w aging w ar to t ransform the w orld 115young men. In support of these eff orts, Congress approved a tem-
porary ban on liquor sales in summer 1917, and the drive toward prohi-
bition culminated in passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919.
Whether the Creel Committee’s broader propaganda eff orts had a sig-
nifi cant impact on public support for the war is diffi cult to determine.
By exaggerating what the United States could achieve, moreover, the
committee ran the risk of inviting broad disenchantment if the results
fell short of the promise.
Not even the most vigorous propaganda campaign could forestall
criticism of the administration, to which the president was acutely sen-
sitive. His response to some political opponents, however under-
standable, was small-minded. Former President Roosevelt had been a
thorn in Wilson’s side throughout the preparedness debate and the run-
up to American intervention, accusing him of timidity. When the
United States declared war and Wilson indicated plans to send troops
to Europe, Roosevelt off ered his services, hoping to raise a volunteer
division akin to his Rough Riders of 1898. Th e administration turned
him down on the pretext that it had decided against the volunteer
approach, but the action was clearly payback. (Roosevelt would get
even, savaging the administration in the following months for its
stumbles during the mobilization process.)
Although Wilson paid lip service to the idea that in war the nation
should rise above ordinary politics, he did not always practice what he
preached. Recall his rejection of the suggestion by Republicans and
some Democrats in the wake of the early mobilization failures to estab-
lish a bipartisan war cabinet. Wilson followed by embracing a partisan
approach during the 1918 campaign, in which he suggested that patriotic
citizens should choose Democratic candidates. Th is backfi red. Dem-
ocratic losses were about average for the party in the White House
during a mid-term election. But these were enough to cost the party its
majority in both chambers of Congress. Republicans claimed the elec-
torate had repudiated Wilson’s leadership. Because the winners typically
shape how an election will be interpreted, the Republican gloss on the
outcome would infl uence the kind of reception Wilson could expect to
receive on measures that required congressional approval. He would
face troubles especially in the Senate, where Henry Cabot Lodge, a
frequent critic, was the incoming majority leader.