Since I have gotten many comments on this: the other President to go by his middle name was John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. Four Presidents had legally changed names from birth to the time they took office: Ulysses Simpson Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant), Dwight David Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower), William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III), Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.)
@@MollymaukT I think the Simpson was his mother's maiden name? Though I could be wrong on that. Not sure how it ended up as the middle initial though.
"Governor of New Jersey." That should have been immediate disqualification. Our consistently highest ranked governor was John Farmer who served for a total of 90 minutes.
My mind was blown when my history teacher in high school went off on a rant about how terrible Woodrow Wilson was because until that point I had thought about him as a pretty unassuming president. Now I love talking about how awful he was lol
It’s because he truly was a fascist and monster. Loved the KkK and single handedly resegregated the Federal Government. Yes resegregated needs to be a word for what Wilson did
Well Wilson also pushed for the Federal Trade Commission and the Adamson Act and the Federal Reserve and the income tax and the Clayton Antitrust Act. Now conservatives and libertarians would oppose his economic policies because of how liberal they were. But just like how basically everyone including myself agrees that FDR’s internment of the Japanese Americans was bad, everyone including myself denounces Wilson for being a racist and a segregationist.
Quite the obvious for my teacher, he said he was very similar to TR, and in some ways helped America, and even acknowledged his racial views saying that that’s one of the few problems with him, and to be honest, I used to hate Woodrow Wilson, now I think people bash him way too much, like I get the sedition act and espionage act but that doesn’t make him one of the worst U.S. Presidents.
I just had the same experience! Like I’d never heard much about him but then my history teacher was saying how he was the worst guy to ever be president in the US
Quite ironic, as he is one of the most known US Presidents here in Poland. He is remembered warmly, as he was in support of Polish Independence during World War 1 (one of the famous 14 Points, the 13th, if I remember correctly, mentioned forming Independent Polish state with free access to the sea)
The same with Thatcher who has a universally beloved reputation in Eastern Europe, while her reputation in the UK is a lot more controversial and divided along partisan lines.
That was one of the points which I think made Wilson not too horrible as Bucannan. Overall, I rate him 50/50. Not all too bad but not entirely good, so a meh.
Reminds me of Rutherford B. Hayes and how he is seen as a somewhat mediocre/below average and forgettable president here in the US, but in Paraguay he is lauded for his arbitration and favor to Paraguay after the disastrous Paraguayan war.
I think Wilson is the worst president because you can just replace Andrew Johnson with any southern democrat and get roughly the same ending but Wilson was such a unique political character that only he could have done what he did to America
I dislike Wilson solely cuz he prevented President Rosevelt from joining in the frontlines, the war would've been quicker with Rosevelt in the frontlines
@@erichvondonitz5325 Theodore Roosevelt is on another level of badass. Sadly, the reason people didn't voted him for his third term is because he was considered as war hawk/pro-war. Even though if America joined earlier, the war would ended much faster.
@@aaronclarke7732 Many youtubers and some historian suspected that with Teddy Roosevelt policy of strengthening the sea, USA can pretty much blockade Germany from their colonies. The U-boat still need to emerge from the sea to launch their torpedoes. Of course I can be wrong.
@@unknownguyindo4356 German colonies had zero impact on the war. They were late to the 'colony game' so they only had a few and actually didn't make much of them. Also the British already had a sea blockade and it was so effective that civilians starved in Germany, how much more could've been done? The U-boats also had not much impact on the war, yes they sank ships, but it didn't stop the blockade, it didn't stop the supplies for the allies. Actually the Germans ended there submarine war in 1918 even before the war ended because they thought it wasn't effective enough.
@@unknownguyindo4356 And if America actually joined the war and TR managed to convince the American public that it was necessary enough, not only the war would have ended the quicker but also the League of Nations will actually be an effective organization as the US would be inclined to join. The fiasco with the Sykes Picot agreement might have been averted with Teddy Roosevelt's firm yet efficient handling of properly dividing state boundaries for some would be independent nations out of the former Ottoman Empire. There will be still othercolonies though, but the only thing negative about it is that their independence might take a little longer but he practice was slowly dying out anyway and with that, almost ever colony on Earth in the what could have been timeline would have gained their independence peacefully with almost no bloodshed and no state boundary disputes. Hell even the communists revolutions Russia and maybe the world might have been averted. The Russian Empire will still fall, but Russia could have been a democratic nation once they are deposed. Additionally, it's maybe probable Nicholas II could still abdicate a bit more peacefully or at least peaceful enough that his family does not get massacred by anyone. What could have been.... Really.
Something that’s not often talked about either is Wilson hated German Americans and would refer to them as “beer N words”. The only other person you can say that hated German Americans more is William Harding, the governor of Iowa at the time my home state. Definitely worth a look for anyone who doesn’t know about it.
@@painvillegaming4119 legally it does, but then again, in a wartime period, governments end up approving emergency measures to deal with potential issues
As an eastern European, I find American history truly fruitful and magnificent and your daily content only makes it more interesting to learn. God bless!
If you are not familiar with Moldova, it is a small country in Eastern Europe mainly known for our wine but in history terms we are famous for a certain individual, the cousin of Vlad the Impaler, Stefan cel mare otherwise known as Stephan the Great who is known for being the king of Moldova but also making Moldova a shining beacon of independence against the Hungarians but more notably the Ottomans.
He defeated the Ottomans during the time of Muhammad the conqueror. He is probably the most underrated and best military mind and king probably in Europe if not the world.
Oh yeah I love those He was the guy who taught me about how awful the Wilson administration was. I previously just knew him as the guy who took advantage of the Republican split and started the League of Nations
I agree! Along with Cynical Historian’s video on the Lost Cause as well. He has many great videos, and if you like Mr. Beats videos, you’ll also like the Cynical Historian’s videos as well! 👍
It's a shame for historians to rank him as high as they do For one, they should recognise that the way he used "history" as a "historian" to enforce the reliability of his presidency is just completely horrible He was very subjective, something a typical historian generally wouldn't like Plus he used his opinions in the most racist manner possible
Many Historians have an odd fetish with liking presidents that do stuff, be it good or bad, and hence a president like Wilson is overrated and a president like Coolidge is underrated.
@@MondoBattlefield That’s a really good point. Wilson definitely did not sit back and try not to get shit done, though obviously it doesn’t mean it was for the better.
@@MondoBattlefield I mean Coolidge not doing anything is part of the problem. Keeping people like Andrew Mellon in the administration as Secretary of the Treasury is a mistake on a magnitude not forgivable. Mellon's huge corruption problem, his ineffective policy, and his later implicit support of things such as the anti-free trade Smooth-Hawley Tariff during the Hoover years which ruined our economy much more than needed during the depression make him a mistake that tarnishes every President that touches him.
Wilson seemed one of the easily forgettable presidents when I was growing up, partially how history in the US was being taught. The original founders had far more presented than most after, Wilson was only tangentially brought up on the discussion of WWI and the League of Nations failure with WW2. Plus was far enough ago that did not come up in modern politics classes. Granted at least he was covered enough to be forgetting him, there was several presidents before him that were practically not covered at all, since they were trying to cram like 400 years in history into a few semesters.
Yeah, it’s a major oversight in the way we teach US history. I’m a huge American history buff, and I could barely tell you anything about the presidencies between Lincoln and McKinley, other than major events like the Panic of 1873 and Garfield’s assassination. That whole Gilded Era just blurs together.
When I was in 10th grade my world history teachers said “Wilson was one of the best US presidents.” It wasn’t until I started watching your videos I knew how horrible he was
@@omalleycaboose5937 yeah him basically injecting the klan with steroids by showing a pro kkk movie in the White House was the single worst thing he did to this country
Those people are often either educated or prop up the progressive policies he had and ignored or sidelined the Imperialist and racist policies he implemented.
As a Venezuelan, I do know how it feels to have the president secluded out of office for sickness and still be the president and "sign" bills and "do" stuff.
The Third president who went by his middle name you were blanking on at 3:12 I think is Ulysses S. Grant, since he was born Hiram Ulysses Grant. From what I remember from Ken Burns' documentary on the Civil War, I think the clerk who registered his name at West Point got his name wrong and instead of bothering to straight the record straight, he just decided to live with it. Probably for the best since he went on to be one the greatest Union general during the Civil War and President of the US, all while his initials spelled US.
Woodrow Wilson's father was part of a significant split in the Presbyterian Church of the USA between anti-slavery Northerners and pro-slavery Southerners. Joseph was part of the Southern faction, despite being a Northerner and published a short-lived abolitionist paper before the 1850s. Cypher from the Cynical Historian covered this briefly in the first part of a two-part hit piece on Wilson.
It should be noted that "Birth of a Nation" was considered a masterpiece of technical filmmaking for its era. Of course, so too is the Nazi propaganda film "Triumph of the Will". Too bad the filmmakers couldn't have put their talents to use for good instead of evil.
@@abdihassan7208YTP is short for RUclips Poop. A while back on RUclips, that was a popular kind of video where creators would take an original media like a film or TV show, edit things for comedy, and produce a fun, wacky parody version of the original. I don’t see these kinds of videos on RUclips quite as much now, but they used to be very common.
I don't remember him being considered a 'bad' president in school. Mainly I recall his creating the League of Nations & how it ultimately failed, but was a precursor to the United Nations, and that he was against Germany's treatment in the Treaty of Versailles, and how he tried to keep us out of WW1.
Let us not forget, the Wilson nationalized America's railroads (calling it the United States Railroad Administration) and appointed as main director his son-in-law William Gibbs McAdoo who couldn't run a short tourist line with an endless supply of riders and money, let alone the main land's entire network. McAdoo was also secretary of the treasury among other jobs at the time so he had little time to even focus on the USRA. The money racked up in damages to the railroads by the USRA was so high, the government wouldn't finish paying it off until after WW2, not that they were enthusiastic to do so. I honestly believe our network never recovered from the USRA and subsequent overregulation by the ICC (and later the FRA) nearly destroyed our entire network completely in the 60-70's. So if some jackanape ever suggests re-nationalizing America's railroads, point to how disastrous the USRA was and ask them if they can truly ever trust the US government to run such an operation because I do not.
