The Founding Fathers

[BmorePat87]

(07-23-2020, 02:05 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Wilson catches a lot of shit, and rightfully so, but he is responsible for an end to the spoils system (not single-handedly, and not necessarily as president as it occurred before he was in office) and he laid a lot of the groundwork for what FDR would eventually build upon. Without the way he built the bureaucracy and really implemented that idea, the system would not have been in place for FDR when it came time.

This is why I like to focus just on their actions and words. There are good things and bad things with every one of our historical figures. But yeah, Wilson's racism when compared with that of TR at the time is a very interesting comparison to raise. That's also the difference between southern racism and northern racism, though. Wilson was, after all, born and raised in Virginia.

and was a child in Georgia during the Civil War. It's sometimes easy to forget that presidents in the 1900's were alive for the Civil War. 

He certainly did a lot of good... but he also was absolutely a racist by his own era's standard.