Woodrow Wilson

America Became Part Of The World This Week In 1917!

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America became part of the world this week in 1917, when President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress on April 2, 1917, and asked for a Congressional Declaration of War against Imperial Germany, the Austro Hungarian Empire, and the Turkish Empire, putting us into “the Great War”, later called the World War, and after entrance into World War II, termed World War I.

Although America went back into isolationism in the 1920s and 1930s, the nation learned that it was a false decision, and since World War II, we have recognized that we are part of the world, and cannot ignore what is going on outside America, as it can and has threatened American national security.

President Joe Biden faces many foreign policy challenges, most significantly with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, but with many other authoritarian nations that also undermine America’s basic values.

While Biden wishes to deal with the many domestic challenges, he will not be able to ignore the many problems other nations pose for the United States!

Foreign Policy Rears Its Ugly Head For Joe Biden

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Every President enters office wishing to deal with domestic policy and change.

But invariably, foreign policy rears its ugly head much too often!

Woodrow Wilson came to office in 1913, not expecting the First World War I to break out in 1914, and bring us into that war in 1917.

Franklin D. Roosevelt came to office in 1933, wishing to deal with the Great Depression, but also had to deal with the growing Fascist threat of Japan, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy, and eventually, entrance into World War II!

Harry Truman came to office in 1945 to end World War II, but had to deal with the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and send troops to Korea.

John F. Kennedy came to office in 1961, and had to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Lyndon B. Johnson came to office in 1963, wanting to promote the Great Society, but also had to deal with the Vietnam War.

Every other President in modern times has had to face similar issues, and now, Joe Biden must deal with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran as major headaches, as he tries to resolve the COVID 19 Pandemic Crisis!

Presidential Egomania Led To Disaster Under Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, And Now Donald Trump

Ronald 3 Comments

The problem of Presidential egomania has led to disaster under a number of Presidents.

It caused Woodrow Wilson to promote civil liberties violations during World War I, and to refuse to negotiate with the US Senate over the Versailles Treaty and League of Nations. It also led to his paralytic stroke in the fall of 1919, which undermined the rest of his term, and his refusal to step aside for Vice President Thomas Marshall at a time of tumultuous internal events in the last 17 months of his term, including the infamous Palmer Raids (Red Scare) in 1919-1920.

It caused Herbert Hoover to refuse to adjust his view on laissez faire, causing the Great Depression to become much worse, and lead to his massive defeat by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. That economic disaster was made even worse by Hoover’s refusal of cooperation with the President Elect, adding another million people to the unemployment rolls before the 1933 inauguration of his successor.

It caused Lyndon B. Johnson to damage his domestic Great Society legacy by his insistence on continuing the war in Vietnam, and then finally being pushed out of the race for reelection in the spring of 1968, leading to the election of Richard Nixon.

It caused Richard Nixon, who had some real accomplishments in domestic and foreign affairs, to destroy his own Presidency by his own insecurities and desire to get his “enemies”, leading to the Watergate Scandal and his downfall less than two years after an overwhelming reelection victory in 1972.

So two Democratic and two Republican Presidents, all of whom had ability and intelligence, threw away their Presidencies due to egomania!

And now, we have Donald Trump, who is allowing the nation to be decimated by the COVID 19 Pandemic, politicizing face masks and social distancing, and therefore, responsible for the greatest loss of life in a short time in American history, and facing almost certain repudiation by the American people in ten days!

The difference is that Trump’s egomania and narcissism is far more dangerous than that of Wilson, Hoover, Johnson and Nixon, as he is the first one to indicate he will refuse to accept the election results and to leave office peacefully.

Trump is creating a massive political and social crisis as we have voter intimidation and threats already occurring.

The Republican Party is working to delegitimize the election count, already occurring in California, a state that the Republicans are insured of losing, but are brazenly taking illegal actions!

Trump With COVID 19 Creates Turmoil And Crisis, And Brings Up 25th Amendment And Succession Law

Ronald 18 Comments

Donald Trump, having contracted the COVID 19 Virus, creates turmoil and crisis, and brings up the 25th Amendment of 1967, and the Presidential Succession Law of 1947.

Trump has been reckless in NOT promoting face masks and distancing, particularly at his close up rallies, but also in the Oval Office and at other White House sites, and his family refusing to wear masks at the Presidential Debate last Tuesday was totally irresponsible!

Trump should be sidelined for a week or more if he has a mild case, but if severe, it creates a real crisis, that requires the 25th Amendment to be invoked, and brings up the Presidential Succession Law, passed by a Republican dominated Congress in 1947.