Chris, you are truly an amazing content-creator, although I am someone who enjoys history/politics, but isn't really that deep into it, I still very much enjoy your videos and look forward to new ones. We might have different views on somethings (I am an ex-muslim atheist who believes in socialism), I can still stand here praising you and enjoying your content. Thank you so much for your hard work.
However, given that many people in the United States felt that they should "avoid foreign entanglements", Wilson not getting involved in WW1 until 1917 is not too surprising. Fun fact: the Germans didn't start unrestricted submarine warfare earlier in 1917 because they needed time to bring a couple of divisions back from the front to defend against a possible invasion by Denmark!
@@peterkragelund4794 Actually, no. From what I understand, the German army was so badly stretched even in early 1917 that they were worried about Denmark invading in retaliation for the unrestricted submarine warfare.
@@nicholasconder4703 Despite the fact that Denmark would have loved to be able to militaryly liberate the part of Slesvig that eventually became (and still is) part of Denmark in 1920 after a referendum - the German high command must have been out of their minds with paranoia if their seriously thought that we represented a threat to them. I know a bit about my countrys history and that possibility has never come up, Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries with worried sick about the possibility of being dragged into the war - and cooperated politically to avoid just that. It is true however that during WW2 the Germans misspent ressorces in orden to fortify the West Coast of Denmark. The Allies did not dream about staging an invasion through Denmark because the penisular from west to east is so narrow (42 miles) between Denmark and Germany.
@@peterkragelund4794 I know. It says an awful lot about the German mindset during WW1 that they thought this. Then again, this is also the nation that as late as October 1918 wanted, as part of a peace settlement, to retain control of Belgium. They also had over half a million men still in Russia busily expanding their holdings there. And, they are also the nation that sent the Zimmerman telegram. From everything I have seen in recent years, it is almost like someone took the inmates from an insane asylum and put them in charge of Germany from at least the early 1900s.
@@nicholasconder4703 The Zimmermann Telegram only guaranteed the American Southwest to Mexico in the event of war between Germany and the USA. It did not actually call for Mexico to just randomly launch an unprovoked attack against a neutral state.
I've wanted to recommended this to you for reaction for a few weeks now but I didn't because didn't know if you'd like it or not, I'm super excited to see your reactions to this!
What’s sad is that most kids growing up and even adults think Wilson was one of the greatest presidents and most well known just because he lead us and helped win us WW1 idk if it’s because of lack of education or what but ngl I was one of them until I actually did research and realized how bad and terrible he was.
bro ww1 was lead by britan and germany although america contributed at the end even if they didnt Germany would end up running out of supply in. a few years anyway
It was also under his watch that the Federal Reserve was created and taxation became law. I personally trace most current era problems to the foundation he laid.
Eh the Federal Reserve and Income tax/payroll tax are good things. Monetary policy is an important economic tool that the Federal Reserve can use, and they helped avoid a repeat of the Great Depression by increasing the supply of money is tandem with fiscal stimulus. At least, that's an open option once the gold standard was finally destroyed (good companion actions of FDR in 1933 and Nixon decades later). For income tax, that funds a huge chunk of programs that have lowered poverty rates and make investments like NASA possible. Without that, we'd still be dependent on tariffs and the alcohol tax. And tariffs are bad economics.
Yes, how does this video not address the two most destructive initiatives in US history? For all of Wilson’s racism and other nonsense, the income tax and Fed were his worst legacies.
@@AdamVassGal I believe I was posting in order to EMPHASIZE these issues, as I consider them to be more heinous than the others mentioned. I don't see them getting rectified unless people like myself are squeaky wheels. However, it has been awhile since I watched the video in question and may have forgotten the point of the post.
@@jamesleckie1829no they aren’t that’s an extremely stupid take. The federal reserve is a bunch of unelected bureaucrats that have major control of the economy and aren’t held accountable by anything. Even Woodrow Wilson himself later in life realized how big of a mistake the federal reserve was.
Even as a young kid I always kinda thought Wilson sucked. I can't remember why I felt that way. I think it's cause he has a slimy looking face. Then as I got a little older and became a teen and more interested in politics I totally realized I was right. He does suck.
Y’know I’m really glad I found your channel. I admittedly had very radical ideals (only fueled by our two party system pitting sides against each other), but it wasn’t until I actually started watching these history reactions that my viewpoint became more mixed, and certainly for the better. I won’t talk politics here, but just know that your videos made me much more aware of reality.
What's interesting is how Woodrow Wilson is still ranked very high by presidential scholars. He's consistently ranked in the top 15 or even top 10. My textbook in high school portrayed Wilson as a progressive hero.
Well yeah, you got elite Democrat libs making the rankings. Can't rank a Democrat low. There is a reason why FDR is always ranked at the top even though he actually extended the great depression. Usually they'll rank Wilson above Reagan
He was though. The man was unquestionably the most revolutionary and progressive president the USA has ever had. The problem is your textbook didn’t realise that was the whole crux of the problem.
@@Longshanks1690 FDR was the most economically progressive president ever and was certainly one of the best, Lincoln was a progressive (for his time in the USA) in regards to slavery. Wilson was against progress on many issues, and was in a way reactionary ( he literally segregated the federal government).
I screwed up. I moved my family from Houston Texas to Staunton, Virginia. Before getting here, I did not realize that I was relocating to the home of Woodrow Wilson.
Its strange how much Ive seen people get taught Wilson was one of the best presidents in US history (I was too), only to find out later how badly he messed up and just how out of touch he was
Hi Chris! Perhaps you were thinking of Ulysses S. Grant? His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but he didn’t like that his initials spelled out “hug,” so he took his mother’s maiden name of Simpson. Also, I never knew so many President’s used middle names. Thanks for the interesting content and your authenticity in approaching history. Especially the difficult subjects. It really helps me having a creator like you build this community around your channel and I know we probably don’t agree on everything, but we can agree that history is a necessity. In how and why we learn from it. God bless.
No I was thinking of John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. Grant's name had been changed to Ulysses Simpson Grant by the time he was President. As a child he went by Ulysses Hiram by switching his first and middle names. Simpson only came in because of a screw up in his West Point nomination, so he just kept the change.
Not related to Wilson, but to the chart about the historical rankings of presidents. Something I noticed a while ago and leapt out at me again here is the change of historical opinions about US Grant. When I was a kid in the '70s, Grant was consistently ranked as one of the worst presidents of all time. That chart also reflects that, ranking in the bottom five consistently for many years. Lately, he's improved and is now in the top half of all presidents. I think that is a phenomenon worthy of a video of your own, or if there are other videos out there on that phenomenon at least a reaction to it. I have my own ideas about why this has happened, why he was rated so low to begin with and why he has been so rehabilitated recently. I'm interested to hear yours.
A lot of it has to do with the awful mess Grant was saddled with trying to clean up after Andrew Johnson. Not only was Grant trying to rebuild the South, but he was also having to fight both the KKK and those northerners who wanted the South to suffer for causing and prosecuting the war. I don't think there are many people who could have managed this, and most would certainly have flubbed it really badly.
@@nicholasconder4703 The point is that in the last 100 years, we have learned almost nothing new about Grant or his administration. History did not change, however his ranking by historians has, because historians changed. This happens with most presidents, however it is most profound with grant. This is a phenomenon that others have noted and commented upon, and has specific reasons and individuals that have driven this. For me, it is a reminder that history is in fact constantly being reinterpreted, and as new generations of historians come of age, frequently are understanding of the past changes even if we learned nothing new.
The only thing Wilson did that I agreed with were the terms he wanted to end ww1 on, except his arrogance caused him to do everything possible to make it not come to pass.
There is literally nothing he could have done to force the European Entente to ever accept his terms short of going to war. That's such an absurd thing to hold against him.
@@stephenjenkins7971 Except he could. The UK/French needed massive reparations from Germany to repay American debts. If America weren't so aggressive in pursuing those debts then they wouldn't have bankrupted Germany. There was a debt pyramid between Germany-Entente-America that was entirely controlled by America at the top. Also Wilson not joining the league undermined it from day one.
@@jgw9990 Most of the reparations were caused by war damage, not American debts. US debts were constantly argued lower during and after the Versailles Treaty, and were nowhere near high enough to justify the reparations cost. In cast the US itself would refuse to sign the Versailles Treaty and sign a separate treaty that had no such reparations scheme and then provide Germany with cheap loans to help it on its feet at great cost to the US itself. It was because of the US that Germany had a mini-Golden Age post-WW1 and pre-WW2, in fact. What brought that crashing down and made Versailles' damage via France/UK inevitable was the Great Depression which siphoned all American credit from Germany which was keeping it afloat. Convenient you forgot to mention that.
What’s so interesting about Wilson is that he’s an interesting figure to test someone’s ideas on history because in almost every textbook I had in high school or elementary school, Wilson was shown in a massively popular light and all his policies were pushed as good and all his “personal flaws” were not even mentioned. So if you’re only knowledge of history is through your basic school history class, your idea of Woodrow Wilson is 180 degrees and diametrically opposed to what almost everyone I know who has more than a passing knowledge of history thinks of him. Like if you only know him from school you think he’s an A tier president but if you actually know anything about history you think he’s an F Tier president
Not to mention his signing of the federal reserve act of 1913 and the subsequent approval of a federal tax. He let the creature from Jekyll island, that den of vipers into our house..
This applies to literally any figure in history one can name, very rare exceptions notwithstanding. It’s odd for someone to live up to their reputation.
My education of Wilson was pretty watered down...until recently I thought he was a decent president, having led us to victory in WWI, the C-Span polls, being on the $100,000 bill, being the only Ph.D. etc. Turns out a lot of facts about him were omitted until the 90's - 2000's. Looking forward to tomorrow's episode!
I get the impression the original video left out some content on purpose since the guy was dedicated enough to make another woodrow wilson hate day video with some of the things mentioned at the end like segregation in the government (so more content for later)
Aside from the League of Nations (UN is better), those are all good things. Income tax gives us enough revenue to lower trade barriers and address poverty head on. 17th Amendment is pro-democracy. League of Nations was all about using diplomacy to avoid war, and the Federal Reserve allows for monetary policy give the private sector what they need to tackle recessions.
