Complete Transcript
You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 442.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 442. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
On this Café, we’re going to talk about the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, one of the most interesting and active presidents of the twentieth century. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.
Woodrow Wilson was born Thomas Woodrow Wilson on December 28, 1856, in the state of Virginia. Wilson later dropped his first name, Thomas, because he liked the sound of “Woodrow” better. Little Tommy Wilson grew up during one of the worst periods of American history, the Civil War, which took place when Wilson was still a small boy. Some say that it was this experience of war that led Wilson to work so hard for peace later in his lifetime.
Wilson went to Princeton University in New Jersey. Later, he went to the University of Virginia Law School and Johns Hopkins University, where he received his Ph.D. in history and political science – that is, the study of how governments work. He then worked as a professor of history and political science at a few different colleges and universities. Wilson was the most scholarly and well-published president in American history, publishing several important books on history and politics. He was the only president to get a Ph.D., although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
In 1885, Wilson did a good thing and married a young woman by the name of Ellen Louise Axson. Together, the happy couple had three daughters, named Jessie, Margaret, and Eleanor. A few years later, in 1890, Wilson became a professor at Princeton University, where he himself had studied as a young man. Princeton was and is considered one of the best universities in the U.S. In 1902, Wilson became president of Princeton University and was one of the most popular professors on campus – that is, at the university.
While he was president of Princeton, he was asked to run for governor. The “governor” is the highest-level government leader in a state. Wilson was asked to run for governor of New Jersey. He agreed and was elected governor in 1910. Only two years later, in 1912, he ran for president of the United States with the support of the Democratic Party. He won that election also and became our 28th president.
During Wilson’s first “term,” or years serving as an elected official, Wilson helped pass several major, or very important, laws. The first of these was called the Underwood Act. “Act” (act) is just another word for “law.” The Underwood Act created a federal, or national, income tax. An “income (income) tax” is money that you have to pay the government each year that is related to your pay or your salary, which is the amount of money you earn at your job. The income tax was “graduated” (graduated) which means that the more money you earn, the more you make, the more you need to pay the government in taxes. This is still true today. Our top, or highest, federal income tax rate is now close to 40 percent.
Another major law that Wilson passed was the Federal Reserve Act. This law was created so that the government had a way of “regulating,” or controlling, the value of the money in the United States. It created a government-run central bank called the Federal Reserve. By 1914, there were 12 Federal Reserve banks throughout the United States in cities such as Boston, New York, and San Francisco.
The third important piece of legislation or law created in Wilson’s first term was two antitrust acts in 1914. “Antitrust” (antitrust) is a word used to talk about preventing one company from having total control over what we would call their “market.” The “market” (market) here refers to the products, types of products, that a company sells. The concern over big corporations and their power in the U.S. economy was not new to Wilson’s presidency, but had been part of American politics since the late nineteenth century. Wilson, however, helped create these two new antitrust laws to make sure that companies competed with each other so that prices remained fair.
One of these antitrust laws was called the Clayton Act. The Clayton Act was an addition to an existing antitrust law called the Sherman Act. The Clayton Act and the Sherman Act together regulated or controlled how businesses could work to be sure the market was, again, fair. For example, the Clayton act said that two companies may not “merge,” or combine, if that means that they will control the entire market. So, if there are only two companies that sell a certain product, and those two companies want to merge or combine, the U.S. government may say, “No, you can’t do that.”
The government even today still tries to stop certain companies from merging or combining if it thinks that there will be less competition in the market. Many businesses think these actions of the government has made the economy less efficient and productive, but to be fair to the government, it has created a lot of jobs for lawyers in Washington, D.C. So, maybe it was a good thing. If you like lawyers.
The second major antitrust law of 1914 created something called the Federal Trade Commission, now known by its initials, “FTC.” The FTC is a government organization that makes sure that the Clayton and Sherman Acts are obeyed by companies. It investigates companies that it thinks are not following the law and makes sure that the market is fair. This government agency still exists today and still investigates companies it thinks are not following the law.
Interestingly enough, many of the big companies the government worried about as being too powerful in Wilson’s era are no longer around. Some people joke that companies are born and later die, but government agencies are immortal (that is, they never die).
Wilson experienced personal tragedy early in his presidency. His wife died in 1914, the same month that World War I began. Wilson was devastated – that is, deeply hurt emotionally from this loss. But the next year, he married another woman, Edith Galt, who became his second wife and, as we shall see, a very important person during his second term as president.
Wilson’s other major accomplishment for his first term in office, his first four years, according to his supporters, was keeping the United States out of World War I. World War I began in August of 1914 in Europe, but the United States did not get involved. When Wilson ran for president again in 1916, he “campaigned,” or ran for office, talking about specific ideas or plans that he would put into place if he won a second term; about the laws he passed in his first term; and about this very important fact that he kept the country out of World War I. Wilson was reelected for a second term in 1916.
