WWI
George Creel - He was a famous journalist who was responsible for selling America on WWI and selling the world on Wilsonian arms. George Creel was also the leader of the Committee on Public Information.
Bernard Baruch - Bernard Baruch was a stock speculator appointed by Wilson to head the War Industries Board and was later a United States delegate for the UN during the Cold War. The war industries Board he headed was disbanded because it only had formal powers.
Henry Cabot Lodge - Senator of Massachusetts, who introduced the Literacy Test bill in 1896 to be taken by immigrants, but got vetoed by president Cleveland. Lodge also led a group of republicans against the League of Nations and proposed amendments to the League Covenant but Wilson would not accept.
*James M. Cox -
Self-Determination - This phrase refers to a number of distinct human rights. These include the right to equality under the law, the right to a nationality, the right to freely leave and return to a person's country of origin, the right to freedom from persecution because of race, religion, or gender, and a host of others.
Collective security - The collective security described what the League of nations should do. Its stated that the League of Nations was supposed to guarantee the political independence and territorial integrity of all countries.
Normalcy - After a long reign of high morality, outrageous idealism, and "bothersome do-goodism", people longed for the "normalcy" of the old traditional America, and were ready to accept a lower quality and low standard president to "return to normalcy"
Zimmerman Note - This note was written by Arthur Zimmerman who was a German foreign secretary. This note contained a proposal of the secret alliance between Germany and Mexico. Written by Arthur Zimmerman, a German foreign secretary. In this note he had secretly proposed a German- Mexican alliance. The note was intercepted on March 1, 1917 by the U.S. government and was a major factor that led us into WWI.
Fourteen Points - The Fourteen Points were introduced by Wilson in 1918. It was Wilson's peace plan. Each of the points were designed to prevent future wars. He compromised each point at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The only point which remained was the 14th (League of Nations). Each one was appealing to a specific group in the war and each one held a specific purpose.
League of Nations - A multinational peace keeping organization which began as an idea of United States President Woodrow Wilson following the first World War. The Treaty of Versailles created a League with over 40 different countries joining. The United States was not one of them. The League of Nations was to be an international body that would settle future problems through negotiations instead of warfare. The member nations were to work cooperatively through economic and military means to enforce its decisions. However, since the United States did not join, the League never achieved its intentions. While the League did attempt to halt the aggressiveness of Hitler's Germany, their inherent weakness prevented them from stopping World War II.
Committee on Public Information - It was headed by George Creel. The purpose of this committee was to mobilize people's minds for war, both in America and abroad. Tried to get the entire U.S. public to support U.S. involvement in WWI. Creel's organization, employed some 150,000 workers at home and oversees. He proved that words were indeed weapons.
Espionage and Sedition Acts - Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 reflected current fear about Germans and antiwar Americans. Of the 19000 prosecuted under these acts were Socialists and members of the radical union Industrial Workers of the world. This union was brought together to keep Americans united in favor of the war effort.
Industrial Workers of the World - Also known as "Wobblies," was a more radical labor organization that was against war.
War Industries Board - President Wilson appointed Bernard Baruch to head the board during World war I, it was intended to restore economic order and to make sure the citizens were producing enough at home and abroad, but later disbanded after the armistice.
Nineteenth Amendment - The Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the vote in 1920, is a logical progression from the prohibition movement. As women felt their power in politics increasing, they began to demand the ability to vote from their male peers. In the spirit of progressivism they were granted the vote in 1920.
Food Administration - An administration created to feed wartime America and its allies. A Quaker humanitarian Herbert Hoover, was chosen as the leader, mostly because of his already existent title of hero that he acquired leading a massive charitable drive to feed the starving people of war-racked Belgium. This was the most successful of the wartime administrations.
Irreconcilables - During World War I, senators William Borah (Idaho) and Hiram Johnson (California), led a group of people who were against the United States joining the League of Nations. This was also named “the Battalion of Death" and were extreme isolationists. They were totally against the U.S. joining the League of Nations.
Treaty of Versailles - Treaty ending World War I and was extremely unfair to Germany, forcing them to accept all of the blame for the war. It is a major cause of World War II.
