Woodrow Wilson

Quotes falsely attributed to Woodrow Wilson

Claim: Woodrow Wilson was quoted expressing strong regrets about the signing the Federal Reserve into law

I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.

False

This alleged quote was derived from portions of the book The New Freedom published in 1913. This book was a compilation of speeches from 1911 and did not refer to the Federal Reserve.

John M. Cooper, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, and the author of several books on Woodrow Wilson, writes:

"I can tell you categorically that this is not a statement of regret for having created the Federal Reserve. Wilson never had any regrets for having done that. It was an accomplishment in which he took great pride." [2] [1]

References

Wikipedia

Liberty Tree

www.salon.com article

New Freedom

"New Freedom" in HTML (Gutenberg project)

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