After Wilson’s reelection, he realized that it would be impossible for the United States to stay out of, or not be a part, of World War I. Germany had begun attacking American ships with their “submarines” – ships that can travel underwater – putting American lives in danger. The German government also apparently tried to convince the government of Mexico, located of course to the south of the United States, to declare war on the Americans.
In what became known as the Zimmerman Telegram, Germany offered Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if they attacked the U.S. Now, the Mexicans had good reason to dislike Wilson. Wilson had unsuccessfully tried to influence the politics and leadership of Mexico by attacking the city of Veracruz in 1914 and sending U.S. military troops into Mexico in 1916. Mexico did not, however, attack the U.S. as Germany had wanted. Finally, on April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress, the group of representatives from across the country, to declare war on Germany. Congress agreed, and the United States entered World War I.
In January 1918, Wilson went before Congress with his goals for the end of the war. His speech famously contained 14 ideas and became known as “Wilson’s Fourteen Points.” Eight of the Fourteen Points talked about the countries involved in the war. For example, he said that Belgium and France should be independent countries like they were before the war began. He also said that Poland should be an independent country and that the German Army must leave Russia.
Five of Wilson’s Fourteen Points were to create a more peaceful world. For example, one of his points was that there should be no more secret agreements and that all agreements between countries should be public and known by all other countries. Another point said that all countries should try to reduce, or make lower, the number of weapons they had.
Wilson’s final point said that a “league” (league), an organized group, of nations working together to achieve a similar idea should be created. This League of Nations would help ensure, or make sure, that all countries would remain independent and be safe from occupation. “Occupation” (occupation) is when one country comes in and takes control of another country.
Many Americans, as well as many people from the Allied nations – those countries fighting on the same side in World War I – loved Wilson’s speech. Many people said that the Fourteen Points would change international relations. “International relations” refers to how different countries work with each other and communicate with each other.
When World War I ended in November, 1918, Wilson traveled to Paris, to France, to help create what later became known as the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles included the “terms” – or “rules,” if you will – for Germany and other European countries now that the war had ended. Wilson, of course, suggested using his Fourteen Points as the place to begin in writing the treaty. However, the European countries involved had their own ideas about the treaty, which weren’t necessarily the same as Wilson’s Fourteen Points. The treaty contained several punishments of Germany, who had, of course, lost the war.
Wilson thought that punishing Germany was not a good idea. He was one of the only people at the conference, however, who believed that these harsh or difficult terms in the Treaty of Versailles would create problems in the future. According to some historians, history proved Wilson correct. Some historians believed that it was in part the terms in the Treaty of Versailles that helped Adolph Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, which eventually led to the Second World War. At this time, however, many people thought that Wilson’s ideas about international relations were simply unrealistic.
One part of the Treaty of Versailles that Wilson was happy with was the creation of the League of Nations. Wilson took the Treaty back to Congress and asked Congress to approve it. But Congress, which must approve all treaties or agreements between the U.S. and other countries, refused to approve the Treaty of Versailles. Many members of Congress believed that this new League of Nations would take power away from the United States government. Wilson traveled around talking about the Treaty and trying to gain support for it. Even though he did not agree with many of the terms of the Treaty, he thought that it was important for the United States to join the League of Nations.
During Wilson’s travel around the United States, however, he became sick. He ended his tour and went back to Washington, D.C. In October of 1919, he suffered a stroke. A “stroke” (stroke) is when blood stops going to a part of the brain and that part becomes damaged. As the result of this stroke, Wilson was partially paralyzed – that is, he could no longer move his body as he would normally be able to do. He also had some brain damage, which means that his brain was not working as well as it should.
Wilson’s second wife, Edith, whom we met earlier, took care of him after his stroke. Wilson had to stay in bed and Edith controlled who could visit him and what information he was allowed to receive. She successfully covered up the seriousness of Wilson’s illness. “To cover up” means to hide something that you shouldn’t. Some historians now believe that Edith herself was, in fact, the person who made many of the presidential decisions while Wilson was sick, becoming in a way our first female president. Edith denied this, saying that she only acted as Wilson’s assistant.
Despite Wilson’s failure to gain approval for the Treaty of Versailles, in 1920 he was given the Nobel Peace Prize for his work helping to end World War I. In 1921, he completed his second term as president, and a Republican, Warren G. Harding, became president. Wilson and his wife, Edith, stayed in Washington, D.C. Wilson died a few years later, in 1924, at the age of 67. He was buried in Washington’s National Cathedral. He was the first and so far only United States president buried in our nation’s capital.
Woodrow Wilson is remembered by most Americans as a president who tried to create peace and fairness both at home – that is, here in the U.S. – and overseas, in other countries. Like most presidents, he was successful in some areas and not so successful in others.
