ress to declare war against Germany, declaring that "the world must be made safe for democracy"(Smith 56). He also said that America should "show the way to the nations of the world how they shall walk in the paths of liberty" (Andrew 30) Four days later, on April 6, 1917, Congress passed a joint resolution declaring war on Germany. Unfortunately America was unprepared for the war from a counterespionage point of view. The two divisions of espionage, the Treasury Department's Secret Service and the Justice Department's Bureau of Investigation, were refusing to work with each other (Andrews 30).Wilson delivered his most important speech on Jan. 8, 1918. He stated, "It will be our wish and purpose that the processes of peace, when they are begun, shall be absolutely open and that they shall involve and permit henceforth no secret understandings of any kind."(Fray 5). In this address to Congress, he named Fourteen Points to be used as a guide for a peace settlement (See Appendix). Five of the points established general ideals. Eight points dealt with immediate political and territorial problems. The fourteenth point called for an association of nations to help keep world peace. Wilson said as a country we must take a stand against imperialism and stated, "We cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose. We stand together until the end"(Fray 9).These men stood for one thing, the American way. They may have seen that way from different perspectives, but all tried to keep that way in tact. Theodore Roosevelt, was the definitive authority on foreign relations. William Howard Taft was the dollar diplomatist and the largest President who ever lived. Woodrow Wilson led this country through the First World War, and into the 1920's.All of these men were great men who each lead differently. But each way effective, although now historians could look back and dissect everything they did wrong, but in the grand scope of things, the...
