WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>It's seven oh six here at fifty five car CD

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<v Speaker 1>talk station. Happy Monday to you Christopher Smith and coming

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<v Speaker 1>up in the next segment to the Smith Event. In

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<v Speaker 1>the meantime, please welcome to the fifty five Carcy Morning

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<v Speaker 1>show Man. He's gonna be doing it Empower You seminar

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<v Speaker 1>tomorrow evening seven pm. Empower You America dot org. It's

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<v Speaker 1>virtual only. All you need to do is go empower

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<v Speaker 1>you America dot org and just register and log in

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<v Speaker 1>at seven pm. Christopher Burkett. He's Associate Professor of Political

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<v Speaker 1>Science and director of Ashbrook Scholar Program at Ashland University,

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<v Speaker 1>where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on American political thought,

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<v Speaker 1>including the American Founding and the Progressive Era. Author of

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<v Speaker 1>numerous articles in his area of expertise, Welcome to the program.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a pleasure to have you on. Christopher Burkcat.

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<v Speaker 2>Good morning, Brian, Thank you glad to be here.

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<v Speaker 1>Pleasure and pleasure talking about Woodrow Wilson, probably one of

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<v Speaker 1>the least liked presidents among my listening audience. We have

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<v Speaker 1>him to thank for the income the income tax, don't

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<v Speaker 1>we we.

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<v Speaker 3>Do, among a number of other things.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, So now my understanding is that part of Woodrow Wilson.

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<v Speaker 1>The presidency really wasn't yet I don't want to say

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<v Speaker 1>that powerful, but an equal, coequal branch of government. It

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't sort of like the imperial presidency that we seem

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<v Speaker 1>to that that he created and and and used and

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<v Speaker 1>used the authority they office the president to accomplish a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>Was very activist along those lines. In what ways did

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<v Speaker 1>Wilson transform the nature of the office that had real

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<v Speaker 1>long lasting implications.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so he of course, Sorry, the Spanish American War

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<v Speaker 2>had a big impact on increasing the president's powers with

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<v Speaker 2>regard to foreign policy, But it was really Wilson who

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<v Speaker 2>who came up with a sort of blueprint or a

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<v Speaker 2>vision for what the president should be domestically in terms

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<v Speaker 2>of taking the lead and formulating policy sees and pushing laws,

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<v Speaker 2>pushing Congress to pass reform laws. And the unique thing

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<v Speaker 2>about Wilson, long before he was president, he was a

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<v Speaker 2>college professor, as you know, and he had been writing

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<v Speaker 2>about what he thought presidential leadership should be like for

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<v Speaker 2>about thirty years before he ever became involved in politics.

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<v Speaker 2>So as an undergraduate student, a graduate student, and then

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<v Speaker 2>a college professor and president at Princeton, he was really

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<v Speaker 2>laying out a kind of blueprint for what he thought

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<v Speaker 2>presidential leadership should look like. And then, of course he's

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<v Speaker 2>elected the office, and so he shaped the idea of

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<v Speaker 2>the powers of the president both from a kind of

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<v Speaker 2>academic and theoretical standpoint, and then had a chance for

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<v Speaker 2>two terms to try to put those ideas into practice.

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<v Speaker 2>So really a unique figure in that sense.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, he was an academic, as you know, but it

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't he, if I can boil it down in a

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<v Speaker 1>simple terms, wasn't he pretty much full of himself in

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<v Speaker 1>the sense that he thought x everts in government knew

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<v Speaker 1>better than what the day to day folks living their

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<v Speaker 1>lives knew by way of you know, making decisions.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, one hundred percent. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>So he always claimed that, look, democracy is inevitable. We're

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<v Speaker 2>going to have democracy in this country. But what you

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<v Speaker 2>really need to make democracy work is really strong executive leadership, because,

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<v Speaker 2>as he famously wrote, in democracies, and especially in American democracy,

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<v Speaker 2>the people are what he called rigidly unphilosophical, which was

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<v Speaker 2>this sort of nice way of saying people just aren't capable.

