108 Chapter 5
AlbertEinsteinholdsthis presidentin highregard—“Amongthe mostimportantstates-
menit is probablyWilsonwhomostrepresentsthe intellectualtype.”^39
We mustfill in an omissionthatHofstadterandTruslowAdamsleaveaboutthis
Commander-in-Chief.Backwhenhe wasgovernorof NewJersey,Wilsonimplementeda
statepolicyof compulsorysterilizationof epilepticsandthe mentallyill beginningon
April21, 1911.^40 GovernorWilsonreceivedhelpfroma stategovernmentagencyhe
founded,the Boardof Examinersof the Feebleminded,Epileptics,and OtherDefectives.^41
Meanwhile,ArthurEkirchconcedesthatWilsonwasthe firstU.S.presidentto institute
racialsegregationprotocolsformallyfor everyfederalU.S.office.^42 Incidentally,Woo-
drowWilsonstatedthatthe economicdoctrinesof his NewFreedomwerelargelyin-
spiredby the teachingsof LouisD. Brandeis.^43 Moretellingly,the manwhomWilson,as
NewJersey’s governor,had askedto drafthis sterilizationlaw wasEdwinKatzen-Ellen-
bogen.Yearslater,Katzen-Ellenbogenwouldmoveto Europeandactuallyserveas a
doctorto the SS in Nazi-occupiedFranceand as an adviserat the Buchenwaldconcentra-
tioncamp.^44 WhenArthurEkirchpraisesWilsonas a manwho“concededthatgovern-
mentwasneededto ensurefair playfor the individual,”^45 Ekirchmustnot havebeen
thinkingof the nonwhiteandepilepticindividualswhomWilson’s governmenthadde-
niedfair play.The Centerfor AmericanProgress(CAP)admitsto regrettingthatWilson
opposedwomen’s suffrageand segregatedgovernmentoffices,but otherwisehailshim as
a magnificentProgressiveandoverlooksthe compulsorysterilizationinitiatives.Insofar
as the CAPcriticizesWilson,it criticizeshimfor beingtoo right-wingand for his distrust
towardthe CommunistPartyof the USA.^46
NorwereWilsonandBrandeisbenignexamplesfor nationsacrossthe Atlantic.I do
confessthatGermany’s SocialDemocratpartydeservessomecommendationfor being
the solepoliticalpartyto voteagainstthe 1933EnablingActthatgaveAdolfHitler
supremelegislativepower.Nonetheless,this sameGermanSocialDemocratpartypro-
motedgovernisteugenics.In 1927,the SocialDemocratsof Prussiaunsuccessfullyfileda
petitionfor the Prussiangovernmentto procuredataandstatisticson the resultsof the
U.S.stategovernments’ compulsorysterilizationpolicies.Thiswason accountof the
SocialDemocrats’ desireto emulatetheseenactments.“The SocialDemocrats’ initiative,”
sociologistStefanKühl informsus, “signaledthe importance” of Wilson’s compulsory
sterilizationinitiative“as a role modelfor Germany,whichalsoindicatedthatinterestin
suchlegislation” existedon “the left of the politicalspectrum.”^47 It is indeedno accident
thatas the nationof Swedenbeganto electself-describedsocialiststo its Parliament,it
likewiseincreasinglylookedto the Stateto advanceeugenicistgoals.WritesCincinnati
pediatricsprofessorStevenPotter,“the world’s second-largeststerilizationprogramwas
conductedin Sweden.. .” Thislaw wentinto effectin 1934,^48 the sameyearthat the Nazis
gainedpower,^49 and was not repealedin Swedenuntil1976.^50 In the interimin whichthis
regulationwasin effect,over60,000Swedeswereforciblysterilized.^51 The victimsof this
surgeryincluded the usual suspects—epileptics,the mentally challenged,andthose
workingin the blackmarket.^52 But in Sweden,not everyonein thesecategorieswas
legallyrequiredto be forciblysterilized;onecould,in lieuof receivingsuchsurgery,
agreeto be segregatedfromthe restof societyuntilhis or her childbearingyearshad
ended.^53
Yet anotherprogressiveeugenicistwasJohnMaynardKeynes.^54 Remember,from
BookTwo,thatin his much-reveredtreatiseThe End of LaissezFaire, LordKeynesrecom-
mendedcontrollingthe population’s size and its geneticmakeup.“The timehas already
come,” he announcedtherein,“wheneachcountryneedsa considerednationalpolicy
aboutwhatsizeof Population...is mostexpedient.Andhavingsettledthispolicy,we
musttakefurtherstepsto carryit intooperation.” Likewise,the “communityas a whole
mustpay attentionto the innatequality”—the biologicalcharacteristics—“... of its future