progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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The Telmarc Group 4.5 WOODROW WILSON PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL Woodrow Wilson is a complex figure in the development of the progressive movement. The recent book, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography, by Cooper, is a somewhat biased addition to the wealth of biographies on Wilson. Cooper is one of the class of writers who approaches Wilson in the somewhat favorable light of a progressive, in fact one may call Cooper a neo-progressive historian in light of how he develops Wilson's biography. In contrast to Cooper is Pestritto, who is anything but a neo-progressive. His has written extensively on Wilson and the Progressives and his writing is brilliantly clear and comprehensive in coverage. We will follow Pestritto in presenting Wilson. One should always remember that Wilson was the ultimate opportunist. He was offered the Governorship of New Jersey just as the Board at Princeton was tiring of his high handed, arrogant, and almost dictatorial style while its president. He ran for President just when the political machine that initially supported him in 1910 decides the same in 1912. Wilson was also a pragmatist. He did what was necessary at the time. Thus as he saw TR and the Progressive bent he assumed much of the TR Progressive mantle to himself. As the country tired of TR it accepted the aloofness of Wilson, not knowing what it had elected. Wilson was a Virginian by birth and at heart. In 1912 that still meant a level of arrogance and self importance as well as a strong racist bent. Milkis details the occasion when Trotter, a black leader and editor of the Boston Guardian, was thrown out of Wilson's office abruptly because he disagreed with the President's refusal to even discuss the separate but equal position of the Democrats 103 . Wilson also as a Virginian had strong ties to the south in many ways and the south was the core to his ongoing efforts. This truly was a sad day when the President so denigrated such a man as Trotter. 4.5.1 Wilson and Hegel To understand Wilson one must understand the base of his world view, and that was Hegel. Strangely in the book by Cooper there is not a reference to Hegel in the index. Perhaps the reason is the nexus of Hegel and Hitler, the historicism of the Hegelian conflict if civilizations with a teleological view of a selected end point. For Hegel the process of history had a deliberate end point. It was not a process for the sake of process, but process with a conclusion. The winners of the thesis, antithesis, one the ones in the synthesis, were the better of both prior worlds, and as one reads Wilson one sees this Hegelian view flow out again and again. One may ask, besides Wilson's world view, a Hegelian view, why did he become a progressive or was that part of his evolving character? Cooper states 104 : 103 See Milkis pp 274-275 places Wilson is the poorest of light as he deals with the civil rights of the blacks. 104 Cooper p 106. Page 90
The Telmarc Group PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL "When, how, and why Woodrow Wilson became a progressive would become hotly debated question after he entered politics. Foes o both sides would denounce him for opportunism; erstwhile conservatives patrons would scorn him for ingratitude and for pandering to the passing popular fancies; skeptical progressives would suspect him of belated and halfhearted adherence to their side. Opportunism unquestionable played a part in swaying Wilson toward progressivism. The popularity of Roosevelt's anti-trust and regulatory policies, growing reformist insurgency in both parties, and repeated defeats of conservative Democrats, all pointed to the direction in which the political winds were blowing…" Yet Wilson was both opportunist, some would say pragmatist, and at the same time driven by a vision, a philosophy of history as developed by Hegel. The development of Wilson's historicism in the Hegelian context is provided by Petitto 105 . First historicism is the theory of history based upon Hegel that states that history is both organic and evolving and yet rational and a reflection and instrument of power. Hegel saw history as an evolving conflict of ideas, of ways of thinking and living, the thesis and antithesis, when meeting in a point of conflict, the synthesis, the best idea of the next step of history, evolving, yet the evolution has a purpose, a teleological drive to improvement. Superior tribes overcome inferior tribes and the result is a forward moving civilization. I would briefly question Hegel and the historicism because in European history we have the Huns destroying Rome, the Vikings killing off Irish culture, and tales of this kind again and again. One could argue that history is Darwinian with no end just a process of survival of the fittest, the Spencerian way in which mankind evolves. Yet it is important to understand a person's world view, and Petitto presents this brilliantly. As to the influence of historicism on Wilson, Petitto states 106 : "Wilson also adopted the framework of historicism in describing how history bring progress. Advance in history comes out of conflict, a dialectical process where opposing conventions or customs meet, with the historically superior convention winning over and assimilating the inferior. Wilson traced this dialectic back to what he considered the early history of the state - the primitive family or tribe." In many ways this is Spencerian history, with the Hegelian conflict. Yet one must add to this the end, the goal, the teleology that implies that this is all going somewhere. As such, one can see Wilson with a vision, a mission, driven to crash into the existing system with his views and seek the Darwinian survival of what he saw as the evolving United States. 105 Petitto, Wilson, pp 14-19. 106 Petitto, Wilson p. 35. Page 91
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