T. Christopher Jespersen

Pride, prejudice, and transatlantic relations: The case of Woodrow Wilson reconsidered

Woodrow Wilson played a significant role in transatlantic relations during an enormously important time. In extending economic and military assistance to Great Britain and France during the First World War, Wilson helped provide for victory, and in articulating a peace program for the postwar world, he attracted considerable attention for his vision. What Wilson lacked, however, was an understanding of European conditions, and this article claims that his failure to appreciate the death and destruction that the war brought to Europe was a function of the president’s highly selective understanding of America’s own history.