He changed the U.S. economy and tried to protect workers, but he also allowed racial segregation of certain parts of the federal government. “Segregation” (segregation) is when people of different races are not allowed to mix, or use the same areas or services. He helped Great Britain and France win World War I, but also invaded the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and in effect took over their governments. Overall, though, Americans consider Wilson one of our good, if sometimes ineffective, twentieth-century presidents.
Now let’s answer a few of your questions.
Our first question comes Jinsuk (Jinsuk) in Korea. Jinsuk wants to know the meanings of the words “junction,” “intersection,” and “interchange.” All three of these words are related to roads or streets or freeways and how they come together. Let’s start with “junction.” A “junction” is a point where, in general terms, two things come together or are joined, but when we’re talking about streets and roads, it’s usually a place where the two streets or two roads cross. One is going, say, north-south; the other is going east-west. The junction of those two streets is where the two streets cross.
You don’t see the word junction very often anymore, at least not in our big cities. You might see it more often out in smaller communities. There are lots of towns, in fact, that have the word “junction” in them, since they are places usually where not necessarily two roads, but two other modes of transportation may have met. There was a TV show when I was growing up called Petticoat Junction. The junction there related to a railroad line. It had a great theme song:
There goes Joe,
he’s a moving kind of slow
at the junction,
Petticoat Junction
The girls would come in and say “Petticoat Junction,” which was the name of the show and the town. Anyway, I’m sure up Jinsuk isn’t very interested in that.
The next word is “intersection” (intersection). An intersection is very similar to a junction. It’s where two things cross, especially two roads. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine is very famous here in Los Angeles – Hollywood Boulevard and Vine. It’s the place where those two streets cross. That’s an “intersection.” Sometimes we just use the word “corner” (corner) to refer to an intersection: “It’s on the corner of Hollywood and Vine.” That means it is on one of the four corners that are created by the crossing of the two streets, Hollywood and Vine.
An “interchange” (interchange) is sort of an intersection, but of freeways and highways, not roads and streets. Why don’t we just call it an intersection? Well, some people do, but normally “intersection” is when you have two streets that cross and the cars on one of those streets has to stop so that the cars on the other street can go. They can’t both go at the same time.
Highways and freeways – especially our largest, what are called “interstate freeways” – never have intersections in the sense that the cars on one freeway have to stop to allow the cars on the other freeway to go. Instead, they have an “interchange,” which allows the cars to move from one freeway to another. In order to do that, of course, you have to put one road higher than the other and build what are called “ramps” (ramps) to connect the two freeways. You see that in Los Angeles a lot since we have a lot of freeways. I live close to the interchange of two major freeways here in the western part of L.A. So, that’s “junction,” “intersection,” and “interchange.”
Torah (Torah) from China wants to know the meanings of two words, “proprietary” and “patent.” “Proprietary” (proprietary) relates to ownership, usually something that is owned by a particular company. “Proprietary” is often used together with terms such as “process.” A “proprietary process” is a way that a company makes something, for example, that it has often protected by going to the government and saying, “This is ours. We don’t want anyone to steal it.”
“Proprietary” can be used also to talk about specific materials that, for example, a company develops, and it only wants people who have permission to use those materials to use them. They can protect certain things that the company has created by going to the government and asking for that protection. One way to ask for that protection is to get something called a “patent.”
A “patent” (patent) is when the government says that some product or process that you have created is yours, and no one else can use it without your permission. Usually, patents have a limit in terms of the number of years that that particular product is protected. For example, a drug company – a pharmaceutical company, we would call it – develops a new drug. It goes to the government to get a patent for that drug so that nobody else can make that drug and sell it. So, that’s “patent.”
“Patent” is a government license or a government protection, if you will, of a certain kind of product that a company makes. “Proprietary” is a more general word to refer to things that a company owns. It might even include, as I said, processes by which the company carries out its business or makes its products.
Finally, Jarek (Jarek) in Poland wants to know the meaning of an expression he heard, “to bluff one’s way into a secure area.” Let’s start with the first expression, “to bluff (bluff) your way into” something. “To bluff your way into” something is to basically lie about your qualifications or the permission you have to do something.
So, for example, if you are not 21 years old and you want to go to a bar in the United States – and remember, you need to be 21 years old to go into a bar in the United States – you may try to bluff your way into the bar. You may lie to the person at the bar who’s checking identifications to make sure that people are, in fact, 21 years old. You may say, “Oh, I lost my driver’s license, but this is my friend. He’ll tell you that I’m 21.” You’re trying to lie. You’re trying to bluff your way into, in this case, the bar.
I never did that, by the way. I started drinking legally when I was 19, because back when I was 19, you could drink in the state of Minnesota. Since those times, however, the laws have changed, and now in I believe every state in the United States you have to be 21 years old in order to buy alcohol – and that would include, in most cases, going into a bar.
