Woodrow Wilson

1
Woodrow Wilson

• 28th president (1913-1921)
• Democratic Party
• Campaigned on a program called the New Freedom,
  which stressed individual and states rights.
• President during WWI

2
Wilsons Rhetoric Techniques

• Prolific public communicator, as he was
• concerned with reaching all people in the
• audience, not just the elite.
• He saw democracy as a tool for creating
• harmony within the nation
• Most of Wilsons speeches spoke directly to
• the people, rather than the Congress
• Spoke of peace and equality
• Spoke to unify Americans as partners with
• other countries

3

• Wilson used rhetoric memorably and
  effectivelyit was because he knew that words
  counted, and that great words, at rare moments in
  a nations life, can have the force of great
  deeds.Mary Stuckey

4
Wilsons Governing Ideals

• Nonpartisan Leadership
• -rather than speaking on behalf of a political
  party, Wilson referred to the people as a united
  group.
• I am not interested in a party that is not an
  embodied program based upon a set of principles
  and our present job is to get the people who
  believe in principles to stand shoulder to
  shoulder and to do things from one side of the
  continent to the other
• --Remarks to the press at the first press
  conference

5

• The Limits of Leadership
• -Wilson believed the president was powerful
  leader, but not he the only force. The people
  were his leaders.
• I have not yet presented any legislature my
  private views on any subject, and I never shall
  because I conceive it to be part of the whole
  process of government that I shall be spokesman
  for somebody, not for myself.
• --Wilson speaking to a delegation from the
  Nations Suffrage Convention

6

• National Identity
• -Wilson identified American as
  acting in a united interest. Americans
  were equal and not divided therefore it was
  his task to strengthen the unity.
• To such a task we can dedicate or Eves and our
  fortunes, everything that we are and everything
  that we have, with the pride for those who know
  that the day has come when America is privileged
  to spend her blood and her might for the
  principles that gave her birth and happiness and
  the peace which she has treasured.Wilsons War
  Message

7
Wilsons War Message

• On April 2, 1917 Wilson
• addressed the Congress to
• declare war.
• It began with the Germans use of unrestricted
  submarine warfare. On May 7th, 1915 a German
  submarine (u-boat) sank the British cruise ship
  Lusitania.  1,198 people were killed, including
  128 Americans. Attacks continued and the US
  became involved.

8
The Rhetoric of the War Message

• Wilson makes it clear that it is a war against
  all nations
• He makes a distinction between people and the
  government, reiterating that Americans did not
  hate the Germans.
• Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable
  where the peace of the world is involved and the
  freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that
  peace and freedom lies in the existence of
  autocratic governments backed by organized fore
  which is controlled wholly buy their will, not by
  the will of their people.

9
Wilsons Fourteen Points

• Delivered on January 8, 1918
• The Fourteen Points were Wilsons response to
  Post WWI
• He proposed a program for world peace through The
  League of Nations
• -Open covenants of peace, free trade,
  equal treatments of all nations, etc.

10
The Rhetoric of The Fourteen Points

• The program of the worlds peace,
• therefore, is our program and that
• program, the only possibly program, as we
• see it, is this...
• When addressing the Congress Wilson
• briefly discusses the objects war and
• his desire for peace for the world.
• A shorter speech, with shorter sentence,
• focusing mainly on the proposed points
• Wilson asks rhetorical questions throughout the
  speech, forcing Congress to think about what he
  is presenting, rather than simply hearing his
  opinions.
• Wilson describes the people of the world as
  partners, establishing national unity.

11
Peace In Both Speeches

• Wilson emphasizes that idea of peace being
  beneficial for all nations
• In both speeches, Wilson makes reference to
  democracy, implying the desire for safety and
  security.
• Americans are not divided in either speech
  therefore proving his principle of national
  unity.
• There is a clear statement made in both speeches
  that the German people are not hated by
  Americans. Americans then are not jealous of
  German power. Wilson, then, makes the distinction
  between people and their government.

12
Roosevelt and Wilson

• Both presidents stressed the importance of the
  peoples role in government
• They each were mediators of working toward peace
• Roosevelt and Wilson used rhetoric concerning
  improvement. Roosevelt spoke for environmental
  issues, and Wilson spoke for national equality
  and peace after the war.
• Both presidents advocated strengthening the role
  of the US in international affairs.