Cox's latest biography of America's 28th president offers a fresh and surprisingly timely examination of a leader whose idealistic vision for global democracy collided with harsh political realities. Through meticulous research and engaging prose, Cox illuminates Wilson's transformation from Princeton academic to wartime president, paying particular attention to how Wilson's Presbyterian upbringing and academic career shaped his rigid moral worldview—a perspective that proved both his greatest strength and fatal flaw during the League of Nations debate.

While earlier biographies often cast Wilson as either hero or hypocrite, Cox presents a more nuanced portrait that acknowledges both Wilson's prophetic grasp of international relations and his catastrophic blind spots, particularly regarding race and dissent. The author's deep dive into previously overlooked personal correspondence reveals a man whose intellectual brilliance and soaring rhetoric masked deep insecurities, making this not just a political biography but a compelling psychological study of power, principle, and personal tragedy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Several years ago, I saw a documentary about World War I that concentrated on the United States’ involvement, and the show provided some backstory on Woodrow Wilson that seemed glossed over in the biography I had read about him: he was a massive racist, a product of the South who lived through the Civil War. He was also sexist as all hell, which is important because of the strength of the women’s suffrage movement during his time as President. Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn focuses on the fight for racial equality and women’s suffrage, first providing backstory to the movements, and then providing a biography of Wilson within the context of those two factors.

This was a fascinating and at the same time a horrifying look at the United States a century ago and how history books just glossed over the fact that Wilson did so much that was detrimental to blacks and women. He resegregated the federal government, so thousands of black people lost their jobs. He lauded the film, Birth of a Nation, which depicted life as if the South had won the Civil War, and had it shown at the White House. Despite the fact that he had three daughters and was a highly educated man, he held women back in every way possible, that is, until it was politically advantageous to him.

Overall, this was a very sobering read leading up to this year’s presidential election.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
All opinions are my own.
Excellent Historical Biography

Christopher Cox, navigates this biography with poise and intellect!
Well researched, insightful. Much more than I had read before about his resistance to the women's suffrage fight and the Susan B Anthony Amendment as well as his racial ambiguity..

As the 28th President of the United States, Wilson's tenure was characterized by significant legislative achievements that aimed to reshape the American economic landscape. He was instrumental in maneuvering three major pieces of legislation through Congress early in his presidency. First, the Underwood Act lowered tariffs while introducing a graduated federal income tax, a move that aimed to create a more equitable financial system. Following this, the Federal Reserve Act was enacted, establishing a central banking system to ensure a more flexible money supply—an essential reform given the financial uncertainties of the time.
In 1914, Wilson's administration introduced antitrust legislation that formed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), designed to curb unfair business practices and promote fair competition. His progressive stance was further evidenced in 1916, with laws prohibiting child labor and ensuring an eight-hour workday for railroad workers. These reforms not only exemplified Wilson's commitment to social justice but also helped secure his narrow re-election under the slogan "he kept us out of war."
With the onset of World War I. Despite his earlier assertion of neutrality, on April 2, 1917, he urged Congress to declare war on Germany, believing that America could no longer stand by as global conflicts escalated. This marked a pivotal moment in Wilson's presidency, as he endeavored to shape a new world order.
In January 1918, he presented the Fourteen Points, a vision for post-war peace that included the establishment of "a general association of nations" to protect the political independence and territorial integrity of all states, large and small. This ambitious plan laid the groundwork for what would later become the League of Nations, a precursor to the United Nations.
Woodrow Wilson's legacy is undeniably complex, marked by both significant contributions to American progressivism and a tumultuous foreign policy that would resonate for decades.

This is a wonderful biography of Woodrow Wilson, who was perhaps one of our nation's jaded presidents. Wilson was a Southern racist and misogynist man. He was also a deeply flawed man in countless other ways. How he reached the White House is a story in itself. One is hard pressed to uncover a single redeeming trait in the soulless human being. Read Mr. Cox's book and learn the entire truth about Woodrow Wilson!

In this Strong story of Woodrow Wilson’s involvement in the battle over women’s suffrage, Chris Cox provides a telling portrait of Wilson and a nation struggling to figure out what it is. Particularly poignant is the depiction of races impact on the women’s vote.

With panoramic sweep, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn reassesses his life and his role in the movements for racial equality and women’s suffrage. This is still matter for today's politic with his influence to American society nowadays.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I just finished Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn, by Christopher Cox.

