Wilson believed that fundamental flaws in international relations created an unhealthy climate that led inexorably to the World War. His 14 points outlined his vision for a safer world. Wilson called for an end to secret diplomacy, a reduction of armaments, and freedom of the seas. He claimed that reductions to trade barriers, fair adjustment of colonies, and respect for national self-determination would reduce economic and nationalist sentiments that lead to war.
John D. Rockefeller went into business when he was 20, and he picked up his first oil well as a sideline. He soon saw that that was the right horse to ride. Even before automobiles and airplanes laid their heavy claim on oil, it'd begun replacing coal in the power industries.
Andrew Carnegie makes the better hero. He, after all, was part and parcel of the emerging technologies that made our country. And his giving sprang from some deep-seated core of principle. Yet the Rockefeller clan assumed the mantle of public service. They've become political leaders and professional givers -- one died doing anthropological research in New Guinea.
