President Woodrow Wilson's War Message April 2, 1917

1
President Woodrow Wilson's War MessageApril 2,
1917

• I. Main Elements
• A. President Wilson is seeking Congressional
  support for American entry into the Great War
  (a.k.a., World War I).
• B. Initial pretext unrestricted German submarine
  warfare in the North Atlantic.
• C. Wilson sees the issue in broader, abstract
  terms, however. He views the German policy as a
  warfare against mankind. The motive for
  entering the war, therefore, encompasses more
  than merely defense of shipping lanes it shall
  be an effort to vindicate the principles of
  peace and justice in the life of the world.
• D. International political reform necessarily
  involves an attack upon autocratic or
  dictatorial powers, for only democracies are
  peaceful and just. The rights of all mankind are
  at stake, and America must fulfill her moral
  obligation in the international arena The world
  must be made safe for democracy.

2
President Woodrow Wilson's War MessageApril 2,
1917

• II. Analysis
• A. The speech illustrates the international
  dimension to the reformist element in American
  political culture. International reformism
  (a.ka., Wilsonianism) seeks to place limits on
  national self-determination by the use of
  military force or other pressure mechanisms. It
  calls into question, in other words, the right of
  individual nations to do what they see fit within
  their borders.
• B. The speech is therefore not an isolated,
  anomalous, or unexpected feature of Americanism
  it is in keeping with a deep-seated desire on the
  part of many Americans to tell others what to do.
  This desire, of course, is in tension with the
  classical liberal element
• Classical Liberalism ?------------------containme
  nt ------------------gt puritan reformism
• (Isolationism in inter- policy during
  the Cold War (Wilsonianism,
• national affairs) Bush doctrine)