Woodrow Wilson

Should government be given more power to regulate big business? Long before the Enron and WorldCom fiascoes drove our current administration to consider drafting new legislation, Woodrow Wilson raised this question back in 1894 (and you thought history didn't repeat). Originally airing on PBS's acclaimed American Experience series, filmmakers Carl Byker and Mitch Wilson's three-hour saga Woodrow Wilson, narrated by Linda Hunt, combines archival photos and newsreels, re-enactments, letters, and commentary from scholars and historians, to chronicle the fascinating life of a man considered by many to be one of the top five Presidents of the United States. A mix of Presbyterian Calvinism and pacifist visionary, Wilson's true trial by fire would come during World War I, when despite mounting pressures to commit American troops to the war, he maintained America's time-honored isolationist policy (as one whose earliest memories were of the Civil War, Wilson wrote, “I come from the South and I know what war is”). But when secret German plans offering portions of the American Southwest to Mexico in exchange for allied support came to light, Wilson felt he had no choice but to declare war on Germany “to make the world safe for democracy,” as he famously stated. Like every other President, Wilson was not perfect: he is particularly remembered for turning his back on African-Americans after courting their votes, suspending civil liberties during the war (as had Lincoln before him), and ignoring the woman suffragists. Still, his legacy is considerable (the video neglects to mention that while Wilson's dream of the League of Nations was quashed by Britain, France and the U.S. Senate, it was later resurrected by his Undersecretary of the Navy--a man by the name of Franklin D. Roosevelt), and this portrait is highly recommended. [Note: the DVD contains 90 minutes of extra footage and other bonus features, including mini-documentaries, additional interviews, and profiles of key figures in Wilson's life.] Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)