If Trump is unable for a period of time to perform his duties, then Vice President Mike Pence can take over as Acting President, as George H. W. Bush did in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan had cancer surgery; and twice under President George W. Bush, having colonoscopies, Dick Cheney was briefly Acting President.

It should have happened when Ronald Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981, but it was not invoked.

Were Trump to fail to survive, Mike Pence would become President, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would be next in line, followed by Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley of Iowa. The fact that Pelosi is 80 and Grassley 87 is alarming, of course, and right after them would be Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is 56, and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin who is 57.

Whatever one’s feelings toward Donald Trump, we should all hope for his complete recovery, but it certainly upends the Presidential Election of 2020, and makes the likelihood of a Vice Presidential debate next week less likely, and would seem to lead to the cancellation of the two remaining Presidential Debates, which really should not be occurring after the disastrous first Presidential Debate, in any case!

Time will tell of course, never a dull moment!

Finally, it is truly ironic that the news of Trump having COVID 19 occurs on the 101st Anniversary of Woodrow Wilson suffering a paralytic stroke in 1919, five months after contracting the Spanish Flu Virus while at the Versailles Peace Conference in France after World War I.

Wilson was never as energetic after suffering from the virus, and it seems to have undermined his case for the Versailles Treaty. And once he had the stroke, his wife ran cabinet meetings, and Vice President Thomas Marshall and the American people through the news media were NOT kept informed about his condition, and we had the longest period of incapacity of any President, lasting until he left office 17 months later in March 1921.

Open White Supremacy And Racism In The American Presidency

Ronald 8 Comments

The reality of the history of the American Presidency is that white supremacy and racism is rampant.

Nine of the first twelve Presidents owned slaves, and many of them mistreated them, including cruelty and separation of families by slave sales.

Also, many Presidents clearly saw native Americans as subhuman, and had no concern about the loss of life and the stealing of native American lands.

Additionally, many Presidents saw people of Asian or Latino heritage as being inferior, and treated them in openly racist ways.

The story of American history is of widespread massacres of people of color, no matter what their ancestry, and not just in the South, but nationwide.

Most American Presidents ignored what was going on, but some were more vocal and outspoken in their white supremacy and racism, enunciating their hateful, prejudiced views.

The vocal group, willing to make it part of their Presidencies include Andrew Jackson, regarding native Americans and African Americans; Andrew Johnson, toward African Americans during Reconstruction; Woodrow Wilson, who made clear his disregard for civil rights for African Americans, and open disdain for people of Asian ancestry, as well as the nations they originated from (China and Japan); and now Donald Trump, who has used the racist and white supremacist language to appeal to his base in a gross manner.

Since Trump has the advantage of modern media reporting and social media, particularly Twitter, which the others did not have, his white supremacy and racist rants are much more dangerous than those of Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson.

The So Called “Liberal News Media” Are True Heroes, Constantly Explain Facts And Truth!

Ronald 33 Comments

Donald Trump, as usual, condemns the “liberal news media” as a “hoax”, as “fake news”, as journalists who are out to get him, as if it is the job of news media to be “nice” to Presidents and other political leaders.

If one went back to the past, ask Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and other Presidents how they reacted to constant harsh criticism from the media of their time periods.

Of course, they did not like it, but NONE of them acted the way Donald Trump has, which is a threat to democracy and freedom of the press!

The news media, often called “liberal”, is only called that because they refuse to support corruption, racism, nativism, misogyny, homophobia, corporate wrong doings, religious hypocrisy, and lack of ethics and morality among public figures.

They are out to report the truth, the facts, and take a lot of flack from those who choose to ignore the fact of their accuracy and honesty, with an occasional, human trait, error, but not intended, not endemic, and not evil spirited!

It was the news media that saved us during Watergate, and it is the news media that is doing heroic service in working to prevent a Trump dictatorship, which he would love to impose on the American people.

Journalists worldwide and in this nation have often sacrificed their safety and even lives, in their mission to inform, and nothing will stop them from their commitment and willingness to sacrifice for the common good!

Joe Biden Needs To Agree That He Would Step Aside If Unable To Handle The Presidency, Unlike Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, And Ronald Reagan

Ronald 6 Comments

We have had three circumstances where a President was unable to handle the job due to health issues, but refused to step aside.

Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke in the fall of 1919, and was basically incapacitated for the remaining year and a half of his Presidency, but refused to resign, and his wife conducted cabinet meetings.

Franklin D. Roosevelt had congestive heart failure in 1944, and should not have run for a fourth term, but did anyway.,

Ronald Reagan had clear cut dementia, noticed by 1986-1987, but his wife Nancy and his top advisers covered for him in his last years in office.

Also, Donald Trump clearly has signs of mental deterioration for anyone who wishes to be honest.

