Woodrow Wilson: America's Most Underrated President?

     

     Let's get one thing straight: Woodrow Wilson was not perfect. He held opinions that at the times were falling out of favor and nowadays are considered downright atrocious. While partially a result of his roots in pre-Civil War Georgia, he was a college man who was educated enough to grow, and he failed to do his part in advancing civil rights and suffrage. His policies regarding sedition and Central America were flawed. However, he contributed to the foundation of modern America and the modern world, and his accolades have earned him the spot as America's most underrated president:

1. The Adamson Act created the eight-hour workday.

2. The Clayton Antitrust Act regulated unfair business acts, including price fixing.

3. The Federal Trade Commission Act created the FTC to protect consumers.

4. The Seventeenth Amendment instituted the popular election of senators by residents of states.

5. The Revnue Act instituted estate and income taxes on the top 3% of people and reduced tariffs by 40%.

6. The Federal Reserve Act created the central banking system, providing stability to American finances.

7. The Jones Acts allowed greater autonomy for the Philippines and Puerto Rico.

8. The Treaty of the Danish West Indies acquired what is now the U.S. Virgin Islands.

9. The National Defense Act created the ROTC and the predecessor to the Air Force.

10. The Twentieth Amendment gave women suffrage, or the right to vote.

11. The appointment of 3 Supreme Court justices included Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish justice.

12. The League of Nations served as the predecessor to the United Nations and earned Wilson a Nobel Peace Prize.

13. The Federal Aid Road Act provided the first federal funding to building and repairing highways.

14. The Federal Farm Loan Act provided for low-interest credit for farmers, solving their biggest issue of the day.

     He suffered a stroke in 1919 and was rendered an invalid for the remainder of his term. He vetoed the Volstead Act, which instituted Prohibition, and the Immigration Act, which created a quota of immigrants based on ethnicity, but both of his vetoes were overridden. He died in 1924, the only president buried in Washington, D.C. and the president on the $100,000 bank note.