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<v Speaker 2>The people aren't capable of governing themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I just I have a profound disdain for people

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<v Speaker 1>who have that mindset, my friend, I really do.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well a lot of people do. And you mentioned

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<v Speaker 2>he was described him a sort of full of himself.

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<v Speaker 2>A lot of people may not know this, but Simund

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<v Speaker 2>Freud did a psychoanalysis of Wilson after he passed away

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<v Speaker 2>and found that he was one of the most extreme

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<v Speaker 2>cases of messianic complex.

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<v Speaker 3>So yeah, he was.

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<v Speaker 2>He was absolutely confident in his that he was He

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<v Speaker 2>had this vision of where the United States should go,

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<v Speaker 2>of what our constitutional government should look like, and he

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<v Speaker 2>was unshakable in his faith that he could reform transform

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<v Speaker 2>American politics into this this great vision of of democracy

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<v Speaker 2>as he understood democracy.

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<v Speaker 1>So well, he's also a racist too, I understand he was.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And he uh infamously resegregated Washington, d C. In

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<v Speaker 2>terms of you know, people working for the civil service

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<v Speaker 2>and bureaus and things. And his argument was, uh, we're

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<v Speaker 2>just not We're just not there yet, sort of historically

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<v Speaker 2>we were not ready. We're getting ahead of ourselves. Someday

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<v Speaker 2>maybe we can have you know, perfect desegregation, and but

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<v Speaker 2>not yet. So yeah, he was, yeah, not a not

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<v Speaker 2>a very popular move today.

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<v Speaker 1>On Wilson's part, No, I understand a lot a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people were really thrilled with his view of women either.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess he would have been one of those guys

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<v Speaker 1>that would have denied women the right to drive since

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<v Speaker 1>he didn't want them to have the right to vote.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, he was very He was a luke warm is

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<v Speaker 2>a generous term to describe his his sort of agreement

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<v Speaker 2>to let the amendment go forward right in it amendment,

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<v Speaker 2>But yeah, he was. He was not a very strong

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<v Speaker 2>supporter of that, for the same reasons that he was

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<v Speaker 2>in favor of segregation. He argued that women just weren't

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<v Speaker 2>ready yet to exercise political equality. We're just not there yet.

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<v Speaker 2>So someday maybe, but not in his not under his watch.

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<v Speaker 1>So well, I guess. Also interesting from his his foreign

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<v Speaker 1>policy standpoint was a little different than and transformative. I know,

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<v Speaker 1>he was responsible in large part for the creation of

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<v Speaker 1>the League of Nation that was a failed exercise.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>So when Wilson, you know, Wilson ran for reelection in

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen sixteen, and he ran on this platform of neutrality, right,

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<v Speaker 2>we weren't going to get involved in World War One,

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<v Speaker 2>And then a year later, he flip flops and said, oh,

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<v Speaker 2>now we've got to get involved. And I think the

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<v Speaker 2>reason he did that was because he saw an opportunity

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<v Speaker 2>if the United States were to get involved in the war,

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<v Speaker 2>that would give him a footing in the peace talks. Eventually,

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<v Speaker 2>that would allow him to push for the creation of

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<v Speaker 2>the League of Nations. And so when Wilson went over

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<v Speaker 2>to Paris for the peace talks during the Armistice at

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<v Speaker 2>the end of World War One, he was pushing to

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<v Speaker 2>get the League of Nations created. He made a big mistake,

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<v Speaker 2>which is sort of ironic, given him all the things

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<v Speaker 2>he had written about what good presidential leadership looks like.

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<v Speaker 2>He didn't take a single senator with him to the

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<v Speaker 2>peace talks, and he didn't take a single Republican. Republicans

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<v Speaker 2>had won the Senate back in the nineteen eighteen election,

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<v Speaker 2>and he knew full well the Senate would have to

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<v Speaker 2>ratify the League of Nations, but he was so calm

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<v Speaker 2>in his ability to just sort of push things through.

