Aside from being somewhat sparse on the early years of our 27th president,Mr.Brands has written a very readable,well-annotated work on
the major portions of Wilson's career. He shows how a young man dedicated
to improving his oratorical skills became a much sought-after professor
of Political Science at Princeton University. From that position he became
that university's president. When the state of New Jersey needed a fresh
face for governor, Woodrow was available and electable. In 1912,he went
on to become the president of the United States. While he was responsible
for much progressive legislation, he is more remembered for his contribu-
tions to ending World War I and the establishment of the League of Nations. The fickleness of the public is so well illustrated by the way
Wilson was hailed as a messiah at first and then cast down as a pariah.
Had this been fiction, one would have called it a tragedy. Since it was
a real story, it became everyone's tragedy when World War II broke out
20 years after Wilson's unsuccessful attempt to persuade America to became
a member of the League of Nations.