Wilson, Woodrow. A History of the American People. Illustrated with Portraits, Maps, Plans, Facsimiles, Rare Prints, Contemporary Views, etc. / olume I: The Swarming of the English; Volume II: Colonies and Nation; Volume III: The Founding of the Government; Volume IV: Critical Changes and Civil War; Volume V: Reunion and Rationalization. First Edition. Five volumes. New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1902. 21 x 15 cm. Vol1: xxv, 350 pages / Vol.2: xviii, 368 pages / Vol.3: xv, 347 pages / Vol. 4: xiv, 342 pages / Vol. 5: xi, 337 pages. All volumes illustrated throughout. Original red cloth. Hard covers. Gilt titles and decorations. Top edge gilt. Very good condition. Minor shelf wear, rubbing and bumbing. Edges and end papers dust dulled. Internal hinges of volume 1 started to crack. Ex Libris of William C. Bullitt on front paste downs of all five volumes (see comments below). Internally bright and clean.

Provenance: William Christian Bullitt Jr. (January 25, 1891 – February 15, 1967) was an American diplomat, journalist, and novelist. He is known for his special mission to negotiate with Lenin on behalf of the Paris Peace Conference, often recalled as a missed opportunity to normalize relations with the Bolsheviks. He was also the first U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union and the U.S. ambassador to France during World War II. In his youth, he was considered a radical, but he later became an outspoken anticommunist.
Bullitt knew Woodrow Wilson personally and greatly admired him, whom he called “clean-hearted”, “pure’ and “wise”.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only Democrat to serve as president during the Progressive Era when Republicans dominated the presidency and legislative branches. As president, Wilson changed the nation’s economic policies and led the United States into World War I. He was the leading architect of the League of Nations, and his stance on foreign policy came to be known as Wilsonianism.
Born in Staunton, Virginia, Wilson grew up in the Southern United States during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. After earning a Ph.D. in history and political science from Johns Hopkins University, Wilson taught at several colleges prior to being appointed president of Princeton University, where he emerged as a prominent spokesman for progressivism in higher education. Wilson served as the governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913, during which he broke with party bosses and won the passage of several progressive reforms.
In the 1912 election, Wilson defeated incumbent Republican William Howard Taft and third-party nominee Theodore Roosevelt, becoming the first Southerner to win the presidency since the 1848 election. During his first year as president, Wilson authorized the widespread imposition of segregation inside the federal bureaucracy and his opposition to women’s suffrage drew protests. His first term was largely devoted to pursuing passage of his progressive New Freedom domestic agenda. His first major priority was the Revenue Act of 1913, which began the modern income tax, and the Federal Reserve Act, which created the Federal Reserve System. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the U.S. declared neutrality as Wilson tried to negotiate a peace between the Allied and Central Powers.
Wilson was narrowly re-elected in the 1916 election, defeating Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes. In April 1917, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany in response to its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare that sank American merchant ships. After the Allied victory in November 1918, Wilson attended the Paris Peace Conference. Wilson successfully advocated for the establishment of a multinational organization, the League of Nations, which was incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles that he signed; back home, he rejected a Republican compromise that would have allowed the Senate to ratify the Versailles Treaty and join the League.
Wilson had intended to seek a third term in office but had a stroke in October 1919 that left him incapacitated. His wife and his physician controlled Wilson, and no significant decisions were made. Meanwhile, his policies alienated German- and Irish-American Democrats and the Republicans won a landslide in the 1920 election. In February 1924, he died at age 67.

• Keywords: Americas · Fine Bindings & Editions · History · History & Culture · Reference
• Language: English
• First edition
• Inventory Number: 104359AB

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