Chapter #30 Guided Reading Questions
War by Act of Germany
Know: "Peace without Victory," Unlimited Submarine Warfare, Arthur Zimmermann
1. What events led Woodrow Wilson to ask Congress to declare war?
- Events that led to Wilson wanting Germany to declarer was when the German u-boats sank 4 unarmed American merchant vessels int eh first 2 weeks. Then the sensational Zimmerman note was published, also contributing was web Russia had toppled the cruel regime of the tsars.
Wilsonian Idealism Enthroned
Know: Jeannette Rankin
2. Name Wilson’s twin war aims. How did these set America apart from the other combatants?
- Wilson's twin aim was "to make the world safer for democracy." These set apart because America, he preached did not fight for the sake of riches or territorial conquest.
Wilson’s Fourteen Potent Points
Know: Fourteen Points
3. List several of Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
- proposal to abolish secret treaties pleased liberals of all countries
- Freedom of the seas appealed to the Germans, as well as to Americans who distrusted British sea power
- A removal of economic barriers among nations had long been the goal of liberal internationalists everywhere
- Reductions of armament burdens was gratifying total payers in all countries
- An adjustments of colonial claims in the interests of both native people and the colonialists was reassuring to the anti-imperialists.
Creel Manipulates Minds
Know: Committee on Public Information, George Creel, Four-minute Men, The Hun, Over There
4. How were Americans motivated to help in the war effort?
- They were motivated by the committee on Public Information and the creel organization which employed some 150,000 workers at home and overseas, which proved that words were indeed weapons.
Enforcing Loyalty and Stifling Dissent
Know: Liberty Cabbage, Espionage Act, Sedition Act, Eugene V. Debs, William D. Haywood
5. How was loyalty forced during WWI?
- Loyalty was forced through the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act which depicted AMerican fears and paranoia about Germans and other perceived as a threat.
The Nation’s Factories Go to War
Know: Bernard Baruch, War Industries Board
6. Why was it difficult to mobilize industry for the war effort?
- It was difficult in trying to mobilize war because no one really knew much in trying to mobilize for war, no one knew how much America could produce, and traditional laissez-faire economics still provided resistance to the government control of the economy.
Workers in Wartime
Know: "Work or Fight," National War Labor Board, Wobblies
7. How did the war affect the labor movement?
- The war effected the labor movement because as price inflation threatened to eclipse wage gains, and over 6,000 strikes broke out during the war. The worse of them all was when 250,000 steelworkers walked off the jobs, and in that job owners brought 30,000 African-Americans to break the strike, and in the end, the strike collapsed and fell, hurting the labor cause for more than a decade.
Suffering Until Suffrage
Know: NAWSA, 19th Amendment, Women’s Bureau
8. How did the war affect women?
- Women also found more opportunities in the workplace, since the men were gone to war. The war the split women’s suffrage movement. Many progressive women suffragists were also pacifists and therefore against the war. Most women supported the war and concluded they must help in the war if they want to help shape the peace (get the vote).
Forging a War Economy
Know: Food Administration, Herbert Hoover, Meatless Tuesdays, Eighteenth Amendment, Heatless Mondays, Liberty Bonds
9. Did government become too intrusive in people’s lives during the war? Give examples to support your answer.
- Wilson spurned ration cards in favor of voluntary “Meatless Tuesdays” and “Wheatless Wednesdays,” suing posters, billboards, and other media to whip up a patriotic spirit which encouraged people to voluntarily sacrifice some of their own goods for the war. Hoover’s voluntary approach worked beautifully, as citizens grew gardens on street corners to help the farmers, people observed “heatless Mondays,” “lightless nights,” and “gasless Sundays” in accordance with the Fuel Administration, and the farmers increased food production by one-fourth.
Making Plowboys into Doughboys
10. Was the government’s effort to raise an army fair and effective?
- Yes, no one would be able to buy in their draft and it was open to minorities which was fair. Patriotic men and women lined up on draft day, disproving omnibus predictions of bloodshed by the opposition of the draft. this caused several women and men to grow in an army of 40 million and even African Americans were able to join the war, not doing much though.
Fighting in France--Belatedly
11. How were American troops used in Russia?
- The US troops were used in Russia by sending 10,000 troops to Siberia, Russia. Bolsheviks resented this interference, which it felt was America’s way of suppressing its infant communist revolution.
