The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1919-01-17
President Wilson's
Popularity" Exploded
lgy Judson c. Welliver, Washington
correspondent fthe New York GlobeD


Opinion is settling down to some
thing like conclusions about what the
election results meant. To the ques-
lion. What happened so suddenly 10
dissipate the Presidents immense pop
ularity?" the commonest answer is that
TT never existed" The explanation is
interesting, running somewhat thus:
The President, first OF all. was not
the choice of the convention that nom
mated him il 1912. There mad oeeh
a nation wide contest for delegates, as
A result OF which Champ Clark at
tanned majority of votes in the con-
vention on several ballots. The two
thirds rule beat him, and Bryan ana
other forces made the convention nom
mate a man who was not it's real
choice II was anything but proof
of popularity within the Democratic
party.
Then came the Republican split, and
the election Wilson seemed certain
to win, and therefore might have been
expected to win heavily, thanks to the
band-w wagon vote. But, in fact, he re-
ceived fewer votes than Mr.. Bryan
ever received. Likewise, no striking
testimony OF popular strength.
One-Man Administration.
Seventeen months after he took of
fee the war broke over Europe. 1t
was long enough for Mr.. Wilson to
make apparent that his was to be
one-man administration. Toward the
war he maintained a policy OF aloof-
ness long after the body of intelligent
opinion had become convinced that
aloofness was impossible. He did not
prepare He wrote letters about the
Lusitania. Instead Of recognizing our
inevitable involvement and leading
public opinion toward the same recog-
nition he refused to see the inevitable.
or to admit it after he had seen it.
He was a candidate for reelection in
1916. and made his campaign on the
argument that he had kept US out of
war" and therefore could be expected
to continue keeping us out; yet things
that have since become public property
make 1t impossible to believe that he
expected, il elected, to maintain the
peace for many months.
Had his attitude toward the war
prior to the 1916 election been q vigor-
Gus one, calculated to prepare the
public mind for what was coming, he
might have been reelected by an EN-
phatic majority, as war president.
Instead, he barely won on a fluke, as
peace president-and then promptly
took the country into war. The paci
fists were angry because they had been
misled. the war party, when 1t knew
the whole situation, was displeased
that we had not prepared and got into
the struggle earlier All this did not
make for popularity.
Being at last in the war the admin
istrative management of it for more
than year did not command conf
dence. The aircraft. ordnance, and
other exposures of ineffective manage
ment, Offset the admini1tration's claim
to recognition for much of useful work
such as the selective service act.
Prejudice grew up against too much
southern domination of the govern
ment. kitchin. Dent, Clark and
others were loads for the party to
carry.
A Surprise for the Democrats.
Despite it all. the great army was
sent to Europe, and in the glamour
of military successes abroad the po-
litical campaign at home opened 1t
looked to most Democrats like a walk
over for their party. As the campaign
advanced it became increasingly ap-
parent that the party was somehow
weak when it had expected to be
strong. People were looking behind
the events of the battlefields; they had
the earlier record in mind, and were
not lining up for the party. Misgiv-
ings developed into panic. and in re-
sponse to many urgings the President
wrote the unfortunate appeal for elec
tion of Democratic Congress.
Along with this, and likewise un-
fortunate in its effect on the public
mind, was the correspondence with