@@AmericanImperium1776 the ability of the Federal Reserve to control interest rates, assess banks, and at least offer some sort of regulation of the banks where the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, FDIC, IRS, and others cannot is good. Not allowing for some version of control just makes recessions worse when they happen. Just like freeing up our Currency by eliminating the gold standard was a good idea, the Federal Reserve is a good idea. The whole initial argument against the National Bank in the Jackson Era was: corruption, lack of available money, and quasi-arguments about slavery. The defense was about having a cohesive monetary policy. We got rid of slavery, via elimination of the gold standard we got rid of artificially tight money, and via eliminating a government sanctioned monopoly we got rid of a huge chunk of corruption. The Federal Reserve at least allows for some imperfect oversight over the banking system, and returns some cohesiveness along with the FDIC and OCC.
A video series i think would interest you is the History vs. series by TEDed. Where they debate controversial figures in history (Andrew Jackson, Genghis Khan, Napoleon etc.) and portray it as a trial
2:29 Thank you for mentioning that Nixon isn’t that bad of a President. I feel like everyone else pays so much attention to Watergate that we don’t mention the ways that he helped the nation like pulling troops out of Vietnam and being the first president to visit the USSR during the Cold War. He definitely not the best President, but still, in my opinion, nowhere close to the worst President
Senate Democrats we’re barely above 50% supporting the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Republicans were 80% in favor. This means that Wilson either didn’t try to sway Democrats to support the amendment or he failed in doing so. Also, the US was in an economic depression in 1930 that was deeper than the one in the 1930s. Wilson signed legislation establishing the Federal Reserve. We can have another discussion on whether that was good or bad.
Woodrow Wilson. He will always be on my top 5 Worst Presidents list. Personally, I see him as a more "progressive", 20th century version of Andrew Johnson. I know it wasn't mentioned in the video, but basically part of the reason why Edith Wilson was a proxy president after his stroke was because of the fact that the Wilsons couldn't stand Vice President Marshall. I came across a story where he was a victim of a hoax where he was informed that Wilson had died and he had spread the word to a congregation that he went to. This congregation even said a prayer for Wilson only for him to learn later on that it was a hoax. Vice President Marshall should've been far more forceful in assuming the powers and duties of the office. Unfortunately, we didn't have a 25th Amendment at that time that would've codified any ability to do so. Poor guy, not just the victim of a hoax and a complete corrupt power grab by the Wilsons, but he didn't have enough of a backbone to at least look into Wilson's condition to see if he was capable of carrying out the full powers and duties of the office (which he clearly was not after his stroke). Also not mentioned is the ridiculousness of his "He Kept Us Out of War" campaign shrill in 1916 only to send Americans to war months into his second term and depending on how one feels about it, the Federal Reserve. Without question the worst president during 1900 and 1950, and I even rate him below commonly criticized presidents like Harding and Hoover.
Harding was a decent president, actually. I believe this for the following reasons 1. Attempted to make lynching illegal, and was in support of black voting rights 2. Released political prisoners that got imprisoned under Woodrow Wilson 3. Introduced the Federal highway act of 1921 4. Opposed US intervention in Latin America 5. Implemented programs to help poor mothers which reduced infant mortality rates and deaths from child birth 6. Ended the Wilsonian recession, through years of high GDP growth, reduced unemployment, and lowering inflation 7. The roaring 20s began under him 8. Handling of the Washington Naval Conference in 1921-22 9. President Harding signed a peace treaty with Austria and Germany post World War I. 10. He pulled the country out of Woodrow Wilson’s politics 11. Helped implement the 8 hour work day in the steel mills industry 12. Signed the Sweet Act 13. Budget and Accounting Act 14. Packers and Stockyards Act 15. Reduced national debt and balanced the budget 16. Allowing Herbert Hoover to run the American Relief Administration, which saved over 10.5 million people from starvation, and provided medicine to millions 17. Withdrew troops from Cuba 18. Improving relations with Canada, by being the first sitting American president to tour and give a speech there
Woodrow Wilson solved some issues in my homecountry: he was for peoples referendums, where the people could vote for a country. So Carinthia stayed a little bit bigger and the slovenian speaking people were forced to stay Austrian (not as this was the wish of anyone, but Austria got made so small and we could keep a little bit more).
Because Historians like Presidents who do things. It doesn’t matter if the things are awful because it gives them things to talk about, so FDR and Wilson get ranked highly while ma boi Coolidge gets shafted because he was seen as a “do nothing,” when that’s the whole reason why people like me adore him.
@@Longshanks1690 FDR is overrated too. he was also a racist, and he put japanese-americans in internment camps. without any trial or due process. wilson was a catastrophe in almost every conceivable way. definitely bottom 5 and quite possibly the worst of them all. andrew johnson was also a catastrophe. there might be no one less suitable to be president immediately following a civil war fought primarily over slavery. speaking of dicks, i don't know why the other johnson gets so much love either. LBJ was a completely reprehensible human being, and got american troops involved in the vietnam war. i don't really have any issue with coolidge. which might in itself puts him near the top, probably. nowadays, the democratic candidates are all alike, and the republican candidates are all alike, and whichever party wins, america loses. because none of them give a damn about the people their office is supposed to serve. americans don't really have a say in who governs them. american democracy is illusory at best. when your choices are trump or biden, it's like being offered a choice of how you'd rather be ass-raped, because not at all is not an option.
@@otisdylan9532 he does have that going for him, which is a good thing because he’s got nothing else. well, at least he’s the better johnson, but that’s a low bar.
Thank you Vlogging through History for doing a much better job than the the Video you reacted to for giving much rationale and examples on your assessment on Wilson.
That story about his wife doing all the business in his name reminds me of the same story that happened in China in the last months under Mao. He spoke in an ununderstandable way and the only person who could understand him was his secretary so... you know what it means 😂😂
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.” ~ Woodrow Wilson
We here in europe remember wilson as he put out the 14 points of wilson, being the only one to suggest that the punishment for ww1 should be less than what the french wanted. If the other leaders listened to him, maybe we would evaded ww2. So maybe he was a bad president in the us, but for me he was the only voice of reason in the peace treaties that wasnt filled with irrational rage and hate.
Plus Germany's post war debt was actually caused by them bankrolling everything on credit. Why you ask? Cause they never thought they could loose until it was too late. The allies mostly used war bonds on the other hand to generate funding.
Germany's "punishment" wasn't worse than regular terms of surrender before WW1. The idea that Germany was pushed to dictatorship and another war by the treaty is a nazi propaganda.
One positive thing about Woodrow Wilson was he almost did a better job of preventing WW2 than my guy Neville Chamberlain. If he had his way when it came to Versailles.
@@showbuster he's at the White House and gives speeches and takes questions all the time. Like every time he meets a foreign dignitary. I think that stems from the fact that he and Trump didn't do many proper press conferences, but they still gave speeches and were in meetings fairly constantly (regardless of if you agree with their actions or not). This is one of those things that circulate the internet that just isn't really true at all.
@@jamesleckie1829 The fact you wrote such a long message just to defend a terrible administration tells me a lot. You say "This is one of those things that circulate the internet that just isn't really true at all". well, look at it yourself you poor brainwashed man. ruclips.net/video/NHgjWQxMuKk/видео.html here is another example lol : ruclips.net/video/lTHzCi3j6IA/видео.html
@@showbuster dude, I've literally watched some of the live speeches. You're being tricked by poorly edited clips and a toxic media environment. There's plenty you can find to critique without going to the lowest common crap possible. The fact that this is your link tells me a lot about you.
I remember a History teacher telling the class about the truth about the sinking of the Lusitania. A week before sailing the German Government posted in several major newspapers that the ship was carrying ammunition to Ireland. Another issue I have is how the Treaty of Versailles was a major part of WW2.
7:34 Not only ammunition etc. The Lusitania and Mauretania were also funded by the Royal Navy so that they can be used as auxiliary cruisers during wars, meaning during war time they could be easily taken by the Royal Navy, outfitted with guns as it was already planned during construction and ordered to destroy enemy ships it finds. Aka, sinking it took the Royal Navy a potential ship
We here in Albania, would rank Wilson as one of the best U.S presidents in history as he spoke up for Albanian independence at the Treaty of Versallies, just like he did for Poland. We even have a city square in Tirana named after him, and a Statue of him in our capital.
Same with Clinton and Blair in kosovo. Just to bad they were actually mass murdering POS ww1,iraq wars respectively. One made possible for his country to become a privately owned coropration by the banks the others followed suit. As an albanian I don't want no support or sympathy from this man. He spoke in favour of us so what? In the end it was Austro hungary,Italy and Britain intervention that made it possible for us to exist. USA did nothing. Same with kosovo. There was no independence. The kosovo traded yugoslavia for nato and being a puppet of usa they do whatever usa tells including to get down on their knees and lick the dirt off their boots. Both Albania and Kosovo are shitholes owned by banks and politician sellouts now.
I've got two things, one for my fellow viewers, and one for Chris: For my fellow viewers, I'd also like to encourage you to check out the original content on this channel. I'm sure that many of you have been attracted to this channel by the very friendly, human feel of it, and I think our host does an excellent job in bringing out the human side of the events he covers in the historic site videos. There's more to history than the big stories everyone knows, and he gives us the personal stories of some of those who were involved. If you're here for the same reason I am, I have no doubt you'll enjoy that. For Chris, have you ever read the book 1920: The Year of Six Presidents by David Pietrusza? It explains how Woodrow Wilson actually hoped for a third term. His "plan" (if you can call it that) was that the Democrat convention would deadlock and decide to stick with him as their candidate. I thought it was very revealing of his Messiah complex to still think he was the guy needed for the job with his shattered health.
@@VloggingThroughHistory I'd highly recommend it. It's a far more interesting election than the blowout would suggest because of all the past, present, and future presidents involved. And I meant every word I said. I really can't express how much I appreciate what you do here.
General consensus on Wilson is dropping, when the Presidential Rankings came out back in 2000, he was ranked 6th, and he's steadily dropped, down to 13th, and probably still going to keep dropping.