America Helps Hammer the Hun
Know: Marshal Foch, John J. Pershing, Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Alvin York
12. Describe the effect of the American troops on the fighting.
- The Americans, demanding their own army instead of just supporting the British and French, and finally got General John J. Pershing to lead the US army. the British blockade was starving them, and the Allied blows just kept on coming. A positive factor was that American victories were using up resources too fast.
The Fourteen Points Disarm Germany
Know: Armistice
13. What role did America play in bringing Germany to surrender?
- The Germans laid down their arms in armistice after overthrowing their Kaiser inhopes that they could get a peace based on the Fourteen Points. This day is called Veterans Day. It was the prospect of endless American troops, rather than the American military performance that had disparaged the Germans.
Wilson Steps Down from Olympus
Know: Henry Cabot Lodge
14. What political mistakes hurt Wilson in the months following the armistice?
- The political mistakes that Wilson committed was when he went to Europe to oversea peace proceedings, republicans were outraged thinking that this was all just showing off. He didn't even include a single republican senator which caused the republicans to get very mad.
The Idealist Battles the Imperialists in Paris
Know: Vittorio Orlando, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, League of Nations
15. How did Wilson’s desire for the League of Nations affect his bargaining at the peace conference?
- Wilson 's League of Nations was something that was very important to him, like his own baby and so he tried to bargain with Britain and France to go along with the League, and Wilson reluctantly agreed to go along with punishment.
Hammering Out the Treaty
Know: William Borah, Hiram Johnson, Irreconcilables
16. What compromises did Wilson make at the peace conference?
- The Italians went home after Wilson tried to appeal to the Italian people while France accepted a promise that the U.S. and Great Britain would aid France in case of another German invasion. Japan also wanted the valuable Shantung peninsula and the German islands in the Pacific and Wilson opposed, but when the Japanese threatened to walk away, Wilson arranged again and let Japan keep Germany’s economic holdings in Shantung, shocking the Chinese.
The Peace Treaty That Bred a New War
Know: Treaty of Versailles
17. For what reasons did Wilson compromise his 14 Points?
- Wilson was unhappy with the treaty, sensing that it was incompetent, and his popularity was down, but he did make a difference in that his going to Paris prevented the treaty from being purely imperialistic.
The Domestic Parade of Prejudice
18. Why was the treaty criticized back in America?
- The “hyphenated” Americans all felt that the treaty had not been fair to their home country and land.
Wilson’s Tour and Collapse (1919)
19. What was the purpose and result of Wilson’s trip around the country when he returned to America?
- Wilson decided to take a tour to gain support for the treaty, but trailing him like bloodhounds were Senators Borah and Johnson, two of the “irreconcilables,” who verbally bombarded him. That night, he collapsed form physical and nervous exhaustion and several days later, a stroke paralyzed half of his body.
Defeat Through Deadlock
20. Why was the treaty finally rejected?
- About four-fifths of the senators actually didn’t mind the treaty, but unless the Senate approved the pact with the Lodge reservations tacked on, it would fail completely. Wilson’s feud with Lodge, U.S. isolationism, tradition, and disillusionment all contributed to the failure of the treaty. Nevertheless, Wilson must share the blame as well, since he stubbornly went for“all or nothing,” and received nothing.
The "Solemn Referendum" of 1920
Know: Warren Harding, James M. Cox, Normalcy
21. What did the results of the 1920 election indicate?
- In 1920, the Republican Party was back together, thanks in part to Teddy Roosevelt’s death, and it devised a clever platform that would appeal to pro-League and anti-League factions of the party.
The Betrayal of Great Expectations
22. How much should the U.S. be blamed for the failure of the Treaty of Versailles?
- It was the U.S.’s responsibility to take charge as the most powerful nation in the world after World War I, but it retreated into isolationism, and let the rest of the world do whatever it wanted in. The hopes that the U.S. would not be transported into another war, but it was such actions that eventually led the U.S. into WWII.
Varying Viewpoints: Woodrow Wilson: Realist or Idealist?
Know: Realism, Idealism, Wilsonianism
23. To what extent was Wilson realistic when he called for a world of cooperation, equality and justice among nations?
- Woodrow Wilson delivered his War Message to Congress on the evening of April 2, 1917. Introduced to great applause, he remained strong and almost immobile for the entire speechHe was overly ambitious with his request, it was realistic in his own mind.
