Bitter Rivals: Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge
             Political rivalries define American government. The dual-party system by nature sets up partisan rivalries between members of all three branches of our government – rivalries that have at times pushed our government to progress and at other times slowed it to a grinding halt. The contrasting backgrounds and resulting political ideologies of Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge created a modern rivalry that defined American foreign policy in the twentieth century.
             Woodrow Wilson's religious background and academic pursuits shaped his personality into one characterized by impatience. Born in Virginia in 1856, Wilson grew up around strict Calvinist doctrine in the Presbyterian church (Lafeber 269-270). This theology served as the foundation for all of Wilson's endeavors, as he believed he was "guided by God's will" (Lafeber 270). The future President's first career path was law, but Wilson's inability to excel in the field bred in him distaste for the profession. Wilson hastily abandoned any thoughts of being a lawyer and pursued an academic career in political science. His refusal to give his law profession time to prosper represents a larger trend in Wilson's behavior of acting rashly when faced with adversity. Despite this impatience, he quickly rose to a high level of respect as a political scientist while attending Princeton University (Lafeber 269). Wilson's faith in God, bred from his Calvinist upbringing, further fueled his impatient personality as he believed that God would eventually guide him in the right direction if he "made efforts to improve" (Lafeber 270). This impatience defined most of Wilson's political philosophies and foreign policies.
             Like Wilson, Henry Cabot Lodge's educational background shaped his views toward American foreign policy. His family instilled in Lodge conservat...