Wilson was the most educated president, and he could also be stern. Having grown up in the South, he had Southern sensibilities that influenced his attitude toward civil rights, on which he did not have a good record. In 1913, he ordered the segregation of the civil service. W. E. B. DuBois wrote him a letter that same year asking him about the abhorrent treatment of blacks in America. He said in his letter, “Sir, you have now been President of the United States for six months and what is the result? It is no exaggeration to say that every enemy of the Negro race is greatly encouraged; that every man who dreams of making the Negro race a group of menials and pariahs is alert and hopeful.” In response, Wilson claimed that “The purpose of these measures was to reduce the friction. It is as far as possible from being a movement against the Negroes. I sincerely believe it to be in their interest.”

Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, proponents of temperance had attempted to get state and federal laws passed limiting or outlawing the sale and consumption of alcohol. In 1919, they finally got their wish with the passage of the eighteenth amendment. The amendment took effect on January 16, 1920, and thus began the period of Prohibition. The era gets its name from the amendment itself, which said that “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” The amendment would not be repealed until 1933 when Franklin Roosevelt was president.

Helping the Economy and Labor

Wilson inherited the tariff issues from his predecessors with groups arguing either for more protection through high tariffs or more free trade through tariff reductions. He and the Democratic party believed in the latter and the allowance of more free trade. This resulted in the passage of the Underwood Tariff during his presidency, which reduced tariff rates from 41 to 27 percent.

America had experienced many economic ups and downs since its inception. The nature of the business cycle is such that good times are eventually followed by bad times that can lead into depressions. Up until the early twentieth century, it was not seen as the government's responsibility to try to smooth out these ups and downs in the cycle. However, in 1913 the Federal Reserve Act created the federal reserve system to help deal with this. It provided banks with loans and the treasury with a system for adding or removing money from the economy as necessary.

Rampant unregulated capitalism had resulted in the rise of monopolies and unfair business practices. The passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890 was meant to help fight against this corruption. However, due to its loose wording, the law was actually used to fight against workers who were trying to protect themselves by creating unions and using collective bargaining tools, such as strikes, to get better working conditions. To alleviate this and help protect labor from being prosecuted under a law that was meant to help them, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act was passed in 1914. The act allowed for important labor tools like strikes, pickets, and boycotts.

Mexico and Pancho Villa

From 1910 until 1917, a revolution was occurring in Mexico. When Victoriano Huerta took over the government in 1913, the United States did not recognize his rule as legitimate. Instead they decided to wait and see what happened over time. Huerta was unable to truly consolidate his power and resigned in 1914. He was replaced by Venustiano Carranza.

Carranza could not control all of the uprisings in the nation. Revolutionary Pancho Villa controlled a large amount of territory in the North. Villa crossed into America in 1916, attacking the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and killing seventeen Americans. Wilson sent 6,000 troops under General John Pershing to the area. Pershing pursued Villa into Mexico trying to capture him, but his efforts were in vain. The only thing Pershing did do was upset the Mexican government and Carranza for invading their territory. Wilson recalled American troops without capturing Villa.

World War I

In 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. At the time, many European nations had made agreements to protect each other if attacked. Therefore, most of the European nations were pulled into a war that became World War I. The two groups fighting each other were the Central Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria, and the Allies, consisting of Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, Portugal, China, and Greece.

At first America remained neutral, following an isolationist policy. However, events combined to cause America to enter the war.

German submarines were harassing American ships traversing the Atlantic, and in 1917 the British ship Lusitania was sunk, killing 120 Americans and resulting in a major uproar in America against Germany. Later attacks sunk American merchant ships. Further, the Zimmerman telegram was released revealing that Germany had approached Mexico with an agreement to form an alliance if the United States entered the war. Due to this, America officially declared war on April 6, 1917.

General Pershing led American troops into battle to help the Allies defeat the Central Powers. On January 8, 1918, while the Allies were still fighting, Wilson delivered a speech to Congress where he outlined his fourteen points for how to bring a lasting peace to Europe. His plan included the abolition of secret treaties between nations, freedom of the seas and free trade, the redrawing of numerous territorial lines, the removal of forces from various occupied countries, and the creation of a League of Nations.

During the war, the government asked people to conserve gas and meat. For example, Wilson asked people to have meatless Mondays. To do his part, Wilson had a flock of sheep brought onto the White House lawn. This had the double benefit of keeping the cost of lawn maintenance down while selling the wool to give money to the Red Cross.

The war ended a year and a half later when an armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.

The End of War and the League of Nations

The Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war, was signed in 1919. In it, Germany was given most of the blame for the war and had to pay huge war reparations. The treaty was based on Wilson's fourteen points. However, it was his last point — the creation of a League of Nations — that caused America to take issue with the treaty. Many people did not believe that the United States should join the League of Nations. Wilson worked tirelessly trying to get support for the League, but in the end the Senate would not agree and did not ratify the treaty. Their refusal to join the League meant that it was never able to be an effective body and it eventually dissolved. Wilson, however, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his work in creating the League of Nations.

After the war ended, countries met to try and control military buildup. In December 1920, the Washington Arms Conference occurred where the former allies and Japan met. As a result of these talks, tonnage ratios were created to regulate each participating nation's supply of battleships. The ratio ended up being 5-United States, 5-Great Britain, 3-Japan, 1.75-France, and 1.75-Italy.