5 April 2009

Reading in Geoge C. Herring's  From Colony to Superpower, I was struck by similarities of Presdident Obama to, not Lincoln, but Wilson...I forward my highlighted passages for what they are worth.

"'I have a passion,' a young Wilson said, "of interpreting great thoughts to the world...Wilson came to power fully committed to  his New Freedom reform program that sought to restore equality of opportunity and democracy through tariff and banking reform and curbing the power of big business...He fervently believed that foreign policy should serve broad humanitarian concerns rather than narrow self interest...He shared the optimism and goals of the organized peace movement...Wilson's genuine and deeply felt aspirations to build a better world suffered from a certain culture-blindness...he had difficulty seeing that well-intentioned efforts to spread U.S. values might be viewed as interference at best, coercian at worst...he was blinded by his certainty of America's goodness and destiny...power of the president in foreign policy was 'very absolute'...He was fascinated by the challenge of leading a great nation in tumulous times...apologizing (to Columbia) and ofering monetary compensation for the U.S. role in the Panamanian revolution...internationalist foreign policy...revealed his good intentions  and the difficulties of their implementation...Wilson's 'ethnocentric humanitarianism; failed to recognize that in seeking to direct the future of these nations (China, Mexico and in Central America) he limited their ability to work out their own destiny...the United States should serve as a 'friend and exemplar'...Wilson's gestures did nothing to alter the harsh realities."

Forwarded without comment.