Showing posts with label Woodrow Wilson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Woodrow Wilson. Show all posts

December 28 - Happy Birthday, Woodrow Wilson

Posted on December 28, 2018

Woodrow Wilson was one of the better presidents in the United States; the scholar-survey rankings in Wikipedia put him in the upper quartile in almost every case - and the two that rank him lower than that actually ranked him #11 - which today would (barely) put him in the upper upper quartile but didn't when those particular surveys were done.

So, how did Wilson score so well?

He flaunted the wishes of the "party bosses" of his political party (Democrats) in order to pass progressive laws; he established new economic regulations to help make America more stable and fair; he tried to establish a worldwide organization to foster peace and international cooperation.

Here are a few good and bad things about Wilson:

Hooray!

Woodrow Wilson was the first president with a PhD. His doctorate was in Political Science. He was a professor at Princeton University before he was Governor of New Jersey and, later, President of the U.S.






 Boo!

Wilson (who was born in the South) was very racist. He believed in segregation and allowed his cabinet to expand segregation within the federal government.

Hooray!

Wilson's attempt to create a League of Nations won him a Nobel Peace Prize...

Boo!

...but the League of Nations was too weak to be effective and didn't result in an enormous outbreak of peace.

Hooray!

Wilson tried to keep the U.S. out of the war, but then he stood up against German aggression when Germany urged Mexico to go to war with the United States in order to distract from Europe, and when Germany kept attacking American ships with their U-Boats (submarines).



Boo!

The Sedition Act cut into free speech rights during times of war.






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January 28 - Anniversary of a Just Appointment


Posted on January 28, 2017


Louis Brandeis was brilliant. He was passionate about the law and about the betterment of individuals and American society. He was incorruptible.
(Incorruptible means that nobody could influence him with power, money, or other bribes.)
Of course he would make a great justice of the Supreme Court, right?
Then why-oh-why did so many conservative Republicans fight against Brandeis's 1916 nomination to the Supreme Court?
Was it because the president who nominated him, Woodrow Wilson, was a Democrat?
A big part of the problem many had with Brandeis was because he was a crusader for social justice – and that often pitted him against monopolies, big corporations, the wealthy and the powerful. Brandeis devoted so much time to public causes and social justice he was called “the People's Lawyer,” and he was even described as “a Robin Hood of the law.”
Of course, we know that standing up against unfair practices is a good thing – even if, actually ESPECIALLY if, the people being unfair are wealthy and powerful.
Still, a lot of politicians are themselves wealthy and powerful, and almost all politicians are influenced by the wealthy and powerful, so Republicans as a group fought against Brandeis because he made a habit of standing up to the wealthy and powerful.
Another big part of the problem many people had with Brandeis was that he was a Jew. Antisemitism (bigotry toward Jewish people) had been a problem in America for centuries, although thankfully it has decreased since World War II and the Civil Rights Movement, in the middle of the 1900s. (I will point out, however, that so far there has never been a Jewish president or vice-president in the United States. There has never even been a Jewish major party candidate for president, and the only candidate for VP was Joe Lieberman in 2000.)
Thank goodness, Brandeis did end up getting confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice. He weighed in on many free-speech issues and right-to-privacy issues. His written opinions on those two topics, in particular, are considered some of the greatest defenses ever written by a member of the Supreme Court.

Here are a few interesting facts about Louis Brandeis:
  • His parents immigrated from Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic.
  • Brandeis graduated from Harvard Law School at age 20 – with the highest grade average in the law school's history.
  • The law firm he founded in Boston still practices today. Its name is now Nutter McClennen & Fish – Nutter for short – which is a bit surprising to me. If I wanted a lawyer, I think I would not want to choose Mr. Nutter, would you? Maybe not even Mr. Fish... But the law firm has one of the highest reputations in the state and nation.
  • Although Brandeis was the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, he was far from the last. Starting with the 1932 appointment of Benjamin Cardozo, there have been seven other Jewish justices on SCOTUS, including three current justices! (All but one of these were nominated by Democrats.)
  • Brandeis is widely considered a pioneer in pro bono work, helping to create the concept that is now prevalent in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. Pro bono means “for the public good,” and it is used to refer to professional work done without payment. The American Bar Association has an ethics rule that suggests that every lawyer in the U.S. contribute at least fifty hours of pro bono service every year.
Here are a few wonderful quotes from Louis Brandeis:






Also on this date:
Chinese New Year -- Year of the Rooster:
here and here and here and here and here 



















Anniversary of first ski tow in the U.S.







Anniversary of the coining of the word serendipity
















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January 10 – League of Nations Day

Posted on January 10, 2014


Today we commemorate something that didn't work!
On this date in 1920, the League of Nations came into being. It represented the hopes of 42 ratifying nations for international cooperation and world peace.
In 1920 the world was still reeling from the catastrophic death toll of World War I, with more than 16 million dead and many more millions wounded. More than one leader and influential person was calling for a permanent organization that would maintain peace.
That included Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, who outlined his idea of such an organization during his 14-point peace plan. Although many of his ideas did not become adopted by the other nations hammering out the treaty that formally ended WWI, the League of Nations was approved. Wilson was able to present the peace treaty and the Covenant of the League of Nations to the US Senate.
Even though the organization was mostly the “baby” of the US President, the US Senate refused to ratify it! Wilson had suffered from a stroke and was unable to flex his political muscle to reach a compromise with the Senate. Still, the League of Nations was established, without the US.
Why did the Senate refuse to ratify the covenant, you ask?
Good question. Apparently many senators thought that the organization took too much authority away from the US, which was beginning to be seen as a world power.
The sign near the bridge reads "The League of
Nations was designed by the President of the USA."

Uncle Sam is snoozing, resting his head on the keystone
from the bridge, which is labeled "USA."

Guess what happens to a bridge that has no keystone?
And apparently the senators were wrong! Because we can now see that the League had very little power or authority at all. Japan attacked China, even though both of the nations were in the League of Nations. The League condemned the attack, so Japan simply withdrew from the organization. And there was nothing that the League could do! Germany started rearming itself—and the League could do nothing. Italy invaded Ethiopia—again, even though both nations were a part of the peace-keeping organization—and again, the League could do nothing!
By the time World War II started, the League of Nations was basically defunct.
Eventually 63 nations were a part of the League of Nations—but the US wasn't one of them!
So, WWII happened, and more than 60 million—some sources say more than 72 million—people died. And voices once again called out for an organization that could work to promote cooperation and peaceful conflict resolution between nations. The United Nations was born—and this time the US joined!
To learn more about the League of Nations, check out this Brain Pop video. 

Also on this date:

National Vodoun Day in Benin












Astronomer Robert Woodrow Wilson's birthday















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