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<v Speaker 2>He neglected to do the sort of ordinary political legwork

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<v Speaker 2>and it failed.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Reject going back to Freud's conclusions, Well, yeah, in addition

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<v Speaker 1>to being responsible for the income tax. He also is

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<v Speaker 1>responsible for the creation of the Federal Reserve as well.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, yeah, yes, Federal Reserve. And he pointed, pointed Louis

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<v Speaker 2>brandeis Louis Rights as the first chair of the Federal

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<v Speaker 2>Reserve who went on to be a Supreme Court justice.

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<v Speaker 1>So you know, all this got past what was his motivation?

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, in terms of breaking it down, why was

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<v Speaker 1>he in favor of creating the Federal Reserve and the

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<v Speaker 1>Federal Reserve Act in the first instance.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I don't want to get too abstract and philosophical,

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<v Speaker 2>but Wilson had Wilson had studied in college under professors

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<v Speaker 2>who had in turn studied and gotten their PhDs from

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<v Speaker 2>German University, and so they brought back in the eighteen

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<v Speaker 2>seventies eighteen eighties allowed these German Prussian mode of regulating

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<v Speaker 2>the economies through pretty strong, you know, powers of the state.

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<v Speaker 2>And Wilson, I think drank that wine pretty deeply, so

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<v Speaker 2>to speak, in college. And so the idea of an

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<v Speaker 2>unregulated economy was ironically sort of foreign to Wilson, I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>just made sense that you had to get to regulate

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<v Speaker 2>these things. But he thought that the Federal Reserve would

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<v Speaker 2>be a good substitute for a national bank in terms

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<v Speaker 2>of regulating inflation and dealing with either low prices or

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<v Speaker 2>overinflated prices for industrial goods. So yeah, Reagan, I'm sorry, Wilson.

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<v Speaker 2>Is a is all about government regulation of just about

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<v Speaker 2>every avergect of the economy.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, and you got that from the Germans. The only

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<v Speaker 1>job to have in those days was a government job, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, every day was part of the government. If

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<v Speaker 1>you didn't have a government position, then I guess society

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<v Speaker 1>sort of looked.

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<v Speaker 3>Down on you.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's right, Yeah, it it became a sort of manner,

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<v Speaker 2>a matter of honor. Yeah, oddly enough, again because the Prussians,

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<v Speaker 2>the Germans, especially the Prussians at that time, were an

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<v Speaker 2>honor society. And since you could no longer earn that

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<v Speaker 2>honor through sword fighting, I guess you had to do

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<v Speaker 2>it by getting a job of the state and the bureaucracy.

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<v Speaker 1>So yes, we all know that happened as a consequence

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<v Speaker 1>of the Prussian bureaucracy collapsed on itself. Anyhow, it's been

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<v Speaker 1>an interesting little tidbit taste what we're going to get

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<v Speaker 1>tomorrow night at seven pm. Empower Youamerica, Dot or where

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<v Speaker 1>Christopher Burkeatt's going to break down more about the what

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<v Speaker 1>I would argue failed presidency of Woodrow Wilson. I understand

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<v Speaker 1>his wife, like Jill Biden, took over the affairs after

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<v Speaker 1>he had a stroke. This was before the twenty fifth Amendment.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, that's right. Yeah, he had a stroke.

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<v Speaker 2>And then despite the fact that his wife was basically

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<v Speaker 2>taking over his affairs, he pushed really hard to get

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<v Speaker 2>to be a reelected for a third term, but the

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<v Speaker 2>Democratic Party rejected him.

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<v Speaker 1>So, like Joe Biden, there's some parallels to be drawn.

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<v Speaker 3>There a lot of parallels. Christopher.

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<v Speaker 1>It's been great having you on the program this morning,

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<v Speaker 1>and enjoy the seminar tomorrow night, and I'll encourage my

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<v Speaker 1>listeners to again log in virtually. It's so easy to do,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's so easy to register and empower you America

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<v Speaker 1>dot org. Take care, Chris, great having any show this morning.

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<v Speaker 3>Thanks, Brian, It's gonna be fine. Take care my pleasure. Folks.

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<v Speaker 1>four eighty three. That's five one three seven two seven tight.

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<v Speaker 2>This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio station.

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<v Speaker 3>When