Rate the Presidents, Installment #28: Woodrow Wilson

[JonathanSwift]

Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921

Previous Results
Abraham Lincoln: 4.45 Stars
George Washington: 4.42 Stars
Chester A. Arthur: 3.8 Stars
Thomas Jefferson: 3.65 Stars
Theodore Roosevelt: 3.59 Stars
James Monroe: 3.57 Stars
John Quincy Adams: 3.5 Stars
Grover Cleveland: 3.46 Stars
Grover Cleveland: 3.46 Stars
James Madison: 3.23 Stars
William Howard Taft: 3.15 Stars
Zachary Taylor: 3.15 Stars
James A. Garfield: 3.14 Stars
Ulysses S. Grant: 3.06 Stars
Martin Van Buren: 3.04 Stars
James K. Polk: 2.85 Stars
John Adams: 2.58 Stars
William McKinley: 2.47 Stars
Andrew Jackson: 2.43 Stars
William Henry Harrison: 2.38 Stars
Millard Fillmore: 2.33 Stars
Benjamin Harrison: 2.33 Stars
Rutherford B. Hayes: 2.15 Stars
John Tyler: 2.11 Stars
Andrew Johnson: 1.72 Stars
Franklin Pierce: 1.6 Stars
James Buchanan: 1.41 Stars

[Rockefeller GOP]

What's to like?  1 star.

[Antonio the Sixth]

3 stars. His foreign policy was excellent, though his domestic policy was a mixed bag.

[Gass3268]

Not a great President, but doesn't deserve the pure hate that he receives online. Giving him a 4 to balance out the hate.

[ElectionsGuy]

Near the worst president in American history. 1 star.

[Anti-Bothsidesism]

Racist, Got us into a war we didn't need to fight at least vietnam was communist. and lived in New Jersey. 2 stars.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Had a fairly successful first term, in which he used his wily and conniving nature to pass a good set of decent domestic reforms. I doubt say Taft would have been able to pass them, bless.

Then he ruined it by having one of the worst second terms in American history, where he did nothing good and a whole lot bad, normally an escalation of what was slightly bad about the first term. (Ramped up segregation, increased interventions in Latin America (e.g. Haiti), tried to overtake Armenia for no reason, the criminal Espionage and Seditions Act, snaking into WW1, the draft, extending the war by micromanagement and incompetence, the fluffed up and useless Paris peace process, weaselled out support for Suffrage and y'know spent half the term completely incapacitated after a stroke.

And yes, Wilson's racism is undeniable and horrific.

[All Along The Watchtower]

^But 20th century liberals loved him!

[Classic Conservative]

If I could 0 stars

[SATW]

If I could 0 stars

[RogueBeaver]

If I could 0 stars

[VPH]

4 stars. Maybe not the best as a person, but his worldview paved the way for the UN.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Effective military leader, absolutely horrific person. One of the worst Presidents in US history for civil rights. There was pretty much not a single group he didn't screw over in his eight years. Then there's his shockingly deceptive re-election campaign.

I can't give him one star because he did accomplish certain positive things, but basically the most grudging two stars ever.

[ScottieF]

Four stars. He's a lot like Nixon in that an enormous gulf exists between the height of his considerable achievements and the depths of his massive failures. First term was one of the best ever, second term one of the worst ever.

Good: 16th, 17th, 19th amendments, Clayton Antitrust Act, establishing the Fed, child labor laws, Adamson Act, effective management of a bloody war that his actions probably cut short.

Bad: Suppression of war opposition, segregation of federal government, recession, race riots, prohibition, failure to compromise on League of Nations, the fact that he wasn't really even governing for the last year and a half of his presidency.

While I appreciate the criticisms he rightfully deserves, I'm surprised at how hated he is by so many on here. Other liberals often seem loathe to embrace his legacy but there is a direct line between him and FDR and the New Deal.

[CapoteMonster]

Had a fairly successful first term, in which he used his wily and conniving nature to pass a good set of decent domestic reforms. I doubt say Taft would have been able to pass them, bless.

Then he ruined it by having one of the worst second terms in American history, where he did nothing good and a whole lot bad, normally an escalation of what was slightly bad about the first term. (Ramped up segregation, increased interventions in Latin America (e.g. Haiti), tried to overtake Armenia for no reason, the criminal Espionage and Seditions Act, snaking into WW1, the draft, extending the war by micromanagement and incompetence, the fluffed up and useless Paris peace process, weaselled out support for Suffrage and y'know spent half the term completely incapacitated after a stroke.

And yes, Wilson's racism is undeniable and horrific.

I was going to say something similar to that and I'll have to give home 2 stars  balance despite his great economic achievements. Would be 3 if he weren't a vicious racist who screened Birth of a Nation at The White House.

[Zioneer]

Had a fairly successful first term, in which he used his wily and conniving nature to pass a good set of decent domestic reforms. I doubt say Taft would have been able to pass them, bless.

Then he ruined it by having one of the worst second terms in American history, where he did nothing good and a whole lot bad, normally an escalation of what was slightly bad about the first term. (Ramped up segregation, increased interventions in Latin America (e.g. Haiti), tried to overtake Armenia for no reason, the criminal Espionage and Seditions Act, snaking into WW1, the draft, extending the war by micromanagement and incompetence, the fluffed up and useless Paris peace process, weaselled out support for Suffrage and y'know spent half the term completely incapacitated after a stroke.

And yes, Wilson's racism is undeniable and horrific.

[The Last Northerner]

Ughh. He gave the US a horribly naive foreign policy that influences their leaders to this day... garbage Liberal Internationalism/Idealism.

2 Stars.

[Torie]

Wilson's stock has not gone down as much as Jackson's, but it has gone down a lot. I give him a 2.

[Sumner 1868]

✯

[Mr. Smith]

Had a fairly successful first term, in which he used his wily and conniving nature to pass a good set of decent domestic reforms. I doubt say Taft would have been able to pass them, bless.

Then he ruined it by having one of the worst second terms in American history, where he did nothing good and a whole lot bad, normally an escalation of what was slightly bad about the first term. (Ramped up segregation, increased interventions in Latin America (e.g. Haiti), tried to overtake Armenia for no reason, the criminal Espionage and Seditions Act, snaking into WW1, the draft, extending the war by micromanagement and incompetence, the fluffed up and useless Paris peace process, weaselled out support for Suffrage and y'know spent half the term completely incapacitated after a stroke.

And yes, Wilson's racism is undeniable and horrific.

Well said.

That's why I give him two stars.

[Thunderbird is the word]

Given his virulent racism in some ways Wilson is ironically probably the president that's most like Obama. Both came out of academia and came off as somewhat aloof in public, both accomplished some domestic reforms while being disasterous on civil liberties and both became increasingly hawkish while facing a more hawkish opposition. Both also saw the Democrats face severe losses at the state and local levels either during (in the case of Obama) or at the tail end of (in the case of Wilson) their presidencies.

[JonathanSwift]

Final Result: 2.36 Stars

[Mechaman]

More overrated than Teddy Roosevelt.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

3 stars. His foreign policy was excellent, though his domestic policy was a mixed bag.

[Gass3268]

3 stars. His foreign policy was excellent, though his domestic policy was a mixed bag.

If I remember correctly, Antonio views Wilson's foreign policy favorably because it assisted France in defeating Imperial Germany.