Shortly after winning election to the presidency in 1912, Woodrow Wilson confided to a friend: “It would be an irony of fate if my administration had to deal with foreign affairs.” Indeed, Wilson had focused his life and career on domestic concerns; in his campaign for the presidency, Wilson had hardly mentioned the world abroad.

Wilson, however, could not avoid the world and the rising tide of militarism, nationalism, and violence that beat against American shores. Economic interests compelled the nation outward. Moreover, Wilson was drawn abroad by his own progressive political principles. He believed that the United States had a moral duty to champion national self-determination, peaceful free trade, and political democracy. “We have no selfish ends to serve,” he proclaimed. “We desire no conquest, no dominion. . . . We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind.” Yet as president, Wilson was as ready as any American president to apply military solutions to problems of foreign policy. This readiness led Wilson and the United States into military conflict in Mexico and then in Europe.