Since I am a russian, from my perspective, his both lucklaster(we will not join WW1) AND energetic(I want that thing, so allies can do whatever) attitude during WW1 killed a ton of my compatriots in first half of a century. sigh.
Although it's a very common thing in present day, Woodrow Wilson was the first president since James Monroe to run for re-election with the same vice-president.
Since its mentioned from time to time... interested in taking a look at History Matters´s video "How Harsh was the Treaty of Versailles Really?" Would be interesting to hear your input on it.
Yeah I'd like to see that. TimeGhost History also has a video called "Versailles Treaty ≠ Hitler’s Rise to Power", where they argue that the treaty leading directly to Hitler's rise to power is a Nazi myth.
@@Andrew.Schlei I have missed that one. Will check it out later, but yes. The stab in the back & Versailles leading to WW2 myths are kind of in question a lot in recent years.
Yes I've been waiting for this video and I definitely agree with all of the reasons of hating him. To me I think that he is the lost hated president that has Been brought up as up the 20th century
I was always curious, what are your reasons for Wilson and Johnson over Andrew Jackson? I know Johnson and Wilson had their flaws and acted in putting the country behind in their own way, but what makes you consider Jackson as less impactful? I feel strongly that Jackson should be included at least top 3 worst presidents.
I got to mention some great things about Wilson: -he shortened WW1 with quite a few casualties for the americans -he wanted a fair redrawing of the borders of Europe (Europe was crazy imperialistic, Russia and Austro-Hungary had something like 15 different populations) -he declared war on USSR- I mean restoring the Romanov family back to the throne woulnd've not be such a great idea either, but imagine the world if the USRR never existed: no Iron Courtain, no Vietnam, no communist China, Cuba, North Korea, no Chernobyl and so on... I'm not a fan of Wilson, simply the fact that he put harsh terms for Germany after WW1 is alone the worst decision in modern history*
Wilson didn't put the harsh terms on Germany, he acquiesced to the UK and France, especially France, putting harsh terms on Germany. I'm not a fan of WIlson either, BTW.
Vietnam was always going to happen. It wasn't a struggle over economic ideology but one of independence. Its not like communism made the French hold onto their colonies post WWII. Algeria also rebelled, and was lost by the French, to become a republic. We should have sided with the Vietnamese against the French as colonial liberators. Ho Chi Minh could then ally with the US instead of Mao Zedong. Economics and diplomacy are mixed.
We should have never joined WW1. 117k dead for no gain for the US He was so incompetent at governing that he could not stop the Bolsheviks from taking power. An invasion of Russia for nothing He barely did anything to get a fair redrawing of Europe
I'm by no means a Wilson fan but to lump him in with the likes of Andrew Johnson and Buchanan is just unfair. Sure, he was extremely racist, but that's hardly surprising for the time given his background. Let's remember that Lincoln also did things of dubious constitutionality, perhaps justifiably, given wartime necessity. It's hardly Wilson's fault that the senate did not ratify the League treaty or that France and Britain imposed such punitive conditions on Germany.
...this man was hard-core racist. He embraced the KKK and white supremacy. Sorry dude but that's enough to put him right next to Andrew Johnson if not lower. Just because it was more acceptable at the time doesn't make it any better
I absolutely despise Woodrow Wilson, obviously. But in my opinion, his “14 points” were actually good, and probably would’ve prevented a WWII if fully implemented. However, this obviously does not outweigh ALLLLL of the bad, because there is wayyyy too much of it
I'm with you on Nixon. Not to give him a pass, but I'm sure his opponents were doing the same but not to that extent. Bugging people's phones and things like that would have been new technology and likely experimented with by both parties.
Nixon deserves to be remembered as a terrible president, but for the following reasons 1. Aided the Bengali genocide which led to the deaths of 300k-3 million people and displacement of around ten million people, by supplying the Pakistani government with weapons to do the genocide. They did this because Pakistan was a capitalist ally in the Cold War. If the highest estimate of 3 million is to be used, it was one of the deadliest genocides in human history. 2. Watergate. It gets overblown considering how corrupt politicians are nowadays, and how it didn’t even change the course of the 1972 election, but still bad nonetheless 3. Stagflation, price control, and his overall handling of the economy 4. Bombings over Cambodia 5. War on Drugs, which contributed to America having the highest per capita substance abuse rate in the world, almost 3 times higher than the second highest country, being Canada. It also led to the US having the highest per capita prison population in the world, almost comparable to Stalin’s USSR in per capita imprisonment (0.7% to 0.86% of the population respectively) However, it was not until Reagan that it became the monstrosity it is today. 6. Fought back against Mcgovern’s guaranteed minimum income tax, which he knew would be easy to fund and implement 7. Sabotaged peace talks with Vietnam, in order to win the 1968 election. LBJ realized his mistake and started to negotiate with North Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. This made it possible for the democrats to win the 1968 election. Nixon saw this, and because he wanted to win the election instead, sabotaged peace talks, promising the North Vietnamese that they would get a better deal if Nixon was elected. Nixon expanded the war until his impeachment, and it would not be until Ford that there would be no more American deaths in Vietnam. According to History News Network, 21,041 Americans died in Vietnam under Nixon, with the total amount of troops dying in Vietnam being 58,220. The total Vietnamese death toll could be anywhere from 500k to 1.5 million dead under Nixon.
There was nothing new about wiretapping at the time. It was introduced in the 19th century and had undergone legal review. Maybe some particular technology was new, but the concept was not. And you can't be an actual criminal in office and escape the bottom ten IMO - at least until we have more than ten criminal presidents.
I remember here in the UK (at least for me at school) the only thing we get taught is when we learned about WW1 is Wilson's 14 points and his involvement in the peace process at the Treaty of Versailles. It wasn't until learning from videos on this channel that I learnt how horrid some of his domestic policies were especially when concerning African Americans and segregation.
Since I have gotten many comments on this: the other President to go by his middle name was John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. Four Presidents had legally changed names from birth to the time they took office: Ulysses Simpson Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant), Dwight David Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower), William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III), Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.)
Didn't the "S" stand for nothing? I thought I remembered reading that somewhere but could be wrong.
@@MollymaukT that's what i thought too
I don’t think his middle name was actually Simpson.
>lynch king junior
Lmfao
@@MollymaukT I think the Simpson was his mother's maiden name? Though I could be wrong on that. Not sure how it ended up as the middle initial though.
"Governor of New Jersey."
That should have been immediate disqualification. Our consistently highest ranked governor was John Farmer who served for a total of 90 minutes.
He wasn’t in long enough to mob up brother
@@night6724 Everyone has good and bad in them. Some people grossly outweigh one or the other.
@@night6724 yes the founder of the central bank the most corrupt organization in western civilization eliminated corruption
in Jersey they have got that pygmy thing.
@@BountyFlamor Jersey's a small state, Taft moves in- he could flip it over.
My mind was blown when my history teacher in high school went off on a rant about how terrible Woodrow Wilson was because until that point I had thought about him as a pretty unassuming president. Now I love talking about how awful he was lol
It’s because he truly was a fascist and monster. Loved the KkK and single handedly resegregated the Federal Government. Yes resegregated needs to be a word for what Wilson did
Well Wilson also pushed for the Federal Trade Commission and the Adamson Act and the Federal Reserve and the income tax and the Clayton Antitrust Act. Now conservatives and libertarians would oppose his economic policies because of how liberal they were. But just like how basically everyone including myself agrees that FDR’s internment of the Japanese Americans was bad, everyone including myself denounces Wilson for being a racist and a segregationist.
Quite the obvious for my teacher, he said he was very similar to TR, and in some ways helped America, and even acknowledged his racial views saying that that’s one of the few problems with him, and to be honest, I used to hate Woodrow Wilson, now I think people bash him way too much, like I get the sedition act and espionage act but that doesn’t make him one of the worst U.S. Presidents.
I just had the same experience! Like I’d never heard much about him but then my history teacher was saying how he was the worst guy to ever be president in the US
It wasn't me was it? I can't help but rant about him
Quite ironic, as he is one of the most known US Presidents here in Poland. He is remembered warmly, as he was in support of Polish Independence during World War 1 (one of the famous 14 Points, the 13th, if I remember correctly, mentioned forming Independent Polish state with free access to the sea)
Yeah I think he has a much better reputation internationally than he does here in the US and that is understandable.
The same with Thatcher who has a universally beloved reputation in Eastern Europe, while her reputation in the UK is a lot more controversial and divided along partisan lines.
That was one of the points which I think made Wilson not too horrible as Bucannan. Overall, I rate him 50/50. Not all too bad but not entirely good, so a meh.
Reminds me of Rutherford B. Hayes and how he is seen as a somewhat mediocre/below average and forgettable president here in the US, but in Paraguay he is lauded for his arbitration and favor to Paraguay after the disastrous Paraguayan war.
I think I heard when Mr Beat was talking about him that as far as internationally he was amazing, but as far as for the US he was bad.
I think Wilson is the worst president because you can just replace Andrew Johnson with any southern democrat and get roughly the same ending but Wilson was such a unique political character that only he could have done what he did to America
I dislike Wilson solely cuz he prevented President Rosevelt from joining in the frontlines, the war would've been quicker with Rosevelt in the frontlines
@@erichvondonitz5325 Theodore Roosevelt is on another level of badass. Sadly, the reason people didn't voted him for his third term is because he was considered as war hawk/pro-war. Even though if America joined earlier, the war would ended much faster.
@@aaronclarke7732 Many youtubers and some historian suspected that with Teddy Roosevelt policy of strengthening the sea, USA can pretty much blockade Germany from their colonies.
The U-boat still need to emerge from the sea to launch their torpedoes.
Of course I can be wrong.
@@unknownguyindo4356 German colonies had zero impact on the war. They were late to the 'colony game' so they only had a few and actually didn't make much of them. Also the British already had a sea blockade and it was so effective that civilians starved in Germany, how much more could've been done? The U-boats also had not much impact on the war, yes they sank ships, but it didn't stop the blockade, it didn't stop the supplies for the allies. Actually the Germans ended there submarine war in 1918 even before the war ended because they thought it wasn't effective enough.
