Woodrow Wilson: Exponent of Executive Leadership
| Date | 01 March 1951 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295100400115 |
| Author | Henry A. Turner |
| Published date | 01 March 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
97
WOODROW
WILSON:
EXPONENT
OF
EXECUTIVE
LEADERSHIP
HENRY
A.
TURNER
University
of
California
at
Santa
Barbara
URING
the
past
half
century
the
American
people
have
come
to
look
to
the
President
for
leadership
in
legislative
policy,
as
well
as
in
foreign
affairs
and
administration.
Most
of
our
Presidents
have
responded
by
formulating
legislative
programs
and
working
for
their
enact-
ment.
Theodore
Roosevelt,
Woodrow
Wilson,
Franklin
Roosevelt,
and
Harry
Truman
sought
to
dramatize
their
proposals
by
characterizing
them
the
Square
Deal,
the
New
Freedom,
the
New
Deal,
and
the
Fair
Deal.
While
our
other
twentieth
century
Presidents
have
been
less
conspicuous
for
their
legislative
leadership,
they
have
not
been
completely
inactive
or
unaware
of
this
responsibility.
Even
the
conservative
New
Englander,
Calvin
Coolidge,
acknowledged
that
because
&dquo;...
Congress
becomes
subservient
to
the
importunities
of
organized
minorities ...
the
President
comes
more
and
more
to
stand
as
the
champion
of
the
rights
of
the
whole
country.&dquo;
1
Considering
the
wide
acceptance
of
the
chief
executive’s
role
as
the
nation’s
chief
legislator,
there
has
been
a
remarkable
variation
in
the
success
of
the
several
Presidents
in
obtaining
the
enactment
of
their
legis,
lative
programs.
This
variation
has
been
ascribed
largely
to
the
personalities
of
the
incumbents
and
to
the
domestic
and
international
situations
at
the
time
of
their
presidencies.
It
has
been
explained,
for
example,
that
Woodrow
Wilson and
Franklin
Roosevelt
were
strong,
forceful
leaders
and
that
they
directed
the
course
of
the
nation
during
times
of
domestic
and
international
emergencies;
while
William
Howard
Taft
and
Warren
Harding
did
not
possess
such
masterful
personalities,
and
occupied
the
White
House
during
more
&dquo;normal&dquo;
times.
The
general
validity
of
this
analysis
is
hardly
debatable;
yet,
a
detailed
investigation
of
the
methods,
procedures,
and
institutions
utilized
by
our
chief
executives
in
their
rela-
tions
with
Congress
will
add
further
insight
into
the
reasons
for
the
differ,
ing
degrees
of
success
which
they
attained
in
their
attempts
to
guide
legislative
action.
Because
our
founding
fathers
made
so
few
provisions
for
presidential
leadership
in
the
formation
of
legislative
policy,
the
chief
executive
must
rely
largely
upon
extraconstitutional
procedures
and
devices,
if
he
is
to
guide
Congressional
action.
True,
the
chief
executive
can
influence
legis-
lation
through
presidential
messages,
the
veto,
and
the
power
to
convene
Congress
in
special
session;
but
in
the
last
analysis,
his
success
as
a
national
1
Calvin
Coolidge,
"The
President
Lives
Under
a
Multitude
of
Eyes,"
The
American
Magazine,
Vol.
CVIII
(August,
1929),
p.
146.
98
legislator
is
dependent
upon
his
knowledge
of
extraconstitutional
institu-
tions
and
devices,
and
upon
his
skill
in
applying
them.
As
Woodrow
Wilson
was
eminently
successful
in
working
with
Congress
during
his
first
six
years
as
President,
an
analysis
of
his
methods
will
be
of
value
in
our
efforts
to
determine
the
factors
which
have
enabled
some
of
our
Presidents
to
achieve
wide
recognition
for
their
legislative
leadership
while
others
have
enjoyed
little
success
in
securing
the
adoption
of
their
policies.2
The
renown
Wilson
has
received
as
the
nation’s
leader
during
World
War
I
and
as
the
progenitor
of
the
League
of
Nations,
as
well
as
the
bitterness
engendered
by
his
fight
with
the
Senate
over
the
League,
have
tended
to
obscure
his
remarkable
legislative
achievements.
