| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This essay seeks to demonstrate the eschatological foundations of Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy during and after World War I through his neglected relationship with George D. Herron, a millennialist theologian and one of the leaders of the Kingdom Movement in American Protestant Christianity. After a brief synopsis of Herron's life and teachings, it provides a detailed exposition of his eschatological reading of the Great War and America's role in it: Herron portrayed the conflict as the final battle between Christ and Satan, Wilson as a divinely appointed messiah, and the League of Nations as the secular fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. Subsequent sections trace the relationship between Herron and Wilson through their correspondence and reveal that the president repeatedly endorsed Herron's interpretation as expressive of his own views. The conclusion reflects on some of the main implications of Wilson's relationship with Herron for the theory and practice of liberal internationalism then and now.
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