[bassmaner]

One of the least damaging parts of his awful eight years happened at the very beginning, when the Sixteenth Amendment was adopted, allowing a federal income tax.

I presume that the author is being sarcastic - the income tax was the beginning of the Imperial Federal Government. And the 17th Amendment, also enacted during the Wilson years (which changed the way U.S. Senators assumed power from being appointed by state legislatures to a popular election), was the last nail in the coffin for state's rights.

But probably the biggest blows to liberty during the Wilson Administration were the first successful movements to enact national prohibition laws: the Harrison Narcotics Act, passed in 1914, and growing power of the so-called temperance movement which led to the 18th (Prohibition) Amendment which was passed the year after Wilson left office. The fallout from these doomed attempts to defy human nature started the greatest crime wave in American history in the 1920's, and contributed to the destruction of the American inner cities and the corruption of several generations of minority youth.

Yes, the author is correct: Wilson was the Very Worst President of the United States - even worse than Clinton.

[murdoog]

And the 17th Amendment, also enacted during the Wilson years (which changed the way U.S. Senators assumed power from being appointed by state legislatures to a popular election), was the last nail in the coffin for state's rights.

I blame the 17th amendment for Clinton's impeachment acquital.