Professor Wilson
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PROFESSOR WILSON A paper read by George L. Denny before the Indianapolis tilterary Gltib April 2, 1928. Woodrow Wilson has bad many biographers In the last fif teen years* The more Important are Joseph Tumulty, David lawrenoe, uiii£am Alien White, Ray Stannard Baker, William Mward Dodd, William Bayard Hale, Henry Jones Ford, Josephus Daniels and Lucian Knight. Then there are the Colonel House papers, edited by Professor Charles Seymour of Yale, and the Page letters, both largely about Wilson, but dealing primarily with the War and other international matters of his administrations* The list Is by no means complete* It would be next to Impossible to catalogue all that has been written about him in magazines and elsewhere# The Wilson alcove in the Princeton Library doubtless approaches most nearly the complete collection* H^ Recently Ray Stannard Baker has published the first two volumes of a four-volume work, entitled •'Woodrow Wilson, Life T*5=7 and Letters•* The first volume bears the sub-title ^outh11 dealing with his life through 1889 when he was called to Princeton, and the second, ••Princeton/1 which covers the period from 1890 to 1910* This work is largely a compilation, being based upon an enormous mass of correspondence and other docu- T7 ments which President Wilson had accumulated, and which he left to expressly to Baker as his chosen biographer* i i M0338 Box24 Folderl 9 1928-04-02 001 The second volume of the Baker work entitled ••Princeton* covers in a most interesting way the intense and dramatic struggles of the President of Princeton in his fight for the definite and drastic educational and social reforms of the ftoiversity which lay so near to his heart* There is, however, very little of Professor Wilson In this voltpe, and in this it would appear to be lacking* Indeed, there Is a noticeable lack in all the extensive biographies of Woodrow Wilson on the subject of his teachings In the field of jurisprudence and politics as an university professor* When we remember that practically every situation he confronted in his career as President, with the possible exception of certain inter national problems, was more or less definitely covered, in an academic way, by his lectures to students at Princeton and elsewhere, it would seem that this would be a fertile field for someone* The failure in this by Baker can, perhaps, be explained by the interest that attaches quite naturally to the ambitious program of reform of Wilson, the President of Princeton, to which this volume is largely devoted* neverthe less. If the boy is father to the man, surely Wilson, the student and professor of political science, was the father of Wllsonf the statesman* Woodrow Wilson was always distinguished by a group of first-class enemies* It appears somewhat strange that one of these has not before undertaken to show inconsistency between M0338 Box24 Folderl 9 1928-04-02 002 the statesman and the professor of statecraft* We would expect such an effort by one of the numerous class who Insist that no theory of a college professor can possibly work out in practice* One such effort was made, during Mr* Wilson1 s life, by a newspaper reporter* The conversation is reported by David Lawrence as follows: ^Mr. Wilson, I find, upon reading your works,1 said another newspaper investigator, fand talking with men who attended your classes, that for a great many years you declared that the Initiative and referendum would not work. I also find that in one of your political speeches you declared that it would work* How, between the time you began teaching that It wouldn»t work and that political speech, the Initiative and referendum has become a popular political doctrine throughout the Middle West and Far West* Wefd like to know why you switched.* *Mr. Wilson pulled a leaf out of the side of his desk, picked up a pencil, drew forth a sheet of paper and leaned for ward on his forearms* •••Thatfs a perfectly fair question,1 he said, fand Ifm going to give you a perfectly honest answer* Now, I can sit here and in fifteen minutes I can demonstrate to you that the initiative and referendum wonft work* I can demonstrate it with a degree of conclusiveness approaching the conclusiveness of a mathemati cal demonstration, but - the unfortunate part of my demonstration will be the fact that it does work* I demonstrated to my own M0338 Box24 Folderl 9 1928-04-02 003 satisfaction for years that the initiative and referendum would not work, and then along came Mr* Uren and some other gentlemen from Oregon and introduced me to the fact that it does work* I*ve simply had to throw away my useless demonstration*•* The particular subjects of his courses In the late nineties were Outlines of Jurisprudence, Elements of