The book concentrates on two areas of Woodrow Wilson’s life: his opposition to women voting and his terrible record on racial issues.

Even as president of Princeton, Wilson showed that he didn’t see anything wrong with slavery. He said, “Slavery itself was not so dark a thing as it was painted:, the slaves “were happy and well care for” and “were little worse off” for it. He even opposed abolition, since that just “invade[d] the privileges of self-government.” As a professor at Princeton, he claimed that black were better off under slavery than they were as free. His views on the 14th Amendment were identical to the opponents of the amendment at the time of ratification. But, the 15th Amendment, granting blacks the right to vote (at least on paper) was the one that he found the most offensive.

Wilson’s time as president, when he had the power to implement his views, was even worse. A study of civil service records during Wilson’s presidency showed demotions that allowed “white supremacists in the Democratic Party to institutionalize segregation” and there was “segregation of the entire federal civil service under President Woodrow Wilson.”

Wilson’s views on both women’s suffrage and rights were also repulsive. As a presidential candidate, one friend, who was also the editor of the New York Evening Post, thought Wilson would rather lose the election than support the issue. And, as a candidate, he supported only one right for women: “the right of women to bear children.” In his first term in the White House, his party, following his leadership, defeated attempts at a constitutional amendment.

It was only when Wilson decided to get remarried late in his first term that he made any effort to move on the issue. He thought that would “lessen political reaction to his second marriage.” But, even then, all he would do was support individual states being able to amend their constitutions to allow women to vote: a measure that would be far less effective than a constitutional amendment. It was until the amendment was on the brink of being approved in the House, in a razor-thin vote, that Wilson supported it, and even then, just barely. He did nothing to help it pass in the House and when it went to the Senate, he did nothing there either until he made one speech, appearing on the floor of the Senate, very late in the process.

By the time that the amendment had passed the Senate and was sent to the states. Wilson was too single-focused on getting the Treaty of Versailles approved that he had no interest in the amendment. And, eventually, after his stroke, he was president in name only.

Just like the Wilson administration had a terrible record in accepting dissenting opinions against World War I, many pro-suffrage protestors were being arrested under his watch. People were arrested just for carrying signs in front of the White House. In the fall of 1917, when pro-suffrage protestors were arrested, they were being threatened in prison. One prison warden, heard descriptions of anti-Wilson protests and told the prisoners, “You must not speak against the President. You know you will be thrashed if you say anything more about the President. And don’t forget you’re on Government property and may be arrested for treason if it happens again.”

The book did an excellent job of looking at providing background coverage of what was happening, both at the time and in history, on racial issues and women’s suffrage.

Prior to Wilson’s presidency, the book focused more on Wilson’s racial attitudes than on suffrage. Once he took office, suffrage was what dominated the book. I would liked to have hade more on his racist presidential policies. It was already a very long book (39 chapters) so what’s a little longer. But, that criticism doesn’t prevent the book from receiving an A+ and being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

I originally finished reading this on July 24, 2024.

**A timely reassessment of Woodrow Wilson and his role in the long national struggle for racial equality and women’s voting rights.**

More than a century after he dominated American politics, Woodrow Wilson still fascinates. With panoramic sweep, *Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn* reassesses his life and his role in the movements for racial equality and women’s suffrage. The Wilson that emerges is a man superbly unsuited to the moment when he ascended to the presidency in 1912, as the struggle for women’s voting rights in America reached the tipping point.

The first southern Democrat to occupy the White House since the Civil War era brought with him to Washington like-minded men who quickly set to work segregating the federal government. Wilson’s own sympathy for Jim Crow and states’ rights animated his years-long hostility to the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, which promised universal suffrage backed by federal enforcement. Women demonstrating for voting rights found themselves demonized in government propaganda, beaten and starved while illegally imprisoned, and even confined to insane asylums.

When, in the twilight of his second term, two-thirds of Congress stood on the threshold of passing the Anthony Amendment, Wilson abruptly switched his position. But in sympathy with like-minded southern Democrats, he acquiesced in a “race rider” that would protect Jim Crow. The heroes responsible for the eventual success of the unadulterated Anthony Amendment are brought to life by Christopher Cox, an author steeped in the ways of Washington and political power. This is a brilliant, carefully researched work that puts you at the center of one of the greatest advances in the history of American democracy.