Wilson

Back in Woodrow Wilson's day, there were those who believed that he would be remembered in the future similar to Washington and Jefferson. Today, he is remembered for getting us through WWI, and the 14 points which he used to advocate for the League of Nations. Yet, in recent years, Wilson's legacy has come to face some controversy, as his views on racism make it troublesome for Prinston students to see his name on one of their campus buildings. Yet, little do they know that there are so many more things that Wilson should be disliked for. What is worse, for me personally,. is that the book Wilson by A. Scott Berg, barely touches upon any of these controversial opinions at all.

I am always interested to see how someone will approach a president. Will they explore their life in particular seeing only their thoughts and feelings through their writing, with little focus on their family or friends? Will they explore the world around the man, leaving you in little doubt about the context, but leaving the personal psychology wanting? A. Scott Berg tends to do more of the latter, and little of the former. He spends most of his time seeing the worlds that inhabit Wilson's universe, offering much in the way of context. This can make for an excellent exploration of the times and world Wilson inhabits, especially for those that are unfamiliar with the era they are working with. This context covers everything from the history of Reconstruction after the Civil War, the history of Princeton, and the backstories of Wilson's political opponents.

This, however, also makes for one of the larger problems that crop up quickly. For all the exploration that we do, I don't really feel like I know the man, Wilson himself. It may not be as bad as the book I read on McKinley, but I still wish that I didn't have to read about the history of Princeton, and the history of the Democratic party up until that point. It became grading for me, as I wished for us to get back to Wilson the man, as opposed to the things that Wilson dealt with at the time.

A second problem was the lack of exploration into Wilson's more negative attributes. As a President, he allowed the KKK to flourish, after he allegedly endorsed the film Birth of a Nation. He also allowed or endorsed the segregation of facilities between black and white citizens. During the first Red Scare, he made sure people's rights were violated for the sake of protecting against communism.

Internationally, he would create perhaps one of the single most defining speeches in American international policy history. For WWI, he asked to make the world ‘safe for democracy. This idea would define how and why America would intervene in conflicts even into the 21st century. Then, there was his intervention into Mexico and Latin America. He would often intervene in these countries, making sure that their democratically elected communist government was not followed through. This means that he would support only a certain type of democratically elected government.

I mention these ideas because these negative aspects of Wilson's character, and administration are given only the barest glimpses in this text. This makes the image of Wilson a more rosy one than need be. This positive image is dominated by the various bible verses that preclude each chapter. Many times, the author includes various bible verses in the text, giving the impression, whether intentional or not, that Wilson was a Christ-like figure, trying desperately to save the world using American exceptionalism, while completely ignoring it's more sour notes of our history under the Wilson administration.

The audiobook production also compounds the issue. The narrator Jeremy Bobb has the issue of reading with a slow monotone voice. While listening, I often had to increase the speed by 20% just to make it tolerable. This may have been the primary reason why it took me so long to read, as listening to this was likely to make me want to either fall asleep, or force my mind to wander, so then I would have to start all over again.

In the end, this is a book that I would not think of recommending to a friend, regardless of the format. While others may see this as an excellent depiction of Wilson's life and times, it just leaves me baffled, as though I am missing something. I give this book a two out of five.