@@unknownguyindo4356 And if America actually joined the war and TR managed to convince the American public that it was necessary enough, not only the war would have ended the quicker but also the League of Nations will actually be an effective organization as the US would be inclined to join. The fiasco with the Sykes Picot agreement might have been averted with Teddy Roosevelt's firm yet efficient handling of properly dividing state boundaries for some would be independent nations out of the former Ottoman Empire. There will be still othercolonies though, but the only thing negative about it is that their independence might take a little longer but he practice was slowly dying out anyway and with that, almost ever colony on Earth in the what could have been timeline would have gained their independence peacefully with almost no bloodshed and no state boundary disputes.
Hell even the communists revolutions Russia and maybe the world might have been averted. The Russian Empire will still fall, but Russia could have been a democratic nation once they are deposed. Additionally, it's maybe probable Nicholas II could still abdicate a bit more peacefully or at least peaceful enough that his family does not get massacred by anyone.
What could have been.... Really.
Something that’s not often talked about either is Wilson hated German Americans and would refer to them as “beer N words”. The only other person you can say that hated German Americans more is William Harding, the governor of Iowa at the time my home state. Definitely worth a look for anyone who doesn’t know about it.
Wilson was even more racist than the Nazis.
How do you manage to win the gubernatorial race in Iowa, if you hate Germans? You gotta lie through your nose about your beliefs to pull that off.
@@johanrunfeldt7174 I don’t know the details of his campaign, but because of him Iowa was the only state to outlaw the German language.
@@bigdawgtojo1998 doesn’t that go against the amendement
@@painvillegaming4119 legally it does, but then again, in a wartime period, governments end up approving emergency measures to deal with potential issues
As an eastern European, I find American history truly fruitful and magnificent and your daily content only makes it more interesting to learn. God bless!
What country? Always interesting to here a foreign perspective on our history.
If you are not familiar with Moldova, it is a small country in Eastern Europe mainly known for our wine but in history terms we are famous for a certain individual, the cousin of Vlad the Impaler, Stefan cel mare otherwise known as Stephan the Great who is known for being the king of Moldova but also making Moldova a shining beacon of independence against the Hungarians but more notably the Ottomans.
He defeated the Ottomans during the time of Muhammad the conqueror. He is probably the most underrated and best military mind and king probably in Europe if not the world.
@@BalkanVlach I’m guessing you’re a proud Moldovan?
@@jimreilly917 yes
Any anti-Wilson video gets an automatic thumbs up from me.
Great video as always, Chris.
I would recommend The Cynical Historian’s videos about Woodrow Wilson.
^^ WIIIILSOOON!
Oh yeah I love those
He was the guy who taught me about how awful the Wilson administration was.
I previously just knew him as the guy who took advantage of the Republican split and started the League of Nations
I agree!
Along with Cynical Historian’s video on the Lost Cause as well.
He has many great videos, and if you like Mr. Beats videos, you’ll also like the Cynical Historian’s videos as well! 👍
I second this
Yes his videos on Wilson are a must see
You should also watch their 2019 Woodrow Wilson Hate Day. The part on how Woodrow handled the Spanish flu always cracks me up.
Not to mention that under Wilson we also got Federal Reserve Act, and the Revenue Act...
The Father of the IRS
Which are good things that benefitted the country
Those things would have happened no matter who the president was. The plans were inherited from Teddy Roosevelt.
@@qwertyasdf4081 caused the great depression
I also highly recommend The Cynical Historians two videos on Wilson. Very well researched.
It's a shame for historians to rank him as high as they do
For one, they should recognise that the way he used "history" as a "historian" to enforce the reliability of his presidency is just completely horrible
He was very subjective, something a typical historian generally wouldn't like
Plus he used his opinions in the most racist manner possible
Subjective is an interesting descriptor. He was racist. Against everyone non WASP.
Many Historians have an odd fetish with liking presidents that do stuff, be it good or bad, and hence a president like Wilson is overrated and a president like Coolidge is underrated.
@@MondoBattlefield That’s a really good point. Wilson definitely did not sit back and try not to get shit done, though obviously it doesn’t mean it was for the better.
@@MondoBattlefield I mean Coolidge not doing anything is part of the problem. Keeping people like Andrew Mellon in the administration as Secretary of the Treasury is a mistake on a magnitude not forgivable. Mellon's huge corruption problem, his ineffective policy, and his later implicit support of things such as the anti-free trade Smooth-Hawley Tariff during the Hoover years which ruined our economy much more than needed during the depression make him a mistake that tarnishes every President that touches him.
He did amazing things though
Been waiting for this video for an eternity
Samee
Wilson seemed one of the easily forgettable presidents when I was growing up, partially how history in the US was being taught. The original founders had far more presented than most after, Wilson was only tangentially brought up on the discussion of WWI and the League of Nations failure with WW2. Plus was far enough ago that did not come up in modern politics classes.
Granted at least he was covered enough to be forgetting him, there was several presidents before him that were practically not covered at all, since they were trying to cram like 400 years in history into a few semesters.
ironically he wanted the US to join the League of Nations. But Congress said no
Yeah, it’s a major oversight in the way we teach US history. I’m a huge American history buff, and I could barely tell you anything about the presidencies between Lincoln and McKinley, other than major events like the Panic of 1873 and Garfield’s assassination. That whole Gilded Era just blurs together.
When I was in 10th grade my world history teachers said “Wilson was one of the best US presidents.” It wasn’t until I started watching your videos I knew how horrible he was
Same thing for me. Tho also I read Wilson's Biography, cause I read every presidents, and he was pretty suck.
@@omalleycaboose5937 yeah him basically injecting the klan with steroids by showing a pro kkk movie in the White House was the single worst thing he did to this country
Those people are often either educated or prop up the progressive policies he had and ignored or sidelined the Imperialist and racist policies he implemented.
@@kamdenmadan3289 he literally then said “ladies you should love Wilson he gave you the right to vote.” 😂😂😂😂
@Trade Bum Simmons true but I was 15 at the time lol
I like that you keep personal and modern politics out of your videos. Makes it easier for disagreeing people come together
As a Venezuelan, I do know how it feels to have the president secluded out of office for sickness and still be the president and "sign" bills and "do" stuff.
The Third president who went by his middle name you were blanking on at 3:12 I think is Ulysses S. Grant, since he was born Hiram Ulysses Grant. From what I remember from Ken Burns' documentary on the Civil War, I think the clerk who registered his name at West Point got his name wrong and instead of bothering to straight the record straight, he just decided to live with it. Probably for the best since he went on to be one the greatest Union general during the Civil War and President of the US, all while his initials spelled US.
Oh, I looked it up and it said it was David Dwight Eisenhower.
And said initials lent themselves perfectly to a civil war nickname. After Fort Donelson he became to troops, UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER Grant.
John Calvin Coolidge
Woodrow Wilson's father was part of a significant split in the Presbyterian Church of the USA between anti-slavery Northerners and pro-slavery Southerners. Joseph was part of the Southern faction, despite being a Northerner and published a short-lived abolitionist paper before the 1850s. Cypher from the Cynical Historian covered this briefly in the first part of a two-part hit piece on Wilson.
It should be noted that "Birth of a Nation" was considered a masterpiece of technical filmmaking for its era. Of course, so too is the Nazi propaganda film "Triumph of the Will". Too bad the filmmakers couldn't have put their talents to use for good instead of evil.
The Soviet propaganda film “Battleship Potemkin” is highly regarded, too. Ive watched BoaN and Potemkin, but I’ve never seen Triumph.
Still think it was funny the British basically ytp'd Triumph of the will
@@Saltyoven what do you mean by ytp?
@@abdihassan7208YTP is short for RUclips Poop. A while back on RUclips, that was a popular kind of video where creators would take an original media like a film or TV show, edit things for comedy, and produce a fun, wacky parody version of the original. I don’t see these kinds of videos on RUclips quite as much now, but they used to be very common.
I don't remember him being considered a 'bad' president in school. Mainly I recall his creating the League of Nations & how it ultimately failed, but was a precursor to the United Nations, and that he was against Germany's treatment in the Treaty of Versailles, and how he tried to keep us out of WW1.
Let us not forget, the Wilson nationalized America's railroads (calling it the United States Railroad Administration) and appointed as main director his son-in-law William Gibbs McAdoo who couldn't run a short tourist line with an endless supply of riders and money, let alone the main land's entire network. McAdoo was also secretary of the treasury among other jobs at the time so he had little time to even focus on the USRA. The money racked up in damages to the railroads by the USRA was so high, the government wouldn't finish paying it off until after WW2, not that they were enthusiastic to do so. I honestly believe our network never recovered from the USRA and subsequent overregulation by the ICC (and later the FRA) nearly destroyed our entire network completely in the 60-70's. So if some jackanape ever suggests re-nationalizing America's railroads, point to how disastrous the USRA was and ask them if they can truly ever trust the US government to run such an operation because I do not.
Chris, you are truly an amazing content-creator, although I am someone who enjoys history/politics, but isn't really that deep into it, I still very much enjoy your videos and look forward to new ones. We might have different views on somethings (I am an ex-muslim atheist who believes in socialism), I can still stand here praising you and enjoying your content. Thank you so much for your hard work.
Thank you Rashid. I’m glad you’re a part of this community.
socialism is a great way to get to know people, more people need to socalize
No
@@goldbird0315 What are you talking about dude
@@costellotocustelow03 obviously a joke
However, given that many people in the United States felt that they should "avoid foreign entanglements", Wilson not getting involved in WW1 until 1917 is not too surprising. Fun fact: the Germans didn't start unrestricted submarine warfare earlier in 1917 because they needed time to bring a couple of divisions back from the front to defend against a possible invasion by Denmark!
Invasion from Denmark - just a joke, right?
@@peterkragelund4794 Actually, no. From what I understand, the German army was so badly stretched even in early 1917 that they were worried about Denmark invading in retaliation for the unrestricted submarine warfare.
