With so much of the world in flux, Wilson relied on flexibility, which struck his opponents

as weakness. In truth, Wilson was pursuing a steady, albeit slow, path to war. At this pivotal

moment, when the majority of Americans had migrated from rural areas to urban centers,

Wilson began erecting the machinery for the United States to prepare itself for war.

He explained that that included not only the creation of a standing army, quote, for the purposes

of peace, end quote, but also a, quote, great system

of industrial and vocational education under federal guidance and with federal aid, in which a very

large percentage of the youth of this country will be given training in the skillful use

and application of the principles of science and

manufacturing and business."

Wilson envisioned a society of productive citizens who stood ready to serve as soldiers.

Wilson biographer A. Scott Berg on Wilson's response to World War I prior to 1917.

...wereau. I'm . I'm .

I'm

. Howdy everybody? This is C.J. And welcome to part 13 in my ongoing many years in the making.

D.H.P. Villains Woodrow Wilson series.

I originally intended this episode to include Wilson's re-election campaign in 1916, as well as some other important events from that year, and then also to run into early 1917 with the German actions in the early months of that year that ultimately gave Wilson his Casas Belli.

But as often happens, as I was working on the episode, I realized there was more that I wanted

to share with you all in terms of the story of 1916 and Wilson's re-election campaign and some

other things. And so ultimately, I decided that the part about the lead-up to American intervention

in early 1917 would have to wait for the next Wilson episode because it was just

getting too unwieldy.

...