Why Did Woodrow Wilson Lose The Election Of 1912

In 1916, World War I was making its way across Europe, the Mexican Revolution was in full swing, and United States presidential incumbent Woodrow Wilson was fighting the battle for re-election on the home front. Woodrow Wilson faced Supreme Court Justice Charles Hughes, and the differences between the two men confused the electorate and added complexity to the electoral college. The election of 1916 was so close many say that Hughes went to sleep election night believing he had won. Many re-election campaigns are looked over, but 1916 is significant as a very close election for an incumbent who would go on to lead the United States during World War I. Woodrow Wilson has many layers one must peel back in order to understand the man as a person

Wilson won in 1912, defeating the incumbent Howard Taft. This was partially due to the quarrel between Theodore Roosevelt and Taft over some appointments Taft had made, splitting the Republican Party vote. Wilson’s first term brought a plethora of progressive policy changes under his New Freedom plan. Wilson’s plan utilized extreme intervention in the economy, including the creation of the Federal Reserve System and the Fair Trade Commission. When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, Wilson had no foreign policy experience. On top of that, the United States’ southern neighbors in Mexico were in the middle of a revolt. Although Wilson pleased many Americans that feared war in Europe by managing to keep the United States out of World War I, others were highly critical of Wilson’s decisions, portraying him as

Hughes, others focus on the rare ‘upset’ win of an incumbent, and others on the importance of key states or ethnic groups, the authors at least mentioned all of these aspects when dissecting the election of 1916. The authors had generally the same sentiment towards these aspects as well. The similar opinions of the election span from the 1950s to today. The only difference was in Wilson’s image. Woodrow Wilson: The Story of His Life, written in 1912, portrayed a more favorable view of Wilson, a scholar that appealed to social elites as well as common people. On the other hand, Portrait of the President, written in 1958, evoked a more critical view of Wilson, a racist, sexist, egotistical man that was criticized by many close to