@@nicholasconder4703 Despite the fact that Denmark would have loved to be able to militaryly liberate the part of Slesvig that eventually became (and still is) part of Denmark in 1920 after a referendum - the German high command must have been out of their minds with paranoia if their seriously thought that we represented a threat to them.
I know a bit about my countrys history and that possibility has never come up, Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries with worried sick about the possibility of being dragged into the war - and cooperated politically to avoid just that.
It is true however that during WW2 the Germans misspent ressorces in orden to fortify the West Coast of Denmark. The Allies did not dream about staging an invasion through Denmark because the penisular from west to east is so narrow (42 miles) between Denmark and Germany.
@@peterkragelund4794 I know. It says an awful lot about the German mindset during WW1 that they thought this. Then again, this is also the nation that as late as October 1918 wanted, as part of a peace settlement, to retain control of Belgium. They also had over half a million men still in Russia busily expanding their holdings there. And, they are also the nation that sent the Zimmerman telegram. From everything I have seen in recent years, it is almost like someone took the inmates from an insane asylum and put them in charge of Germany from at least the early 1900s.
@@nicholasconder4703 The Zimmermann Telegram only guaranteed the American Southwest to Mexico in the event of war between Germany and the USA. It did not actually call for Mexico to just randomly launch an unprovoked attack against a neutral state.
Was about to search up an older video to watch and got so excited when the notification hit. Love the content!!!!
I've wanted to recommended this to you for reaction for a few weeks now but I didn't because didn't know if you'd like it or not, I'm super excited to see your reactions to this!
What’s sad is that most kids growing up and even adults think Wilson was one of the greatest presidents and most well known just because he lead us and helped win us WW1 idk if it’s because of lack of education or what but ngl I was one of them until I actually did research and realized how bad and terrible he was.
"helped win ww1"... a gerbil as POTUS could've won WW1
bro ww1 was lead by britan and germany although america contributed at the end even if they didnt Germany would end up running out of supply in. a few years anyway
@@karamvirsingh3097 I’d rather have them join than as long as the war didn’t go on a second longer
No one said that ever when I was in school.
It was also under his watch that the Federal Reserve was created and taxation became law.
I personally trace most current era problems to the foundation he laid.
Eh the Federal Reserve and Income tax/payroll tax are good things. Monetary policy is an important economic tool that the Federal Reserve can use, and they helped avoid a repeat of the Great Depression by increasing the supply of money is tandem with fiscal stimulus. At least, that's an open option once the gold standard was finally destroyed (good companion actions of FDR in 1933 and Nixon decades later).
For income tax, that funds a huge chunk of programs that have lowered poverty rates and make investments like NASA possible. Without that, we'd still be dependent on tariffs and the alcohol tax. And tariffs are bad economics.
Yes, how does this video not address the two most destructive initiatives in US history? For all of Wilson’s racism and other nonsense, the income tax and Fed were his worst legacies.
@@AdamVassGal I believe I was posting in order to EMPHASIZE these issues, as I consider them to be more heinous than the others mentioned. I don't see them getting rectified unless people like myself are squeaky wheels.
However, it has been awhile since I watched the video in question and may have forgotten the point of the post.
Income tax was Taft not Wilson
@@jamesleckie1829no they aren’t that’s an extremely stupid take. The federal reserve is a bunch of unelected bureaucrats that have major control of the economy and aren’t held accountable by anything. Even Woodrow Wilson himself later in life realized how big of a mistake the federal reserve was.
Heard about terrible storms in the US recently. Hope you're doing ok. Love your videos!
This guy clearer doesn’t know that every day is Woodrow Wilson hate day
Even as a young kid I always kinda thought Wilson sucked. I can't remember why I felt that way. I think it's cause he has a slimy looking face. Then as I got a little older and became a teen and more interested in politics I totally realized I was right. He does suck.
Y’know I’m really glad I found your channel. I admittedly had very radical ideals (only fueled by our two party system pitting sides against each other), but it wasn’t until I actually started watching these history reactions that my viewpoint became more mixed, and certainly for the better. I won’t talk politics here, but just know that your videos made me much more aware of reality.
I appreciate you taking the time to say so. Glad to know I’ve made a difference.
How can you not love this man? I love his unbiased opinions. Always so insightful and nice to watch.
I thought you were talking about Woodrow Wilson for a second there
Everyone has biases; he's said many times that he does.
What's interesting is how Woodrow Wilson is still ranked very high by presidential scholars. He's consistently ranked in the top 15 or even top 10.
My textbook in high school portrayed Wilson as a progressive hero.
Well yeah, you got elite Democrat libs making the rankings. Can't rank a Democrat low. There is a reason why FDR is always ranked at the top even though he actually extended the great depression. Usually they'll rank Wilson above Reagan
He was though. The man was unquestionably the most revolutionary and progressive president the USA has ever had.
The problem is your textbook didn’t realise that was the whole crux of the problem.
@@Longshanks1690 FDR was the most economically progressive president ever and was certainly one of the best, Lincoln was a progressive (for his time in the USA) in regards to slavery. Wilson was against progress on many issues, and was in a way reactionary ( he literally segregated the federal government).
@@Longshanks1690 who
@@Mafube_Molange not true. Buchanan, A. Johnson and Pierce are almost always ranked as the bottom 3 presidents despite being dems
I screwed up. I moved my family from Houston Texas to Staunton, Virginia. Before getting here, I did not realize that I was relocating to the home of Woodrow Wilson.
Also the location of his presidential library.
Its strange how much Ive seen people get taught Wilson was one of the best presidents in US history (I was too), only to find out later how badly he messed up and just how out of touch he was
Hi Chris! Perhaps you were thinking of Ulysses S. Grant? His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but he didn’t like that his initials spelled out “hug,” so he took his mother’s maiden name of Simpson. Also, I never knew so many President’s used middle names.
Thanks for the interesting content and your authenticity in approaching history. Especially the difficult subjects. It really helps me having a creator like you build this community around your channel and I know we probably don’t agree on everything, but we can agree that history is a necessity. In how and why we learn from it.
God bless.
No I was thinking of John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. Grant's name had been changed to Ulysses Simpson Grant by the time he was President. As a child he went by Ulysses Hiram by switching his first and middle names. Simpson only came in because of a screw up in his West Point nomination, so he just kept the change.
@@VloggingThroughHistory I had no idea there was a West Point screwup. Very cool
Not related to Wilson, but to the chart about the historical rankings of presidents. Something I noticed a while ago and leapt out at me again here is the change of historical opinions about US Grant.
When I was a kid in the '70s, Grant was consistently ranked as one of the worst presidents of all time. That chart also reflects that, ranking in the bottom five consistently for many years. Lately, he's improved and is now in the top half of all presidents. I think that is a phenomenon worthy of a video of your own, or if there are other videos out there on that phenomenon at least a reaction to it.
I have my own ideas about why this has happened, why he was rated so low to begin with and why he has been so rehabilitated recently. I'm interested to hear yours.
You're right. That would be an interesting topic to dive into.
A lot of it has to do with the awful mess Grant was saddled with trying to clean up after Andrew Johnson. Not only was Grant trying to rebuild the South, but he was also having to fight both the KKK and those northerners who wanted the South to suffer for causing and prosecuting the war. I don't think there are many people who could have managed this, and most would certainly have flubbed it really badly.
@@nicholasconder4703 The point is that in the last 100 years, we have learned almost nothing new about Grant or his administration. History did not change, however his ranking by historians has, because historians changed. This happens with most presidents, however it is most profound with grant.
This is a phenomenon that others have noted and commented upon, and has specific reasons and individuals that have driven this. For me, it is a reminder that history is in fact constantly being reinterpreted, and as new generations of historians come of age, frequently are understanding of the past changes even if we learned nothing new.
@@nicholasconder4703 Also, "Drunken Butcher Grant" of the Lost Cause didn't do U. S. Grant any favours.
@@danielrichwine2268 Good point.
He grew up in my town of Augusta! You can actually still see his boyhood home today downtown! Very cool, along with the home of George Walton!
The only thing Wilson did that I agreed with were the terms he wanted to end ww1 on, except his arrogance caused him to do everything possible to make it not come to pass.
There is literally nothing he could have done to force the European Entente to ever accept his terms short of going to war. That's such an absurd thing to hold against him.
… yeah anyways, Canada bitch
@@stephenjenkins7971 Except he could. The UK/French needed massive reparations from Germany to repay American debts. If America weren't so aggressive in pursuing those debts then they wouldn't have bankrupted Germany. There was a debt pyramid between Germany-Entente-America that was entirely controlled by America at the top. Also Wilson not joining the league undermined it from day one.
@@jgw9990 Most of the reparations were caused by war damage, not American debts. US debts were constantly argued lower during and after the Versailles Treaty, and were nowhere near high enough to justify the reparations cost. In cast the US itself would refuse to sign the Versailles Treaty and sign a separate treaty that had no such reparations scheme and then provide Germany with cheap loans to help it on its feet at great cost to the US itself. It was because of the US that Germany had a mini-Golden Age post-WW1 and pre-WW2, in fact.
What brought that crashing down and made Versailles' damage via France/UK inevitable was the Great Depression which siphoned all American credit from Germany which was keeping it afloat.
Convenient you forgot to mention that.
Thanks for the Gettysburg videos.
What’s so interesting about Wilson is that he’s an interesting figure to test someone’s ideas on history because in almost every textbook I had in high school or elementary school, Wilson was shown in a massively popular light and all his policies were pushed as good and all his “personal flaws” were not even mentioned. So if you’re only knowledge of history is through your basic school history class, your idea of Woodrow Wilson is 180 degrees and diametrically opposed to what almost everyone I know who has more than a passing knowledge of history thinks of him. Like if you only know him from school you think he’s an A tier president but if you actually know anything about history you think he’s an F Tier president
Not to mention his signing of the federal reserve act of 1913 and the subsequent approval of a federal tax. He let the creature from Jekyll island, that den of vipers into our house..
I was taught in my 2020 us history class that Wilson was a good president. No need to say I didn’t agree
History teachers just love lying lol luckily we have clogging through history who drops knowledge bombs 24/7
6:40 moments like these are why VTH is my favorite youtuber. He is a man of reason and logic
I used to have more respect for Wilson until I learned more about him
This applies to literally any figure in history one can name, very rare exceptions notwithstanding. It’s odd for someone to live up to their reputation.
