1912 election: For whom would you have voted?

But he was a reformer, and in many ways very much a visionary.

I've had difficulty generating much enthusiasm for WW ever since reading the biography of Wilson Sigmund Freud co-authored with a US Asst Secy of State.

and I voted for him in this poll, but I suspect if I were actually voting in 1912, party loyalty would have led me to pick Wilson.

else would be informed enough about issues to do that then... well, statistically speaking, of course.

Would WWI have been averted? Or wouldl we have aligned with Bolsheviks against both Central Powers and Allies? Fascinating what if question.

I posted my own 1912 poll...sorry, mods.

Though if they had had polls at the time showing Wilson as ahead of the others as he ended up being, I might have ended up supporting Debs.

Wilson certainly wasn't perfect; in many ways a politician who held some of the views he had, such as those on race, today might not be considered a liberal. But at the time Wilson's views on cleaning up big business were more liberal than TR's and, despite the fact we did end up entering WWI under Wilson's leadership, Wilson definitely lacked the chest-thumping jingoism TR forever exhibited. I admire TR in many ways, but I'm actually surprised so many DUers would support a man who makes Bush look like a pacifist! Then again, TR *was* actually willing to go over and fight, putting his money where his mouth was, unlike our esteemed leader the Shrub.

He threw Blacks out of the Federal Civil Service (where many had made careers), and winked as other racist politicos wiped out the last traces of Black voting rights in the South and elsewhere.

In addition, he didn't have much use for the Bill of Rights once we were in WWI. If he'd been a better man, he'd have had us prepare for war in a timely fashion (i.e. earlier), and respected the Constitution. Rather than the reverse.

Yes, he could give outstanding speeches, he was an excellent scholar (apart from having more-than-a-few screws loose on the subject of race). But the damage he did to minorities here at home is incalculable, and set civil rights back by 40 years; his mishandling of our preparations for WWI cost us extra casualties; his ill health and mishandling of the aftermath of WWI (when he should have resigned) helped set the stage for WWII.

Vitruvius

P.S: In a nutshell: WW should have been tougher on the Kaiser and easier on minorities. To WW's upper-crust mentality, a FOREIGN Emperor deserved endless consideration and endless second chances, while AMERICAN minorities deserved no consideration and no chances.

The Republican party: you've come a long way, baby...

To quote Ash: "Honey, you got REAL ugly..."