But, Jarek isn’t going into a bar. He’s interested in someone who is “bluffing his way into a secure area.” “Secure” (secure) means safe. A “secure area” would normally be an area controlled by the government or by members of the government, such as the police, that is only accessible – you can only get into it – if you have special permission. So, if the president of the United States is going to give a speech, the area where the president will be standing could be considered a secure area. No one can get in there unless they have permission.
From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on the English Café.
ESL Podcast’s English Café is written and produced by Dr. Jeff McQuillan and
Dr. Lucy Tse. This podcast is copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational
Development.
Glossary
income tax – an amount of money that one must pay the government each year that is related to the amount of money one earns at one’s job
* Masha got a new job that pays a lot more money so she will pay more income taxes this year.
salary – a set amount of money that one earns at one’s job and that is paid regularly, usually every two weeks or once a month
* The starting salary at Jim’s job is $50,000 a year.
graduated – steadily changing, usually increasing or decreasing, according to a scale (set schedule)
* The bowls came in five graduated sizes and fit nicely inside each other.
antitrust – laws or rules stopping one company from having total control over one type of product, service, or business
* Antitrust laws prevented American Airlines and British Airways from combining into one company.
market – products a company produces and the customers that it tries to sell to
* There is a large market for white cars in places where it is hot all year.
to merge – to combine two or more things, making them into one larger thing
* Elizabeth decided to merge her two short trips into one long trip.
to campaign – to run for office talking about specific ideas or plans that one will put into place when one wins
* In 2008, Barack Obama campaigned on the idea that he could change the way the United States dealt with other countries.
league – an organized group of people or countries that work together for a common goal
* The League of Women Voters works to educate people, especially women, about the ideas and problems being discussed during elections.
occupation – when one person or country enters a place or other country forcefully and takes control
* School children were taught Japanese in schools during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan.
allied – working together to achieve a common goal or outcome
* Sandro and Pat were allied in their efforts to improve the working conditions in the factory
international relations – how different countries talk and work with each other
* International relations are improving between the United States and McQuillanland because neither country wants another war.
terms – the rules or conditions that are agreed to in a contract
* The terms of the contract stated that Johann would pay his rent on the first day of every month and the landlord would quickly fix any problems Johann reported.
junction – a point where two or more things are joined; a place where two or more things connect
* The junction of the two railroad tracks can be dangerous because if trains aren’t communicating with each other properly, they may crash.
intersection – a place where things cross, especially a place where two or more roads cross; a place where two or more roads from different directions meet
* The pet store is at the intersection of Main Street and First Avenue.
interchange – a highway crossing with more than one level arranged so that vehicles may move from one road to another without driving across traffic
* When you reach the Interstate 10 and Interstate 5 freeway interchange, be sure to stay in the right lane so you can get onto the 5 freeway.
proprietary – for products to be sold and protected by law indicating that it belongs to a company and only that company has the right to make and to sell it
* This software is proprietary, so if you want to include it in your program, you’ll need to get permission.
patent – government permission of ownership for a set period, especially the right to prevent others from making, using, or selling an invention
* When Melia invented an umbrella that protected the entire body from getting wet in rain, she got a patent so no one else could claim that they had invented it.
to bluff – to try to trick someone into believing something, especially in order to get an advantage over that person
* When playing cards for money, it’s important to be able to bluff.
secure area – a marked or clear area in which access into and out of it is controlled and can be monitored (watched)
* Jona tried to enter a secure area at the airport and was stopped by security guards.
What Insiders Know
Presidential Illnesses
Being the leader of any “nation” (country) would be a “stressful” (causing a lot of worry and tension) job, and being the president of the United States is no exception. Many presidents – like Woodrow Wilson – suffered from serious illnesses. Some started the job with “preexisting conditions” (already with health problems), while others developed them on the job.
President William Taft (1909-1913), for example, started the job “morbidly obese” (being very overweight). He was over 300 pounds (136 kilos) and was the fattest president in American history. His weight caused him many health problems, and even though he “dieted” (tried to lose weight by changing what and how much he ate) and lost nearly 100 pounds, he continued to gain and lose weight throughout his lifetime. His weight caused “sleep apnea,” a condition that “interrupted” (stopped temporarily) his sleep. This meant that he was tired throughout the day and was known to fall sleep during political meetings.
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) also had health problems. Unfortunately, he had a serious disease called Addison’s disease. This disease affected the “adrenal glands,” the part of the body that produces “hormones,” which are substances that are released in the body related to one’s emotions, such as those needed to deal with stress. Kennedy had “chronic” (continuing and never stopping) back pain and “anxiety” (feeling nervous and worry). To deal with these problems, he took a lot of medications, becoming “addicted to” (wanted very badly and feeling as though one cannot live without) some of those drugs.