I didn't know this at first, looking forward to the second video and you're awesome!
My education of Wilson was pretty watered down...until recently I thought he was a decent president, having led us to victory in WWI, the C-Span polls, being on the $100,000 bill, being the only Ph.D. etc. Turns out a lot of facts about him were omitted until the 90's - 2000's. Looking forward to tomorrow's episode!
I'm glad he did an overview of policy at the end, because I was surprised about things the video didn't mention.
I get the impression the original video left out some content on purpose since the guy was dedicated enough to make another woodrow wilson hate day video with some of the things mentioned at the end like segregation in the government (so more content for later)
Federal Reserve Act, 16th Amendment, 17th Amendment, involving the US in WW1, League of Nations. All the things to hate him for.
Plus you know screening The Birth of a Nation in the White House
Well Said.
Aside from the League of Nations (UN is better), those are all good things.
Income tax gives us enough revenue to lower trade barriers and address poverty head on. 17th Amendment is pro-democracy. League of Nations was all about using diplomacy to avoid war, and the Federal Reserve allows for monetary policy give the private sector what they need to tackle recessions.
@@jamesleckie1829 The Federal Reserve is not a good thing. Wilson sold us out to The Big Banks.
@@AmericanImperium1776 the ability of the Federal Reserve to control interest rates, assess banks, and at least offer some sort of regulation of the banks where the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, FDIC, IRS, and others cannot is good.
Not allowing for some version of control just makes recessions worse when they happen. Just like freeing up our Currency by eliminating the gold standard was a good idea, the Federal Reserve is a good idea.
The whole initial argument against the National Bank in the Jackson Era was: corruption, lack of available money, and quasi-arguments about slavery. The defense was about having a cohesive monetary policy.
We got rid of slavery, via elimination of the gold standard we got rid of artificially tight money, and via eliminating a government sanctioned monopoly we got rid of a huge chunk of corruption. The Federal Reserve at least allows for some imperfect oversight over the banking system, and returns some cohesiveness along with the FDIC and OCC.
Oh man, I clicked this video so fast. I'm so glad you finally did this one!
A video series i think would interest you is the History vs. series by TEDed. Where they debate controversial figures in history (Andrew Jackson, Genghis Khan, Napoleon etc.) and portray it as a trial
I’ve been waiting for this video! Was just searching for it yesterday since I’d always hear it in your videos.
2:29
Thank you for mentioning that Nixon isn’t that bad of a President. I feel like everyone else pays so much attention to Watergate that we don’t mention the ways that he helped the nation like pulling troops out of Vietnam and being the first president to visit the USSR during the Cold War. He definitely not the best President, but still, in my opinion, nowhere close to the worst President
Yeah, he wasn't Wilson bad. Come to think of it, we probably could use a separate category for that
Senate Democrats we’re barely above 50% supporting the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Republicans were 80% in favor. This means that Wilson either didn’t try to sway Democrats to support the amendment or he failed in doing so.
Also, the US was in an economic depression in 1930 that was deeper than the one in the 1930s.
Wilson signed legislation establishing the Federal Reserve. We can have another discussion on whether that was good or bad.
Woodrow Wilson. He will always be on my top 5 Worst Presidents list. Personally, I see him as a more "progressive", 20th century version of Andrew Johnson. I know it wasn't mentioned in the video, but basically part of the reason why Edith Wilson was a proxy president after his stroke was because of the fact that the Wilsons couldn't stand Vice President Marshall. I came across a story where he was a victim of a hoax where he was informed that Wilson had died and he had spread the word to a congregation that he went to. This congregation even said a prayer for Wilson only for him to learn later on that it was a hoax.
Vice President Marshall should've been far more forceful in assuming the powers and duties of the office. Unfortunately, we didn't have a 25th Amendment at that time that would've codified any ability to do so. Poor guy, not just the victim of a hoax and a complete corrupt power grab by the Wilsons, but he didn't have enough of a backbone to at least look into Wilson's condition to see if he was capable of carrying out the full powers and duties of the office (which he clearly was not after his stroke).
Also not mentioned is the ridiculousness of his "He Kept Us Out of War" campaign shrill in 1916 only to send Americans to war months into his second term and depending on how one feels about it, the Federal Reserve. Without question the worst president during 1900 and 1950, and I even rate him below commonly criticized presidents like Harding and Hoover.
The thing about Hoover was that he was a good man, but an incompetent leader. Wilson was downright evil.
Harding was a decent president, actually. I believe this for the following reasons
1. Attempted to make lynching illegal, and was in support of black voting rights
2. Released political prisoners that got imprisoned under Woodrow Wilson
3. Introduced the Federal highway act of 1921
4. Opposed US intervention in Latin America
5. Implemented programs to help poor mothers which reduced infant mortality rates and deaths from child birth
6. Ended the Wilsonian recession, through years of high GDP growth, reduced unemployment, and lowering inflation
7. The roaring 20s began under him
8. Handling of the Washington Naval Conference in 1921-22
9. President Harding signed a peace treaty with Austria and Germany post World War I.
10. He pulled the country out of Woodrow Wilson’s politics
11. Helped implement the 8 hour work day in the steel mills industry
12. Signed the Sweet Act
13. Budget and Accounting Act
14. Packers and Stockyards Act
15. Reduced national debt and balanced the budget
16. Allowing Herbert Hoover to run the American Relief Administration, which saved over 10.5 million people from starvation, and provided medicine to millions
17. Withdrew troops from Cuba
18. Improving relations with Canada, by being the first sitting American president to tour and give a speech there
@@yarlodek5842
Jimmy Carter was similar to Herbert Hoover in that same sense
My school Monmouth University actually renamed our flagship building recently, from Wilson Hall to The Great Hall.
Woodrow Wilson solved some issues in my homecountry: he was for peoples referendums, where the people could vote for a country. So Carinthia stayed a little bit bigger and the slovenian speaking people were forced to stay Austrian (not as this was the wish of anyone, but Austria got made so small and we could keep a little bit more).
Woodrow Wilson is like the worst things about the left and the right combined into a single person.
Accurate.
I’ll never understand why I always see him described as being in the ‘upper-tier’ of presidents. He sounds absolutely awful.
Because Historians like Presidents who do things.
It doesn’t matter if the things are awful because it gives them things to talk about, so FDR and Wilson get ranked highly while ma boi Coolidge gets shafted because he was seen as a “do nothing,” when that’s the whole reason why people like me adore him.
@@Longshanks1690 FDR is overrated too. he was also a racist, and he put japanese-americans in internment camps. without any trial or due process.
wilson was a catastrophe in almost every conceivable way. definitely bottom 5 and quite possibly the worst of them all.
andrew johnson was also a catastrophe. there might be no one less suitable to be president immediately following a civil war fought primarily over slavery.
speaking of dicks, i don't know why the other johnson gets so much love either. LBJ was a completely reprehensible human being, and got american troops involved in the vietnam war.
i don't really have any issue with coolidge. which might in itself puts him near the top, probably.
nowadays, the democratic candidates are all alike, and the republican candidates are all alike, and whichever party wins, america loses. because none of them give a damn about the people their office is supposed to serve. americans don't really have a say in who governs them. american democracy is illusory at best. when your choices are trump or biden, it's like being offered a choice of how you'd rather be ass-raped, because not at all is not an option.
@@doaftheloaf LBJ is ranked highly because of his domestic policies, especially civil rights legislation.
@@otisdylan9532 he does have that going for him, which is a good thing because he’s got nothing else. well, at least he’s the better johnson, but that’s a low bar.
@@Longshanks1690
FDR deserves the high spot, but not Wilson
Coolidge is top 10 president
Thank you Vlogging through History for doing a much better job than the the Video you reacted to for giving much rationale and examples on your assessment on Wilson.
That story about his wife doing all the business in his name reminds me of the same story that happened in China in the last months under Mao. He spoke in an ununderstandable way and the only person who could understand him was his secretary so... you know what it means 😂😂
Hi VTH and everyone, I hope you are having an amazing day
I looked it up and it was David Dwight Eisenhower that went by his middle name.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.” ~ Woodrow Wilson
We here in europe remember wilson as he put out the 14 points of wilson, being the only one to suggest that the punishment for ww1 should be less than what the french wanted. If the other leaders listened to him, maybe we would evaded ww2. So maybe he was a bad president in the us, but for me he was the only voice of reason in the peace treaties that wasnt filled with irrational rage and hate.
The problem was the UK and France needed reparations to pay American debts that they refused to cancel. It wasn't just hate
Exactly.
Plus Germany's post war debt was actually caused by them bankrolling everything on credit. Why you ask? Cause they never thought they could loose until it was too late. The allies mostly used war bonds on the other hand to generate funding.
Germany's "punishment" wasn't worse than regular terms of surrender before WW1. The idea that Germany was pushed to dictatorship and another war by the treaty is a nazi propaganda.
The 14 points were actually a really good plan for ending the war from what i remember from school.
One positive thing about Woodrow Wilson was he almost did a better job of preventing WW2 than my guy Neville Chamberlain. If he had his way when it came to Versailles.
Very good video. Have you thought about doing videos about the Native American wars?
“Imagine if for 2 years no one had contact with the president” that one hit a little too true
How so? Like just the idea itself is insane?
@@jamesleckie1829 well because Joe Biden is in a cave and doesn't speak to the media, ever. Isn't it obvious?
@@showbuster he's at the White House and gives speeches and takes questions all the time. Like every time he meets a foreign dignitary.
I think that stems from the fact that he and Trump didn't do many proper press conferences, but they still gave speeches and were in meetings fairly constantly (regardless of if you agree with their actions or not).
This is one of those things that circulate the internet that just isn't really true at all.
@@jamesleckie1829 The fact you wrote such a long message just to defend a terrible administration tells me a lot.
