THE PRESIDENCY: Full Desk

The day Woodrow Wilson returned to the White House after his re-election in 1916, Washington was taut as a fiddle string. Wilson had received no clear mandate. His campaign shibboleth had been the cry that he had kept the country out of war, a fact which Wilhelm of Germany subsequently misinterpreted. Less than six months after that day in November 1916, Wilson, who loved peace, led a tragically unprepared U. S. into war.

On the cold, windy day last week when Franklin Roosevelt returned to Washington, there was a sense of relief that...

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