Mid-Term Elections: 1918
In 2020 the nation went to the polls to elect a President in the midst of a pandemic. Over a century earlier in 1918, it wasn't a presidential election year, but the nation was in the midst of a pandemic, the incorrectly named "Spanish flu" was spreading throughout the world. The earliest documented case was reported March 1918 at a US Army base in Kansas, and it spread among soldiers who were on their way to fight in the Great War with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom by April. Two years later, nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves, and the worldwide death toll was estimated at between 17 million to 50 million people, possibly as high as 100 million. President Woodrow Wilson has been criticized for his mishandling of this medical crisis, though that's not the only reason why he and his party did so poorly in the mid-term elections that year.
Wilson was first elected as President in 1912 thanks mainly to a split within the Republican Party. He was renominated at the 1916 Democratic National Convention without opposition and ran for re-election on a progressive platform, as well as on his record in keeping the Unites States out of the war in Europe. Democrats campaigned on the slogan "He Kept Us Out of War," and warned that a Republican victory would mean war with Germany. At the 1916 Republican National Convention, Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes was nominated as the party's presidential candidate and the election was a very close one. It came down to California's electoral votes and in the end Wilson won the state by 3,806 votes, giving him a majority of the electoral vote. Wilson won 277 electoral votes and 49.2 percent of the popular vote, while Hughes won 254 electoral votes and 46.1 percent of the popular vote. Wilson's re-election made him the first Democrat since Andrew Jackson (in 1832) to win two consecutive terms, and Democrats kept control of Congress.
As the war went on, in January 1917, Germany initiated a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare against ships in the seas around the British Isles. In late February, the U.S. public learned of the Zimmermann Telegram, a secret diplomatic communication in which Germany tried to convince Mexico to go to war against the United States, in order to keep the US out of the war in Europe. This and a series of attacks on American ships, caused Wilson to conclude that the time had come for the United States to enter the war.
On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. In his address to Congress, he asserted that Germany was essentially in "nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States." Congress voted to declare war against Germany with strong bipartisan majorities on April 6, 1917.
Congress also voted to impose conscription with the Selective Service Act of 1917 and gave power to local draft boards to decide who should be drafted. By the end of the war, nearly 3 million men had been drafted.
On January 8, 1918, Wilson delivered a speech, known as the Fourteen Points, wherein he set out his administration's long term war objectives. Wilson called for the establishment of a "League of Nations", an association of countries that would guarantee the independence and territorial integrity of all nations.
Under the command of General John J. Pershing, the American Expeditionary Forces arrived in France in mid-1917. Wilson and Pershing rejected the British and French plan to have American soldiers integrated into existing Allied units. Russia exited the war after signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, allowing Germany to shift soldiers from the Eastern Front of the war. There were only 175,000 American soldiers in Europe at the end of 1917, but by mid-1918 10,000 Americans were arriving in Europe daily. The added strength of American forces helped the Allies defeated an exhausted German Army. By the end of September 1918, the German leadership no longer believed it could win the war, and Kaiser Wilhelm II appointed a new government, one which immediately sought an armistice. An armistice was signed, to take effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 (November 11, 1918.) By the end of the war, 116,000 American soldiers had died, and another 200,000 had been wounded.
Meanwhile, back at home, Wilson imposed severe restrictions on freedom of speech, in his view, in order to counter disloyalty to the war effort at home. Wilson pressed for passage of the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 to suppress anti-British, pro-German, or anti-war statements. He pushed for the arrest and deportation of foreign-born critics of the war and many recent immigrants who opposed American participation in the war were deported under the Immigration Act of 1918. Anarchists, Industrial Workers of the World members, and other antiwar groups were targeted by the Department of Justice and many of their leaders were arrested for espionage, or sedition. The most famous of these was Eugene V. Debs, the 1912 Socialist presidential candidate, who was convicted for encouraging young men to evade the draft, on questionable grounds. Wilson's excesses in curtailing free speech led to the creation of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1917.
In the same month that the Armistice would be signed in Europe, back in the United States, the 1918 United States elections were taking place to elect the 66th United States Congress. The Spanish flu pandemic had hit and campaigning was disrupted around the country. Voter turnout was 40%, low for a midterm election at that time. Turnout in previous midterms had been in the low 50% range.
Wilson had asked on voters in the 1918 off-year elections to elect Democrats as an endorsement of his policies. Republicans ran against the expanded war-time government, the restricted liberties, and Wilson's Fourteen Points, especially Wilson's proposal for a League of Nations. While the end of the war was good news for the nation, the number of casualties was not. Many voters disagreed with Wilson's foreign policy, his reneging on his promise to keep the nation out of war so soon after being election on the strength of that promise, and the did not agree that it was the nation's role to serve as policeman for warring European factions.
Voters showed their displeasure by giving Republicans control of both houses of Congress, taking it away from the Democrats. The Republicans gained 24 seats in the House, increasing their number from 216 to 240. Democrats lost reducing their number down to 192. Voters also elected one Socialist, one Prohibition Party member and one independent. Previously Democrats had controlled the chamber with help from third parties. That ended with the results of these mid-terms. In the Senate, Republicans gained 6 seats, all lost by Democrats. They took control of the Senate by a slim margin of 49 to 47. The elections were a major defeat for Wilson and for his foreign policy agenda. The Republicans would control of both houses of Congress until the 1930 election.