You say "This is one of those things that circulate the internet that just isn't really true at all".
well, look at it yourself you poor brainwashed man. ruclips.net/video/NHgjWQxMuKk/видео.html
here is another example lol :
ruclips.net/video/lTHzCi3j6IA/видео.html
@@showbuster dude, I've literally watched some of the live speeches. You're being tricked by poorly edited clips and a toxic media environment.
There's plenty you can find to critique without going to the lowest common crap possible. The fact that this is your link tells me a lot about you.
I remember a History teacher telling the class about the truth about the sinking of the Lusitania.
A week before sailing the German Government posted in several major newspapers that the ship was carrying ammunition to Ireland.
Another issue I have is how the Treaty of Versailles was a major part of WW2.
One of my favorite pastimes is hating on Woodrow Wilson
7:34 Not only ammunition etc. The Lusitania and Mauretania were also funded by the Royal Navy so that they can be used as auxiliary cruisers during wars, meaning during war time they could be easily taken by the Royal Navy, outfitted with guns as it was already planned during construction and ordered to destroy enemy ships it finds. Aka, sinking it took the Royal Navy a potential ship
We here in Albania, would rank Wilson as one of the best U.S presidents in history as he spoke up for Albanian independence at the Treaty of Versallies, just like he did for Poland. We even have a city square in Tirana named after him, and a Statue of him in our capital.
Same with Clinton and Blair in kosovo. Just to bad they were actually mass murdering POS ww1,iraq wars respectively. One made possible for his country to become a privately owned coropration by the banks the others followed suit. As an albanian I don't want no support or sympathy from this man. He spoke in favour of us so what? In the end it was Austro hungary,Italy and Britain intervention that made it possible for us to exist. USA did nothing. Same with kosovo. There was no independence. The kosovo traded yugoslavia for nato and being a puppet of usa they do whatever usa tells including to get down on their knees and lick the dirt off their boots. Both Albania and Kosovo are shitholes owned by banks and politician sellouts now.
He might have been good for your country, but terrible for us
Interesting. I'm german and here in history class we had quite a positive picture of him.
I've got two things, one for my fellow viewers, and one for Chris:
For my fellow viewers, I'd also like to encourage you to check out the original content on this channel. I'm sure that many of you have been attracted to this channel by the very friendly, human feel of it, and I think our host does an excellent job in bringing out the human side of the events he covers in the historic site videos. There's more to history than the big stories everyone knows, and he gives us the personal stories of some of those who were involved. If you're here for the same reason I am, I have no doubt you'll enjoy that.
For Chris, have you ever read the book 1920: The Year of Six Presidents by David Pietrusza? It explains how Woodrow Wilson actually hoped for a third term. His "plan" (if you can call it that) was that the Democrat convention would deadlock and decide to stick with him as their candidate. I thought it was very revealing of his Messiah complex to still think he was the guy needed for the job with his shattered health.
I haven't read that. I'll have to check it out. And thank you for the kind words.
@@VloggingThroughHistory I'd highly recommend it. It's a far more interesting election than the blowout would suggest because of all the past, present, and future presidents involved. And I meant every word I said. I really can't express how much I appreciate what you do here.
YES TO THE ALTERNATE HISTORY HUB VIDEO!
Imagine if for 2 years nobody has contact with the president of the US. ... so the last two years of actual history? 2020-2022
General consensus on Wilson is dropping, when the Presidential Rankings came out back in 2000, he was ranked 6th, and he's steadily dropped, down to 13th, and probably still going to keep dropping.
Since I am a russian, from my perspective, his both lucklaster(we will not join WW1) AND energetic(I want that thing, so allies can do whatever) attitude during WW1 killed a ton of my compatriots in first half of a century. sigh.
Just seeing the title, best video you’ve ever made! (Insert Simpson’s Comic Book Guy Voice here) worst, President, EVER!
Although it's a very common thing in present day, Woodrow Wilson was the first president since James Monroe to run for re-election with the same vice-president.
But He Kept us Out of War (until he didn't)
Since its mentioned from time to time... interested in taking a look at History Matters´s video "How Harsh was the Treaty of Versailles Really?"
Would be interesting to hear your input on it.
Yeah I'd like to see that. TimeGhost History also has a video called "Versailles Treaty ≠ Hitler’s Rise to Power", where they argue that the treaty leading directly to Hitler's rise to power is a Nazi myth.
@@Andrew.Schlei I have missed that one. Will check it out later, but yes. The stab in the back & Versailles leading to WW2 myths are kind of in question a lot in recent years.
The Fed alone. I will leave it at that. Love the content as always.
Yes I've been waiting for this video and I definitely agree with all of the reasons of hating him. To me I think that he is the lost hated president that has Been brought up as up the 20th century
James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson: No one can be a worse President than me
Woodrow Wilson: Hold my beer
I was always curious, what are your reasons for Wilson and Johnson over Andrew Jackson? I know Johnson and Wilson had their flaws and acted in putting the country behind in their own way, but what makes you consider Jackson as less impactful? I feel strongly that Jackson should be included at least top 3 worst presidents.
His refusal to resign after his stroke is among the most horrible things he did. He placed his ego before the country.
I got to mention some great things about Wilson:
-he shortened WW1 with quite a few casualties for the americans
-he wanted a fair redrawing of the borders of Europe (Europe was crazy imperialistic, Russia and Austro-Hungary had something like 15 different populations)
-he declared war on USSR- I mean restoring the Romanov family back to the throne woulnd've not be such a great idea either, but imagine the world if the USRR never existed: no Iron Courtain, no Vietnam, no communist China, Cuba, North Korea, no Chernobyl and so on...
I'm not a fan of Wilson, simply the fact that he put harsh terms for Germany after WW1 is alone the worst decision in modern history*
Wilson didn't put the harsh terms on Germany, he acquiesced to the UK and France, especially France, putting harsh terms on Germany. I'm not a fan of WIlson either, BTW.
Vietnam was always going to happen. It wasn't a struggle over economic ideology but one of independence. Its not like communism made the French hold onto their colonies post WWII. Algeria also rebelled, and was lost by the French, to become a republic.
We should have sided with the Vietnamese against the French as colonial liberators. Ho Chi Minh could then ally with the US instead of Mao Zedong. Economics and diplomacy are mixed.
@@jeffredfern3744 "We should have sided with the Vietnamese against the French."
Agree 100%
We should have never joined WW1. 117k dead for no gain for the US
He was so incompetent at governing that he could not stop the Bolsheviks from taking power. An invasion of Russia for nothing
He barely did anything to get a fair redrawing of Europe
@@jeffredfern3744
If Woodrow Wilson granted Vietnam independence, and never snubbed Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam War never happens
I'm by no means a Wilson fan but to lump him in with the likes of Andrew Johnson and Buchanan is just unfair. Sure, he was extremely racist, but that's hardly surprising for the time given his background. Let's remember that Lincoln also did things of dubious constitutionality, perhaps justifiably, given wartime necessity. It's hardly Wilson's fault that the senate did not ratify the League treaty or that France and Britain imposed such punitive conditions on Germany.
...this man was hard-core racist. He embraced the KKK and white supremacy. Sorry dude but that's enough to put him right next to Andrew Johnson if not lower. Just because it was more acceptable at the time doesn't make it any better
I absolutely despise Woodrow Wilson, obviously. But in my opinion, his “14 points” were actually good, and probably would’ve prevented a WWII if fully implemented. However, this obviously does not outweigh ALLLLL of the bad, because there is wayyyy too much of it
I want to see you react to the hunt of John Wilkes Booth from weird history
I'm with you on Nixon. Not to give him a pass, but I'm sure his opponents were doing the same but not to that extent. Bugging people's phones and things like that would have been new technology and likely experimented with by both parties.
I think they were doing the same - but just didn't get caught
Nixon deserves to be remembered as a terrible president, but for the following reasons
1. Aided the Bengali genocide which led to the deaths of 300k-3 million people and displacement of around ten million people, by supplying the Pakistani government with weapons to do the genocide. They did this because Pakistan was a capitalist ally in the Cold War. If the highest estimate of 3 million is to be used, it was one of the deadliest genocides in human history.
2. Watergate. It gets overblown considering how corrupt politicians are nowadays, and how it didn’t even change the course of the 1972 election, but still bad nonetheless
3. Stagflation, price control, and his overall handling of the economy
4. Bombings over Cambodia
5. War on Drugs, which contributed to America having the highest per capita substance abuse rate in the world, almost 3 times higher than the second highest country, being Canada. It also led to the US having the highest per capita prison population in the world, almost comparable to Stalin’s USSR in per capita imprisonment (0.7% to 0.86% of the population respectively) However, it was not until Reagan that it became the monstrosity it is today.
6. Fought back against Mcgovern’s guaranteed minimum income tax, which he knew would be easy to fund and implement
7. Sabotaged peace talks with Vietnam, in order to win the 1968 election. LBJ realized his mistake and started to negotiate with North Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. This made it possible for the democrats to win the 1968 election. Nixon saw this, and because he wanted to win the election instead, sabotaged peace talks, promising the North Vietnamese that they would get a better deal if Nixon was elected. Nixon expanded the war until his impeachment, and it would not be until Ford that there would be no more American deaths in Vietnam. According to History News Network, 21,041 Americans died in Vietnam under Nixon, with the total amount of troops dying in Vietnam being 58,220. The total Vietnamese death toll could be anywhere from 500k to 1.5 million dead under Nixon.
There was nothing new about wiretapping at the time. It was introduced in the 19th century and had undergone legal review. Maybe some particular technology was new, but the concept was not.
And you can't be an actual criminal in office and escape the bottom ten IMO - at least until we have more than ten criminal presidents.
I'm a simple man. I see "Woodrow Wilson Hate Day" on the thumbnail, I hit like. And also watch.
I remember here in the UK (at least for me at school) the only thing we get taught is when we learned about WW1 is Wilson's 14 points and his involvement in the peace process at the Treaty of Versailles. It wasn't until learning from videos on this channel that I learnt how horrid some of his domestic policies were especially when concerning African Americans and segregation.
Steubenville is an hour north from my hometown of Moundsville WV. We are closer than I thought. Haha
Woodrow Wilson is overhated
And James Buchanan was a good president.
Agreed
The president does not pass constitutional amendments. He did not give women the right to vote