President Woodrow Wilson in the Oval Office. This image is in the Public Domain.
Eugenics
Perhaps the deeply religious Woodrow Wilson missed the Bible lesson (Genesis: 1:27) that said, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God.”
Wilson, like Adolph Hitler and others, whole-heartedly believed in the science of eugenics. Eugenics was a science created for one and only one purpose. And, that was to legitimize racist beliefs.
Wilson’s Legacy
It has been nearly a century since Woodrow Wilson’s death. In some ways, we still don’t know how to define his legacy. He has many admirers, some even seeing him as an icon among Presidents. Our 28th President is primarily remembered for two things. He kept us out of World War I until the end.
Additionally, he spearheaded the creation of the League of Nations. That became a political embarrassment for Wilson because his country refused to join. Most Americans have felt that Wilson was a man who wanted peace and social justice for everyone.
Deeply Religious and Ideological
He has been portrayed by some historians as a complex personality; he was deeply religious, ideological, and an impetuous know-it-all who was determined to force his will on others. A scholar and former professor, in addition to his passion for peace, his beliefs embraced a range of subjects that focused on economic and social reform.
Compassion for Others
On the surface, Woodrow Wilson showed great compassion for his He, however, also had a keen interest in the emerging science of eugenics. His interest in science is well known, but his enthusiasm for eugenics seemed to run parallel with his personal support of racism.
In a 1913 Presidential address, Woodrow Wilson stated, “The whole nation has awakened to and recognizes the extraordinary importance of the science of human heredity.” He was passionate about how science could improve the world. His interest, however, may have been motivated only by the preservation of the heredity of one race.
Racism and White Supremacy
Wilson, like many other white men of the time, believed that African Americans were inferior to whites. Unlike the others, Woodrow Wilson engaged in the science of eugenics as a way to justify his feelings of racism. He studied articles related to eugenics, talked about his support of eugenics, and wrote several articles supporting the twisted notion.
He was not a rabid white supremacist. Wilson was, however, so totally confident in the superiority of whites. He never questioned the morality of his speeches that taunted the social justice for others while ignoring the plight of a struggling class of people in his own country. As President he had no problem showing the racist film The Birth of a Nation in the White House.
Segregation
Before his presidency, jobs within the Federal Civil Service were based on merit. In the 1912 and 1916 Presidential elections, the majority of voting African Americans cast their ballot for Wilson. They mistakenly believed that Woodrow Wilson would support them in their struggle for equality.
Instead, Wilson pushed for policies that expanded segregation, and new Civil Service applicants needed to apply with photographs. African Americans knew they would not be hired, and many who were already employed were dismissed from their jobs. Wilson’s policies set African Americans, especially those in the middle class, back in their journey for equal rights.
Early 20th century America was a highly racist culture, and because of that, some past historians have let Wilson off the hook. Woodrow Wilson, however, used his political power to enact laws that turned his beliefs about race and eugenics into legislation. In 1907, Woodrow Wilson campaigned in Indiana for the compulsory sterilization of criminals and those mentally and in 1911, as New Jersey governor, he signed into law a similar bill.
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin’s 1883 work on evolution opened up a larger discussion regarding strong versus weak, and the survival of mankind. Societies moved to reaffirm marriage between only the fittest of individuals; in other words, no race mixing.
According to a leading eugenicist of that time, Caucasians were considered the very best race, and other races were secondary. The theory of eugenics is based on the bizarre notion that the good gene pool (white race) was shrinking. Bad genes were multiplying faster than good ones, according to its science. According to its supporters, the shrinking pool of good genes was not totally due to race mixing; it was also a result of mixing good genes with those of inferior heredity – misfits, mentally disabled, criminals, and others.
In reality, there was no science, and eugenics was really a twisted social program with the intent of ridding the universe of what its supporters felt were inferior people. The eugenics movement influenced many of the brightest minds in the world, including Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Oliver Wendell Holmes, Charles Lindbergh, Theodore Roosevelt, and Adolf Hitler.
About the Author
Thanks for finally talking about > us history:
Our Great American Heritage < Liked it!
Darwin’s work had nothing to do with eugenics, only natural selection as a means of evolution. His work was perverted for eugenics, but he was never a eugenicist. Please edit this piece.
Nathan, thanks for reading the article and I will review my research notes.