PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON - NAVAL APPOINTMENT SIGNED 06/02/1915 CO-SIGNED BY: JOSEPHUS DANIELS - HFSID 31215

WOODROW WILSON and JOSEPHUS DANIELS
President Woodrow Wilson and U. S. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels signed this document in 1915 to appoint a lieutenant in the U. S. Navy. This naval document was signed less than a month after the sinking of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat.
Naval appointment signed "Josephus Daniels" as Secretary of the Navy and "Woodrow Wilson". Also signed by registrar. 1 page, 15¾x18¾, with 2½-inch blue paper seal. June 2, 1915. Wilson and Daniels signed this document to appoint John E. Otterson a lieutenant and Naval Constructor in the U. S. Navy as of May 23, 1915. This naval document was signed less than a month after the sinking of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915. The attack, part of Germany's wartime policy of attacking Allied merchant ships, killed almost 1,200 people, including 128 Americans. Despite widespread American indignation over the attack, the U. S. remained neutral in World War I until 1917. However, the U. S. did cite submarine attacks as a justification for declaring war on Germany. Virginia-born WILSON (1856-1924) taught and wrote about American politics, beginning with Congressional Government (1885), before becoming President of Princeton University (1902-1910). Elected Governor of New Jersey (1911-1913), he broke with the conservatives who had promoted his candidacy and governed as a reformist and opponent of machine politics. In a 3-way contest for the Presidency in 1912, he won only 42 percent of the vote but was elected because President Taft, the Republican nominee, and former President Theodore Roosevelt, running under the banner of the Progressive Party, divided the remaining votes. During his first Presidential term, Wilson pursued a progressive domestic agenda, which included establishment of the Federal Reserve system, the Federal Trade Commission, and prohibitions of child labor. Narrowly re-elected in 1916 on the slogan "He kept us out of war", Wilson proved unable to avoid American involvement in World War I. Ultimately convinced that the U. S. could not remain neutral, Wilson sought to turn a traditional conflict among great powers into a crusade to "make the world safe for Democracy". Although his efforts to promote a new kind of international system embodying his "14 Points" and a League of Nations earned him the Nobel Peace Prize (1919), they were resisted by other foreign powers at the Versailles peace Conference, and the U. S. Congress rejected U. S. participation in the League. DANIELS (1862-1948) served as Wilson's Secretary of the Navy from 1913 to 1921, prior to which he was a successful newspaper owner and editor. As a partisan Democrat, he used his control of the Raleigh News & Observer to advance the party causes. He launched a "White Supremacy" campaign in North Carolina that led to Democrat victories in 1898 and 1900 and the disfranchisement of African Americans. In 1898, he was credited with inciting the Wilmington Race Riots; years later he was said to have regretted his stance. While Secretary of the Navy, he banned alcohol from U. S. Navy ships and ruled that no prostitution would be permitted within five miles of any naval base. He later served as Ambassador to Mexico (1933-1941) under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The cruiser USS Josephus Daniels was named for him, as are schools and buildings throughout North Carolina. Lightly toned, stained, soiled, creased and rippled. Ink stains touch Daniels' signature, which is legible. Adhesive residue at left edge and tape repairs on verso (no show-through). Light tears in top and right edges. Light discoloration along right edge. Otherwise in fine condition.