Chronology | Will Englund

March 22, 1917 — Every American, every true American heart should respond with joy, amid its sorrow, to the feeling that if we enter this war, … we shall be fighting over again the battle of the American democracy. The democracy of England, the democracy of France, and now, God be praised, the great democracy of Russia.

Elihu Root, Nobel peace prize laureate, addresses 12,000 cheering men and women who crowd into the old Madison Square Garden for a pro-war rally.

March 21, 1917 — Apparently he is not in a working mood these days.

White House aide Thomas Brahany notes in his diary that President Wilson has been avoiding the work waiting for him in his office, spending most of his time with his wife Edith, or shooting pool.

March 20, 1917 — Those Prussians will realize that, when they made war on this country, they woke up a giant which will surely defeat them.

Postmaster General Albert Burleson joins with other Cabinet members in unanimously urging President Wilson to summon Congress and ask for a declaration of war. Wilson keeps his own counsel.

March 19, 1917 — It is simply war. Germany is making war on us and we are doing nothing. Wilson … is casting about evidently for some hole to creep out of … No words can do justice to his conduct.

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge is furious when he learns that another American ship, the Vigilancia, has been sunk by a U-boat, with the loss of fifteen lives. He thinks that Wilson should summon Congress and declare war on Germany.

March 17, 1917 – You will come out of this war as its central figure, and largely because you stand easily to the fore as the great liberal of modern times.

Edward M. House, unofficial adviser to Woodrow Wilson, flatters the president as he argues for American assistance to revolutionary Russia. The photo shows House with President and Edith Wilson. She didn’t care for him.