Bernard Baruch - Bernard Baruch was a stock speculator appointed by Wilson to head the War Industries Board and was later a United States delegate for the UN during the Cold War. The war industries Board he headed was disbanded because it only had formal powers.
Henry Cabot Lodge - Senator of Massachusetts, who introduced the Literacy Test bill in 1896 to be taken by immigrants, but got vetoed by president Cleveland. Lodge also led a group of republicans against the League of Nations and proposed amendments to the League Covenant but Wilson would not accept.
*James M. Cox -
Self-Determination - This phrase refers to a number of distinct human rights. These include the right to equality under the law, the right to a nationality, the right to freely leave and return to a person's country of origin, the right to freedom from persecution because of race, religion, or gender, and a host of others.
Collective security - The collective security described what the League of nations should do. Its stated that the League of Nations was supposed to guarantee the political independence and territorial integrity of all countries.
Normalcy - After a long reign of high morality, outrageous idealism, and "bothersome do-goodism", people longed for the "normalcy" of the old traditional America, and were ready to accept a lower quality and low standard president to "return to normalcy"
Zimmerman Note - This note was written by Arthur Zimmerman who was a German foreign secretary. This note contained a proposal of the secret alliance between Germany and Mexico. Written by Arthur Zimmerman, a German foreign secretary. In this note he had secretly proposed a German- Mexican alliance. The note was intercepted on March 1, 1917 by the U.S. government and was a major factor that led us into WWI.
Fourteen Points - The Fourteen Points were introduced by Wilson in 1918. It was Wilson's peace plan. Each of the points were designed to prevent future wars. He compromised each point at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The only point which remained was the 14th (League of Nations). Each one was appealing to a specific group in the war and each one held a specific purpose.
League of Nations - A multinational peace keeping organization which began as an idea of United States President Woodrow Wilson following the first World War. The Treaty of Versailles created a League with over 40 different countries joining. The United States was not one of them. The League of Nations was to be an international body that would settle future problems through negotiations instead of warfare. The member nations were to work cooperatively through economic and military means to enforce its decisions. However, since the United States did not join, the League never achieved its intentions. While the League did attempt to halt the aggressiveness of Hitler's Germany, their inherent weakness prevented them from stopping World War II.
Committee on Public Information - It was headed by George Creel. The purpose of this committee was to mobilize people's minds for war, both in America and abroad. Tried to get the entire U.S. public to support U.S. involvement in WWI. Creel's organization, employed some 150,000 workers at home and oversees. He proved that words were indeed weapons.
Espionage and Sedition Acts - Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 reflected current fear about Germans and antiwar Americans. Of the 19000 prosecuted under these acts were Socialists and members of the radical union Industrial Workers of the world. This union was brought together to keep Americans united in favor of the war effort.
Industrial Workers of the World - Also known as "Wobblies," was a more radical labor organization that was against war.
War Industries Board - President Wilson appointed Bernard Baruch to head the board during World war I, it was intended to restore economic order and to make sure the citizens were producing enough at home and abroad, but later disbanded after the armistice.
Nineteenth Amendment - The Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the vote in 1920, is a logical progression from the prohibition movement. As women felt their power in politics increasing, they began to demand the ability to vote from their male peers. In the spirit of progressivism they were granted the vote in 1920.
Food Administration - An administration created to feed wartime America and its allies. A Quaker humanitarian Herbert Hoover, was chosen as the leader, mostly because of his already existent title of hero that he acquired leading a massive charitable drive to feed the starving people of war-racked Belgium. This was the most successful of the wartime administrations.
Irreconcilables - During World War I, senators William Borah (Idaho) and Hiram Johnson (California), led a group of people who were against the United States joining the League of Nations. This was also named “the Battalion of Death" and were extreme isolationists. They were totally against the U.S. joining the League of Nations.
Treaty of Versailles - Treaty ending World War I and was extremely unfair to Germany, forcing them to accept all of the blame for the war. It is a major cause of World War II.
