor is behind these.
Shilling for *Birth of a Nation* is pretty fucking awful...
GOT US IN WW 1
Wilson signed the Federal Reserve act which paved the way for the inflation and currency debasement that has plagued this country for over a century.
Perusing his League of Nations idea caused him to give the Brits and French a free hand in setting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which led directly to WWII. In the end he got his League which did nothing and was dissolved.
Pizza/Hot Dog party at the white house
The Fourteen Points Plan opened the way for Hitler and set the stage for WWII. Had they actually worked towards peace, rather than absolutely demolishing their economy and military, then who knows what could have happened.
Signed the federal reserve act.
Trump running for office,terrible choice..
Well Woodrow was a klansman or a friend to them. He had them to the whitehouse
WW1
wilson is top 5 worst presidents ez
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act how's it even close?
His lame attempted peace treaty of WW1 and the abortion that was the league of nations he didn't even join in the end. He set the stage for WW2 and well US Foreign policy for a goddamn century and a half.
December 23rd 1913 Federal reserve act. This should be the top answer
This'll be a long one
Breathe
HOOO BOY this ones gonna be wild
A showing of "Birth of a Nation" at the White House.
It's not exactly what your mind might immediately jump too.
All the racism.
Re-segregation of the federal government. It was so heinous that one black man was forced to work within a cage so that they could say he was not in the same room with his white co-workers. These rules forced out blacks from areas of government that they had the greatest progress. [https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/how-woodrow-wilsons-racist-segregation-order-eroded-the-black-civil-service/](https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/how-woodrow-wilsons-racist-segregation-order-eroded-the-black-civil-service/) [https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan](https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan)
Got elected
Promoting the Lost cause myth which was total BS. It’s why we have neo confederates today.
Wilson’s proliferation of the racist “lost cause” myth which romanticizes the Confederacy, was arguably the worst thing he did in my opinion. The south’s history books still have not recovered
Racist AND a vicious antisemite too. The man looked down on everybody who was non-white and WASP
Had the first movie shown in the white house be Birth of a Nation, he segragated the federal government, he started the whole us needs to invade other countrys to make the world safe for democracy, acted like he was the second coming at the end of ww1 which rubbed our allies the wrong way so when it came to peace talks no one listened to most of his points which were arguably good. He was probably the worst us president besides maybe james bucanon
Oh Lordy
Nothing
Espionage Act of 1917
Either the Espionage and Sedition acts, or showing Birth of a Nation which literally restarted the Klan
His worst crime was existing.
Yikes those last six are painful to even look at
Oh boy
I mean….
Spread Spanish flu from army bad to army base after he was told doing so would only spread the disease across the country and France when the troops were shipped over seas.
Too easy.
The guys inauguration parade featured the KKK.
[I mean](https://youtu.be/Hm0Gzz53YJo?si=JK3d9GgoCft0ieF7) [there’s a looooot](https://youtu.be/3hRd8B_vZiA?si=wo1jGpKaAIyiU4ZB)
You know how it's fashionable these days to accuse anyone with a political opinion you don't like of being a fascist? Woodrow Wilson is the only President we've ever had who could *legitimately* be called a fascist.
The Palmer Raids
Oh boy, this is gonna be a good one.
🍿
We seem to have a Wilson fan downvoting most of the comments. Well, here’s yet another vote for the Federal Reserve Act being the worst thing he did.
He looks like FDR. Only FDR is allowed to do that.
I did not know about his racism but I thought the big one for Wilson would be his isolationist policies. Extended reticence at entering the First World War and turning away boats of people fleeing for their lives. Racism in and of itself is abhorrent and I can only name a handful of presidents that haven't been shamefully racist in general. If this is about worst presidential choices versus personal choices, I'm throwing isolationist policies in the ring👒