The election was also important because it was seen as a turning point for women's suffrage in the United States. Ballot initiatives to give women the vote were held in the states of Oklahoma, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Michigan. Only men could vote for or against these initiatives, but in spite of this, every one of them passed except for the one in Louisiana. An extensive grassroots campaign by suffragists led to the defeat of many incumbent Senators who had refused to support the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, including Senator John W. Weeks of Massachusetts, who had been considered invincible.
Wilson was first elected as President in 1912 thanks mainly to a split within the Republican Party. He was renominated at the 1916 Democratic National Convention without opposition and ran for re-election on a progressive platform, as well as on his record in keeping the Unites States out of the war in Europe. Democrats campaigned on the slogan "He Kept Us Out of War," and warned that a Republican victory would mean war with Germany. At the 1916 Republican National Convention, Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes was nominated as the party's presidential candidate and the election was a very close one. It came down to California's electoral votes and in the end Wilson won the state by 3,806 votes, giving him a majority of the electoral vote. Wilson won 277 electoral votes and 49.2 percent of the popular vote, while Hughes won 254 electoral votes and 46.1 percent of the popular vote. Wilson's re-election made him the first Democrat since Andrew Jackson (in 1832) to win two consecutive terms, and Democrats kept control of Congress.
As the war went on, in January 1917, Germany initiated a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare against ships in the seas around the British Isles. In late February, the U.S. public learned of the Zimmermann Telegram, a secret diplomatic communication in which Germany tried to convince Mexico to go to war against the United States, in order to keep the US out of the war in Europe. This and a series of attacks on American ships, caused Wilson to conclude that the time had come for the United States to enter the war.
On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. In his address to Congress, he asserted that Germany was essentially in "nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States." Congress voted to declare war against Germany with strong bipartisan majorities on April 6, 1917.
Congress also voted to impose conscription with the Selective Service Act of 1917 and gave power to local draft boards to decide who should be drafted. By the end of the war, nearly 3 million men had been drafted.
On January 8, 1918, Wilson delivered a speech, known as the Fourteen Points, wherein he set out his administration's long term war objectives. Wilson called for the establishment of a "League of Nations", an association of countries that would guarantee the independence and territorial integrity of all nations.
Under the command of General John J. Pershing, the American Expeditionary Forces arrived in France in mid-1917. Wilson and Pershing rejected the British and French plan to have American soldiers integrated into existing Allied units. Russia exited the war after signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, allowing Germany to shift soldiers from the Eastern Front of the war. There were only 175,000 American soldiers in Europe at the end of 1917, but by mid-1918 10,000 Americans were arriving in Europe daily. The added strength of American forces helped the Allies defeated an exhausted German Army. By the end of September 1918, the German leadership no longer believed it could win the war, and Kaiser Wilhelm II appointed a new government, one which immediately sought an armistice. An armistice was signed, to take effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 (November 11, 1918.) By the end of the war, 116,000 American soldiers had died, and another 200,000 had been wounded.
Meanwhile, back at home, Wilson imposed severe restrictions on freedom of speech, in his view, in order to counter disloyalty to the war effort at home. Wilson pressed for passage of the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 to suppress anti-British, pro-German, or anti-war statements. He pushed for the arrest and deportation of foreign-born critics of the war and many recent immigrants who opposed American participation in the war were deported under the Immigration Act of 1918. Anarchists, Industrial Workers of the World members, and other antiwar groups were targeted by the Department of Justice and many of their leaders were arrested for espionage, or sedition. The most famous of these was Eugene V. Debs, the 1912 Socialist presidential candidate, who was convicted for encouraging young men to evade the draft, on questionable grounds. Wilson's excesses in curtailing free speech led to the creation of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1917.
In the same month that the Armistice would be signed in Europe, back in the United States, the 1918 United States elections were taking place to elect the 66th United States Congress. The Spanish flu pandemic had hit and campaigning was disrupted around the country. Voter turnout was 40%, low for a midterm election at that time. Turnout in previous midterms had been in the low 50% range.
Wilson had asked on voters in the 1918 off-year elections to elect Democrats as an endorsement of his policies. Republicans ran against the expanded war-time government, the restricted liberties, and Wilson's Fourteen Points, especially Wilson's proposal for a League of Nations. While the end of the war was good news for the nation, the number of casualties was not. Many voters disagreed with Wilson's foreign policy, his reneging on his promise to keep the nation out of war so soon after being election on the strength of that promise, and the did not agree that it was the nation's role to serve as policeman for warring European factions.
Voters showed their displeasure by giving Republicans control of both houses of Congress, taking it away from the Democrats. The Republicans gained 24 seats in the House, increasing their number from 216 to 240. Democrats lost reducing their number down to 192. Voters also elected one Socialist, one Prohibition Party member and one independent. Previously Democrats had controlled the chamber with help from third parties. That ended with the results of these mid-terms. In the Senate, Republicans gained 6 seats, all lost by Democrats. They took control of the Senate by a slim margin of 49 to 47. The elections were a major defeat for Wilson and for his foreign policy agenda. The Republicans would control of both houses of Congress until the 1930 election.
The election was also important because it was seen as a turning point for women's suffrage in the United States. Ballot initiatives to give women the vote were held in the states of Oklahoma, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Michigan. Only men could vote for or against these initiatives, but in spite of this, every one of them passed except for the one in Louisiana. An extensive grassroots campaign by suffragists led to the defeat of many incumbent Senators who had refused to support the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, including Senator John W. Weeks of Massachusetts, who had been considered invincible.