ABSTRACT
One of the most idealistic of American presidents, Woodrow Wilson enacted progressive legislation for domestic reform that increased government regulation of business. He also defined an agenda for world peace following World War I that led to US predominance in world affairs after World War II. An able coalition-builder, Wilson was persuaded to run for president of the United States. Elected in 1912, he served two terms. In a January 1918 speech to Congress, Wilson proposed a plan, called the Fourteen Points, to shape a “just peace” after the war, to accord national self-determination and independence to subject peoples, encourage open diplomacy and free trade, and establish the League of Nations, an organization of nation-states dedicated to maintaining world peace. Wilson's domestic agenda marked the high point of the Progressive Era. The federal government gained powerful tools to control the economy.
