Woodrow Wilson's Heir

Washington comPost ^ | 6/5/2009 | Robert Kagan

[markomalley]

President Obama likes to see himself as a pragmatist, but in foreign policy he is proving to be a supreme idealist of the Woodrow Wilson variety.

Like Wilson's, Obama's foreign policy increasingly seems to rest on the assumption that nations will act on the basis of what they perceive to be the goodwill, good intentions or moral purity of other nations, in particular the United States. If other nations have refused to cooperate with us, it is because they perceive the United States as aggressive or evil. Obama's job is to change that perception. From the outreach to Iran and to Muslims, to the call for eliminating all nuclear weapons, to the desire for a "reset" in relations with Russia, the central point of Obama's diplomacy is that America is, suddenly, different. It has changed. It is better. It is time, therefore, for other nations to cooperate.

(snip)

It is conceivable that this theory may prove correct. Certainly, it will soon be tested. But let us not call it realism. The last president who sincerely pursued this approach was Woodrow Wilson. He, too, believed that the display of evident goodwill and desire for peace, uncorrupted by the base motives of national interest or ambition, gave him the special moral authority to sway other nations. And Wilson was as beloved around the globe as Obama is today, possibly more beloved, at least for a moment. Millions took to the streets in the great cities of Europe when he crossed the Atlantic in 1918. His gifts to persuade, however, proved ephemeral, and the results of his efforts were, from his own perspective, an utter failure. Not only the nations of the Europe but his own United States proved more self-interested and less amenable to moral appeals.

(snip)

[markomalley]

And we know how much of a tyrant Wilson was.

What was Wilson's Legacy?

I think a case could be made that his legacy includes:

- The Great Depression

- Nazi Germany

- World War II

I even can see linkage between Wilson and the vast majority of the problems that currently exist in the Middle East and Persian Gulf (admittedly, that's something that is not the most popular view, but nobody's been able to convince me otherwise)

Calling Bambi "Wilsonian" is particularly unnerving to me then.

[Borges]

Wilson was also a racist.

[markomalley]

Wilson was also a racist.

Goes without saying. He was a Democrat.

[rockinqsranch]

Seems few ever want to relate to the Wilson years as the time in history of the Bolshevik Revolution, and the effects of that era upon the course of the World that followed.

I’ll be blunt about it, I believe Wilson was a Commie personally.

[samtheman]

The last president who sincerely pursued this approach was Woodrow Wilson. He, too, believed that the display of evident goodwill and desire for peace, uncorrupted by the base motives of national interest or ambition, gave him the special moral authority to sway other nations.

And for all Wilson's faults he could at least be forgiven his fantasy of peace through goodwill for 2 reasons:

1. It really had never been tried before, not on such a scale anyway.

2. The countries he was trying to persuade could all be considered cultural cousins of the US with shared values and ideals, at least among the people. (Remember, Wilson acted before the rise of Facism.)

But Obama should know better. We know the history of Wilson's abject failure.

And the countries he's trying to woo with his warm-and-fuzzy diplomacy: they are all vicious savages, both in leadership and in polity, and have no use for anything remotely resembling what has been traditionally referred to as "Western Liberal Democracy".

Wilson tried to use hug-your-enemy diplomacy with a bunch of western states, in a first-of-its-kind effort.

Obama is mimicking that obvious loser strategy and applying it to the worst thugocracies, and thug citizenry's, in history.

Obama is a fool. The greatest fool in the history of our now-doomed Republic.

[Fiddlstix]

Wilson was also a racist.

You Bet ya!

He pronounced the film "Birth Of A Nation" to be the greatest epic of its time.
(An early silent film by D. W. Griffit also titled "The Clansmen" in some theaters)
Below is a "single frame" from that film:

Woodrow Wilson's History of the American People is quoted in The Birth of a Nation.

[hellbender]

I hope this parallel doesn't come to pass: Wilson had a stroke in 1919 and for over a year his wife concealed that fact and was de facto President herself.

Just think: Michele running the country!

[skinkinthegrass]

And we know how much of a tyrant Wilson was...
...Calling Bambi "Wilsonian" is particularly unnerving to me then.

and add to that, "America's Neville Chamberlain" too.

"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators." - P. J. O'Rourke
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually, run out of other people’s money.” - Margaret Thatcher
"There are two sets of rules. One set for the rulers and another for the rest of us." —Richard Yancey, former IRS tax collector

[jdfromny]

117,465 American KIA in two years. Those Progressive’s! So...deadly.

[WalterSkinner]

..one of my favorite presidents—to dislike...

[Ben Ficklin]

NeoCon Kagan's opinion that Obama's foreign policy is idealism is just that, an opinion.

The fact that many, many pragmatists/realists have endorsed Obama's policies would indicate that he is a pragmatist.

[burnitup]

How could we forget the Federal Reserve?
Income Tax Amendment?
American Protective League? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Protective_League

Its amazing how white washed Wilson’s legacy is and friggin scary that Obama would follow after him.

[what's up]

Critics complain that Obama's speeches are too self-referential. If so, this is not a mark of vanity. It is a strategy.

It may be a strategy, but it's still vain.

[Borges]

Well, in fairness it was the greatest film epic of its time.

[Hiddigeigei]

Wilson was an admirer and friend of Thomas Dixon, Jr., the author of The Clansman, the novel that inspired The Birth of a Nation.

[markomalley]

Thanks for the nightmares tonight

[Citizen Soldier]

One of his legacies was the creation of the League of Nations (predecessor of the U.N.) yet he wasn’t able to get the U.S. Congress to agree to join the League.

[Hawthorn]

Well, if it’s from the “Washington-com-dot-Post,” then it must be correct!

[vaudine]

"NeoCon Kagan's opinion that Obama's foreign policy is idealism is just that, an opinion. The fact that many, many pragmatists/realists have endorsed Obama's policies would indicate that he is a pragmatist."

He can be and is both--they are not mutually exclusive. Obama's ideal is a classless, Communist society--that is his dream of change and his ego tells him he can do it. Obama's pragmatism is both promoting and using economic chaos to bring his dream to fruition. To that end, he has hired over 220 staff to work to promote his policies--only about 9 or 10 times what any other Pres. has done.These are non-confirmed appointees working for the Exec. branch to further his usurpation of powers to the Executive.

Name me a few realists that have endorsed his policies, and define your meaning of the word realist.

vaudine

[sergeantdave]

Wilson was a racist who re-segregated the federal government. Obuma is a racist who wants to re-segregate American society.