History professor Ross Kennedy has applied his expertise in the First World War, Woodrow Wilson, and U.S. foreign relations in conceptualizing and analyzing the political leaders’ and policy makers’ strategy for peace and national security during and after the First World War. Currently a professor at the Illinois State University Department of History, Kennedy has been awarded the Outstanding College Research Award in 2014 as well as the ISU-CAS Outstanding Service Award. Beside his monograph, The Will to Believe, he has published several journal articles about Woodrow Wilson, the First World War, and a journal article examining the American public during 1914. His most recent work, A Companion to Woodrow Wilson, was published in 2013, and
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These coalitions consisted of the Pacifists who were made up of progressives, Republican Progressive insurgents, and “mugwumpish liberals.” Their flaws are displayed by Kennedy’s analysis as they are increasingly distanced from the national debate as exampled by belief that Americans agreed with their views. The liberal internationalists included President Wilson and the editors of the New Republic, the AmericanFederation of Labor (AFL), and members of the League to Enforce Peace (LEP) of which former Presient William Howard Taft was a member of. The third group was the Atlanticists led by Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Elihu Root. Consistency within the group was their fundamental …show more content…
The distinction between the coalitions is how they viewed militarism during this period. The Pacifists and liberal internationalists viewed militarism through the lens of Europe, where the European balance of power was created and maintained through arms races and secret alliances that led to the European militarism. The professional military officers possessed ideas that not only undermined American democracy, but also had ideas of enhancing their power. This view Kennedy so deftly explains makes one wonder if Douglas MacArthur’s actions during the Bonus Army event in Washington D.C. was what the Pacifists and liberal internationalists were seeing achieved through a nation that is militarily prepared. As Kennedy explains, the Atlanticists were out of step with the nation as the nation traditionally distrusted a military role in domestic politics.
Once Kennedy has set the stage by introducing the three coalitions and their positions, he places much of his focus on President Wilson and Wilson’s policies in context with what was happening in America. Kennedy describes Wilson’s idea of reforming world politics through America’s exceptionalism and commitment to democracy as the ingredient needed to replace the old European political power system. The argument is that the fear about national security drove Wilson’s
These coalitions consisted of the Pacifists who were made up of progressives, Republican Progressive insurgents, and “mugwumpish liberals.” Their flaws are displayed by Kennedy’s analysis as they are increasingly distanced from the national debate as exampled by belief that Americans agreed with their views. The liberal internationalists included President Wilson and the editors of the New Republic, the AmericanFederation of Labor (AFL), and members of the League to Enforce Peace (LEP) of which former Presient William Howard Taft was a member of. The third group was the Atlanticists led by Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Elihu Root. Consistency within the group was their fundamental …show more content…
The distinction between the coalitions is how they viewed militarism during this period. The Pacifists and liberal internationalists viewed militarism through the lens of Europe, where the European balance of power was created and maintained through arms races and secret alliances that led to the European militarism. The professional military officers possessed ideas that not only undermined American democracy, but also had ideas of enhancing their power. This view Kennedy so deftly explains makes one wonder if Douglas MacArthur’s actions during the Bonus Army event in Washington D.C. was what the Pacifists and liberal internationalists were seeing achieved through a nation that is militarily prepared. As Kennedy explains, the Atlanticists were out of step with the nation as the nation traditionally distrusted a military role in domestic politics.
Once Kennedy has set the stage by introducing the three coalitions and their positions, he places much of his focus on President Wilson and Wilson’s policies in context with what was happening in America. Kennedy describes Wilson’s idea of reforming world politics through America’s exceptionalism and commitment to democracy as the ingredient needed to replace the old European political power system. The argument is that the fear about national security drove Wilson’s