Chapter #30 Guided Reading Questions
War by Act of Germany
Know: "Peace without Victory," Unlimited Submarine Warfare, Arthur Zimmermann
1. What events led Woodrow Wilson to ask Congress to declare war?
- Events that led to Wilson wanting Germany to declarer was when the German u-boats sank 4 unarmed American merchant vessels int eh first 2 weeks. Then the sensational Zimmerman note was published, also contributing was web Russia had toppled the cruel regime of the tsars.
Wilsonian Idealism Enthroned
Know: Jeannette Rankin
2. Name Wilson’s twin war aims. How did these set America apart from the other combatants?
- Wilson's twin aim was "to make the world safer for democracy." These set apart because America, he preached did not fight for the sake of riches or territorial conquest.
Wilson’s Fourteen Potent Points
Know: Fourteen Points
3. List several of Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
- proposal to abolish secret treaties pleased liberals of all countries
- Freedom of the seas appealed to the Germans, as well as to Americans who distrusted British sea power
- A removal of economic barriers among nations had long been the goal of liberal internationalists everywhere
- Reductions of armament burdens was gratifying total payers in all countries
- An adjustments of colonial claims in the interests of both native people and the colonialists was reassuring to the anti-imperialists.
Creel Manipulates Minds
Know: Committee on Public Information, George Creel, Four-minute Men, The Hun, Over There
4. How were Americans motivated to help in the war effort?
- They were motivated by the committee on Public Information and the creel organization which employed some 150,000 workers at home and overseas, which proved that words were indeed weapons.
Enforcing Loyalty and Stifling Dissent
Know: Liberty Cabbage, Espionage Act, Sedition Act, Eugene V. Debs, William D. Haywood
5. How was loyalty forced during WWI?
- Loyalty was forced through the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act which depicted AMerican fears and paranoia about Germans and other perceived as a threat.
The Nation’s Factories Go to War
Know: Bernard Baruch, War Industries Board
6. Why was it difficult to mobilize industry for the war effort?
- It was difficult in trying to mobilize war because no one really knew much in trying to mobilize for war, no one knew how much America could produce, and traditional laissez-faire economics still provided resistance to the government control of the economy.
Workers in Wartime
Know: "Work or Fight," National War Labor Board, Wobblies
7. How did the war affect the labor movement?
- The war effected the labor movement because as price inflation threatened to eclipse wage gains, and over 6,000 strikes broke out during the war. The worse of them all was when 250,000 steelworkers walked off the jobs, and in that job owners brought 30,000 African-Americans to break the strike, and in the end, the strike collapsed and fell, hurting the labor cause for more than a decade.
Suffering Until Suffrage
Know: NAWSA, 19th Amendment, Women’s Bureau
8. How did the war affect women?
- Women also found more opportunities in the workplace, since the men were gone to war. The war the split women’s suffrage movement. Many progressive women suffragists were also pacifists and therefore against the war. Most women supported the war and concluded they must help in the war if they want to help shape the peace (get the vote).
Forging a War Economy
Know: Food Administration, Herbert Hoover, Meatless Tuesdays, Eighteenth Amendment, Heatless Mondays, Liberty Bonds
9. Did government become too intrusive in people’s lives during the war? Give examples to support your answer.
- Wilson spurned ration cards in favor of voluntary “Meatless Tuesdays” and “Wheatless Wednesdays,” suing posters, billboards, and other media to whip up a patriotic spirit which encouraged people to voluntarily sacrifice some of their own goods for the war. Hoover’s voluntary approach worked beautifully, as citizens grew gardens on street corners to help the farmers, people observed “heatless Mondays,” “lightless nights,” and “gasless Sundays” in accordance with the Fuel Administration, and the farmers increased food production by one-fourth.
Making Plowboys into Doughboys
10. Was the government’s effort to raise an army fair and effective?
- Yes, no one would be able to buy in their draft and it was open to minorities which was fair. Patriotic men and women lined up on draft day, disproving omnibus predictions of bloodshed by the opposition of the draft. this caused several women and men to grow in an army of 40 million and even African Americans were able to join the war, not doing much though.
Fighting in France--Belatedly
11. How were American troops used in Russia?
- The US troops were used in Russia by sending 10,000 troops to Siberia, Russia. Bolsheviks resented this interference, which it felt was America’s way of suppressing its infant communist revolution.
