Woodrow Wilson is regarded by many as a leader of the progressive movement, due to how he "Made the world safe for democracy."
And this is for good reason. Wilson committed to a massive variety of actions that certainly show that he was unique compared to other world leaders during his time.
For starters, Wilson was able to pass pieces of legislation that were extremely important through congress. These include a graduated income tax, elastic money, and of course the revolutionary Federal Trade Commission.
Before the Federal Trade Commission, business had almost no regulation, and thus business owners could practice a variety of unethical decisions without any punishment. After, business owners could no longer scam others like they could previously.
Perhaps even more important would be the reforms he made in 1916, where he prevented child labor and shortened the work day.
Despite all these changes, it is arguable that Wilson was not a progressive.
After all, he had very antiquated southern views when it came to minorities, and did not do much at all to increase rights and representation for these individuals.
However, Wilson overall did make enough contributions to society such that he should be considered at least somewhat progressive.
I think that Wilson was overall not a progressive. Because of the changing times after Roosevelt's and Taft's presidency, most of America was progressive. I think most of his progressive ideas, especially in regards to business, were merely keeping with the times. I do, however, think that his fourteen points were his own original, progressive idea. Mostly, I think he was in the middle when it came to progressivism. He wasn't extremely progressive but he wasn't anti-progressive.
ReplyDeleteWilson did fight for progressive ideas such as arguing for a stronger central government and fighting for anti-trust legislation and labor rights. While this is true, I like your point about his southern views. I think that it is fair to consider him as a progressive, who happened to also be racist.
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