And now, Joe Biden has what some people think are early signs of dementia, but not clear cut at this point.

We are likely to face a situation where either Donald Trump or Joe Biden will likely be President in the next term, but might not be able to finish the term.

It is sad but reality that Donald Trump would never resign if he was incapable of doing his job, but Joe Biden needs to be willing to step aside if his early signs become more evident during a future Presidency.

Some would say we have the 25th Amendment to allow for the Vice President to be “Acting President”, but that is more useful for physical ailments than mental ailments.

Looking back, Reagan was the first President under the 25th Amendment situation, and now Trump, both of them the oldest Presidents in office.

Joe Biden, or even Bernie Sanders, would be easily the most advanced in age, and while the 25th Amendment could be used, it does not seem adeqate if mental deterioration is present.

If anything, this situation that we are now presented with is an argument for Joe Biden to pick the best possible Vice President, who could be fully ready to take the oath of office if Biden, at some point, could not handle the job of President.

The Magnificent Joe Biden Revival The Greatest In American History

Ronald 10 Comments

Former Vice President Joe Biden completed the greatest turnaround of political fortunes in American history in the last four days.

Thought to be a “lost cause”, he accomplished the winning of 10 of 14 primaries on Super Tuesday, after winning South Carolina last Saturday, and left Bernie Sanders in the distance.

He also caused Michael Bloomberg to withdraw today, but pledge all financial help to the Biden and Democratic Party campaign to retire Donald Trump from the Oval Office.

What Biden did is in many ways a miracle, but it could not happen to a nicer, more decent, more compassionate, more empathetic, and more genuine man than Joe Biden.

Biden has dedicated the past half century to public service, serving 36 years in the US Senate, and 8 years as the most active and engaged Vice President in American history!

His persona looks even better when compared to the Vice Presidents before and after him–Dick Cheney and Mike Pence!

Joe Biden is not perfect, and has votes and statements and silly flubs as part of his record that can be used against him.

But he KNOWS domestic and foreign policy, and would be the most experienced public official in total years ever to be President.

The man knows how to lead, as he did as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

And he knows the importance of “crossing the aisle” when possible. which is essential for any progress on any public issue.

There are some worried about his mental lapses, but my thought is that if it ever was clear that he needed to step aside and resign, he would do so, and that makes the Vice Presidential nomination more important than ever before.

He would not stay on in poor condition as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan did, and as Donald Trump would do.

Biden needs to select a much younger person, who could be his successor, and this blogger suggests Julian Castro, Pete Buttigieg, and Kamala Harris as his top three choices.

We need to pray for him, that he can meet the challenge of retiring Donald Trump, and restoring faith in American government.

Eleven Presidents With Compassion And Empathy, And Eleven Presidents Who Had Neither

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Since today is Presidents Day, this author and blogger is posting two entries after the one yesterday, to commemorate the holiday.

So here is the second entry today, and the third and last entry to celebrate Presidents Day!

The most important traits that any President should have, but many do not, is compassion and empathy.

There are Presidents who have compassion and empathy as very clear parts of their personalities, and there are those who have absolutely no such compassion or empathy, making them uncaring and harsh in personality.

A list of eleven Presidents WITH compassion and empathy would include the following in chronological order:

John Quincy Adams

Abraham Lincoln

James A. Garfield

Theodore Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Harry Truman

John F. Kennedy

Lyndon B. Johnson

Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton

Barack Obama

Those eleven Presidents who most lacked compassion and empathy chronologically would include:

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

Andrew Jackson

John Tyler

Andrew Johnson

Woodrow Wilson

Herbert Hoover

Richard Nixon

Ronald Reagan

George W. Bush

Donald Trump

Debate and discussion on this and the earlier two entries is welcome!

The Twelve Smartest and Twelve Dumbest Presidents In American History

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America has been fortunate in having a large number of smart, intelligent Presidents in its history.

This author would judge the twelve smartest Presidents, chronologically, to be as follows:

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

John Quincy Adams

Abraham Lincoln

James A. Garfield

Theodore Roosevelt

Woodrow Wilson

John F. Kennedy

Richard Nixon

Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton

Barack Obama

Who would be the smartest of all? Probably a tie between Jefferson and John Quincy Adams!

And who are the 12 dumbest Presidents in chronological order?

Andrew Jackson

William Henry Harrison

Zachary Taylor

Franklin Pierce

James Buchanan

Andrew Johnson

Ulysses S. Grant

Benjamin Harrison

Warren G. Harding

Calvin Coolidge

George W. Bush

Donald Trump

And who is the dumbest President in American history? Probably a three way tie among Harding, George W. Bush, and Trump!