America Helps Hammer the Hun
Know: Marshal Foch, John J. Pershing, Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Alvin York
12. Describe the effect of the American troops on the fighting.
- The Americans, demanding their own army instead of just supporting the British and French, and finally got General John J. Pershing to lead the US army. the British blockade was starving them, and the Allied blows just kept on coming. A positive factor was that American victories were using up resources too fast.
The Fourteen Points Disarm Germany
Know: Armistice
13. What role did America play in bringing Germany to surrender?
- The Germans laid down their arms in armistice after overthrowing their Kaiser inhopes that they could get a peace based on the Fourteen Points. This day is called Veterans Day. It was the prospect of endless American troops, rather than the American military performance that had disparaged the Germans.
Wilson Steps Down from Olympus
Know: Henry Cabot Lodge
14. What political mistakes hurt Wilson in the months following the armistice?
- The political mistakes that Wilson committed was when he went to Europe to oversea peace proceedings, republicans were outraged thinking that this was all just showing off. He didn't even include a single republican senator which caused the republicans to get very mad.
The Idealist Battles the Imperialists in Paris
Know: Vittorio Orlando, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, League of Nations
15. How did Wilson’s desire for the League of Nations affect his bargaining at the peace conference?
- Wilson 's League of Nations was something that was very important to him, like his own baby and so he tried to bargain with Britain and France to go along with the League, and Wilson reluctantly agreed to go along with punishment.
Hammering Out the Treaty
Know: William Borah, Hiram Johnson, Irreconcilables
16. What compromises did Wilson make at the peace conference?
- The Italians went home after Wilson tried to appeal to the Italian people while France accepted a promise that the U.S. and Great Britain would aid France in case of another German invasion. Japan also wanted the valuable Shantung peninsula and the German islands in the Pacific and Wilson opposed, but when the Japanese threatened to walk away, Wilson arranged again and let Japan keep Germany’s economic holdings in Shantung, shocking the Chinese.
The Peace Treaty That Bred a New War
Know: Treaty of Versailles
17. For what reasons did Wilson compromise his 14 Points?
- Wilson was unhappy with the treaty, sensing that it was incompetent, and his popularity was down, but he did make a difference in that his going to Paris prevented the treaty from being purely imperialistic.
The Domestic Parade of Prejudice
18. Why was the treaty criticized back in America?
- The “hyphenated” Americans all felt that the treaty had not been fair to their home country and land.
Wilson’s Tour and Collapse (1919)
19. What was the purpose and result of Wilson’s trip around the country when he returned to America?
- Wilson decided to take a tour to gain support for the treaty, but trailing him like bloodhounds were Senators Borah and Johnson, two of the “irreconcilables,” who verbally bombarded him. That night, he collapsed form physical and nervous exhaustion and several days later, a stroke paralyzed half of his body.
Defeat Through Deadlock
20. Why was the treaty finally rejected?
- About four-fifths of the senators actually didn’t mind the treaty, but unless the Senate approved the pact with the Lodge reservations tacked on, it would fail completely. Wilson’s feud with Lodge, U.S. isolationism, tradition, and disillusionment all contributed to the failure of the treaty. Nevertheless, Wilson must share the blame as well, since he stubbornly went for“all or nothing,” and received nothing.
The "Solemn Referendum" of 1920
Know: Warren Harding, James M. Cox, Normalcy
21. What did the results of the 1920 election indicate?
- In 1920, the Republican Party was back together, thanks in part to Teddy Roosevelt’s death, and it devised a clever platform that would appeal to pro-League and anti-League factions of the party.
The Betrayal of Great Expectations
22. How much should the U.S. be blamed for the failure of the Treaty of Versailles?
- It was the U.S.’s responsibility to take charge as the most powerful nation in the world after World War I, but it retreated into isolationism, and let the rest of the world do whatever it wanted in. The hopes that the U.S. would not be transported into another war, but it was such actions that eventually led the U.S. into WWII.
Varying Viewpoints: Woodrow Wilson: Realist or Idealist?
Know: Realism, Idealism, Wilsonianism
23. To what extent was Wilson realistic when he called for a world of cooperation, equality and justice among nations?
- Woodrow Wilson delivered his War Message to Congress on the evening of April 2, 1917. Introduced to great applause, he remained strong and almost immobile for the entire speechHe was overly ambitious with his request, it was realistic in his own mind.