On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before Congress to ask for a declaration of war against Germany, entering the United States in World War I: "The world must be made safe for democracy.... It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts."
