by Jeanine

Created on: August 06, 2008

President Wilson can be considered one of the most revolutionary leaders in American history. Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States from 1913 till 1921, making him the President during and after WWI. The legacy of Wilson exists in the well known ideology of Wilsonianism which categorizes Wilson's beliefs in regards to foreign and domestic policies. A revolution consists of a rapid change in a short period of time, or it refers to something radically new. This is why Wilson may be considered revolutionary because he changed the direction of both domestic and foreign american politics. This paper will further articulate how exactly Woodrow Wilson made such a revolutionary impact on the United States.

In order to comprehend how President Woodrow Wilson left such a revolutionary legacy, one must first understand the man himself. Wilson was not appreciated as much as he should have been during his time. It has been historically reported that Wilson was often difficult to work with and his personality was his downfall. Despite that, Wilson was a religious leader; he felt that it was his moral obligation to make the world safe for democracy. "He believed that natural law decreed a self-regulating world of free individuals, hence his devotion to free trade and hostility to big corporations, labour unions, and bureaucracy."(McDougall, 126)

Wilson also believed in demilitarization to a certain extent because Wilson was not fully against war, he did feel that war was the last resort for diplomatic relations. Before Wilson came into power, the United States was following an isolationist tradition in the sense that they did not care about the rest of the World, only their own domestic development. When President Wilson was elected in 1913, he had promised no to enter the war but as it turned out, he had not other choice to fight for democracy. Even though Wilson won his first election based on a lie of staying out of the war, he continued to be President for two terms. This gave Wilson enough time to become the revolutionary we know of today.

Woodrow Wilson left a revolutionary legacy for the United States. He changed the outlook of American foreign policy, from isolationist to progressive imperialist. This made Wilson a revolutionary leader because he was brining change to American traditions at a rapid pace. It has been said that the world, including America, was not ready for Wilson, his revolutionary beliefs were not considered as important during his time

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