Politics, Constitu tional Government, American Constitutional Law and English Common Law* All juniors and seniors who possibly could, certainly all Who were preparing for the law, elected Professor Wilson1s classes* Such was his standing with the student body* Though I took aU his courses, I had had no personal contact whatever with him and, like most of my fellows, had merely studied under him and admired him from a considerable distance as a sort of stern, mysterious super-man* Only once, I think, did I attempt to break through the very formal relation of professor and student that his manner seemed to Impose* It was at the end of my senior year and 1 had just finished my last examination* Naturally I was somewhat elated, and as I handed up my paper, I foolishly made bold to suggest to Professor Wilson that it was my last examination and that possibly I mig#it then claim to be "educated** I overlooked the obvious fact that no "educated* person would have laid such a trap for himself* In any event, the trap was promptly sprung with the curt remark, *That remains to be seen*" Of course, he was right, but he might have made allowances. Nevertheless I respected him then, as I have consistently ever since, and If I remember correctly, shortly after this Incident, I voted for him aa the most popular professor at Princeton* 4 M0338 Box24 Folderl 9 1928-04-02 004 It Is not my purpose to attempt what the newspaper reporter failed in ^ to show the inconsistency between Professor Wilson1s political theories and President Wilson^ political acts* That would be an unworthy effort, and futile as well, for any such case can be explained by the manifest fact that, about 1900, Professor Wilson rapidly became a Liberal; and moreover, that many of his acts as President were the result of the abnormal conditions of the times* Instead, I should like to attempt a very rough sketch of Wilson, the student and professor of Politics, in the hope that It may help us somewhat to a better understanding of the man and the statesman* But first let us recognize the difficulties of the task* We must concede at the outset the integrity of his purposes a^nd the thoroughness and scope of his intellect* The trouble is that he was so temperamental that he often appeared fickle, so that at times even his closest advisers despaired of understanding him* David Lawrence, the author of *The True Story of Woodrow Wilson* was in personal contact with Mr* Wilson as a student cor respondent of the Associated Press at Princeton from 1906 to 1910, and thereafter, as a representative of the Associated Press in Washington, was assigned to the White House to report the events of the first administration* Later he covered the Paris Peace Conference and other activities of the President* His opinion of the man is expressed in part in the opening paragraphs of his book as follows: 5 M0338 Box24 Folderl 9 1928-04-02 005 "Woodrow Wilson died as he lived — unexplained and un- revealed* None — not even his intimates — ever knew the mental processes which crystallized his decisions on policy or flung friends of a lifetime into the coldness of utter detach ment* Those who held office under him lived in fear of his disfavor — they repressed their criticisms* Those with whom he broke were involuntarily prejudiced against him — they were tempted to exaggerate his defects and minimize his virtues* *Stern and impassive, yet emotional; calm and patient, yet quick-tempered and impulsive; forgetful of those who had served him, yet devoted to many who had rendered but minor service; unforgiving and fierce In his contempt for some who had dared to disagree with him, yet generous with others even to the extent of appointing them to high office; precise and business-like, and yet, upon occasion, Illogical without more reason than in tuition Itself; seclusive, yet a crusader for democracy - thus might his characteristic contradictions be grouped incoherently in a series of paradoxes*" An article by Joseph Cummings Chase, the artist, on Dr* Wilson's character as indicated by the facial revelations, says the head is Indicative of a high degree of intelligence, but that the face tells much more of the character; that the mouth, in particular, and the eyebrows show determination* The upper half of the face shows ideality, but the lower part is not in keeping with the upper part, because it denotes doggedness and wilfulness* The mouth, he says, shows selfishness; the chin is a very peculiar 6 M0338 Box24 Folderl 9 1928-04-02 006 one, due to the construction of the teeth and of the jaw, which allow of a great variety of expression* He says the nose showed a studious trait, and that the eyes looked out from under heavy straight lids in a way that boded evil for anyone who crossed them, and that the face portrayed sensitiveness*