The Corner

Woodrow

Jonah: I’m no Wilson fan either, but I’ll say this in his defense (vis a vis Europe)–his Fourteen Points program helped end the First World War and probably saved lots of lives, American and European. He promised the defeated Central Powers that they would not suffer from a victors’ peace; this helped convince them to lay down their arms and made a bloody invasion of Germany unnecessary. Oddly, at the end of 1918, Wilson was about as popular in Germany as he was in the United States. The disastrous Versailles Treaty wasn’t really his fault–blame lies mainly with the French and Brits, though it’s possible to wish Wilson had been a tougher negotiator. But enough of this. To repeat: I’m no Wilson fan either. My favorite Wilson is Ronald Wilson Reagan.

John J. Miller, the national correspondent for National Review and host of its Great Books podcast, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.
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