For
six
years
he
led
and
controlled
Congress
in
a
manner
without
precedent.
Indeed,
more
constructive
legislation
was
enacted
during
his
presidency
than
during
the
administration
of
any
other
President
from
George
Washing-
ton
to
Franklin
Roosevelt;
and
much
of
the
success
of
the
latter
may
be
attributed
to
his
utilization
of
methods
and
techniques
which
he
had
learned
from
Woodrow
Wilson,
his
former
chief.3
Of
our
national
leaders,
none
has
entered
the
White
House
with
better
academic
preparation
for
his
responsibilities
than
Woodrow
Wilson.
Prior
to
his
election
as
President,
he
had
devoted
more
than
three
decades
to
studying,
teaching,
theorizing,
and
writing
about
the
dynamics
of
politics.4
From
studying
the
practices
of
former
Presidents
and
the
func~
tioning
of
parliamentary
governments,
Wilson
had
developed
a
theory
of
presidential
leadership
that
differed
considerably
from
the
views
of
most
of
his
predecessors.
From
his
studies
he
came
to
the
conclusion
that
the
President
should
be
an
Americanized
version
of
the
British
prime
min-
ister.5
The
President,
Wilson
stated,
has
both
the
prerogative
and
the
responsibility
for
taking
an
active
part
in
the
legislative
process.
As
the
2
Conversely,
the
author
wishes
to
emphasize
that
Wilson’s
legislative
achievements
were
not
due
alone
to
his
skillful
utilization
of
extraconstitutional
institutions
and
methods,
but
also
to
national
and
international
conditions
and
to
his
strong
dynamic
personality.
3
Franklin
Roosevelt
served
as
Assistant
Secretary
of
the
Navy
in
the
Wilson
administration.
While
the
social
and
economic
pressures
of the
1930’s
were
in
part
responsible
for
the
passage
of
the
vast
amount
of
New
Deal
legislation,
Wilson’s
influence
on
Franklin
Roosevelt
must
not
be
under-
estimated.
4
Wilson
received
his
Ph.D.
in
political
science
at
Johns
Hopkins
University,
and
he
taught
political
science
at
Bryn
Mawr,
Connecticut
Wesleyan,
Johns
Hopkins,
and
Princeton.
His
published
works
on
political
topics
include
numerous
essays,
as
well
as
his
books:
Congressional
Government:
A
Study
in
American
Politics
(Boston:
Houghton,
Mifflin,
and
Company,
1885);
The
State:
Elements
of
Historical
and
Practical
Politics
(Boston:
D.
C.
Heath,
1889);
and
Constitutional
Government
in
the
United
States
(New
York:
Columbia
University
Press,
1908).
5 From
as
early
as
1884
until
the
turn
of
the
century,
Wilson
had
actively
advocated
that
the
United
States
adopt
a
cabinet
form
of
government.
(See
Wilson’s
"Committee
or
Cabinet
Government?"
Overland
Monthly,
2d.
Series,
Vol.
III
[1884],
pp.
17-33.)
Shortly
after
1900
he
became
aware
of
a
less
radical
method
for
increasing
the
power
of the
executive
branch
of
the
government.
He
then
began
urging
that
the
President
serve
as
a
type
of
prime
minister
by
exercising
to
his
utmost
ability
his
three-fold
role
of
party
leader,
national
leader,
and
constitutional
executive.
In
1908,
Wilson
wrote
that
it
was
"not
inconsistent
with
the
actual
provisions
of the
Constitution"
for
the
President
to
be
a
prime
minister.
(Wilson,
Constitutional
Government
in
the
United
States,
pp.
60.
77.)
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