A less obvious link between the war and American policy was Wilson's
hope of playing a major role in ending the war and shaping the peace
settlement. Wilson, a Progressive Democrat who abhorred war as wasteful,
believed in the rule of law and the poxffer of diplomacy. He also believed
that the United States had a moral obligation to extend its democratic
principles to the world, if not by example, then by more visible engagement
in world affairs. Wilson preached an internationalism that argued that
American interests were not confined to the Western Hemisphere. From
1914 onward, using Colonel House as his emissary, the American president
promoted contact with the warring parties to further this goal of positioning
the United States as a mediating power.
World History
