reign affairs had undergone a notable transformation from
that parochial spirit of 1914 which had led him to declare that the war
was no concern of America; he had given over completely the tradition
that if we keep our own hands clean we fulfill our duty. He had begun to
elaborate an idealistic policy of service to the world, not unreminiscent
of the altruistic schemes of Clay and Webster for assisting oppressed
republicans in Europe during the first third of the nineteenth century.
Wilson, like those statesmen, had always felt that the position of the
United States in the world was of a special sort, quite different from
that of the European states, and circumstances were forcing him to take
the stand that the nation must assume the lead in the world in order to
ensure the operation of the principles that Americans believe in. "We are
in some sort and by the force of circumstances the responsible spokesman
of the rights of humanity." He still opposed active intervention in the
war; the mission of the United States was a higher one than could
adequately be fulfilled through war; the kind of service we could best
give was not fighting. Yet he was brought to admit, even before the
_Sussex_ crisis (February 26, 1916), that in the last instance war might
be necessary if the American people were to assume the role of champion
of liberty in the world at large, as they had championed it in the
Americas; for the rights of humanity must be made secure against menace:
"America ought to keep out of this war ... at the expense of everything
except this single thing upon which her character and history are
founded, her sense of humanity and justice.... Valor withholds itself
from all small implications and entanglements and waits for the great
opportunity, when the sword will flash as if it carried the light of
heaven upon its blade." Thus the possibility of ultimate force was
implied. Eighteen months previous, peace had been for Wilson an end in
itself. Now it was subordinated to the greater end implied in maintaining
the principle of justice in the world.

During this period popular sentiment also underwent a notable
development. Americans reacted sharply to German threats and outrages,
and were thrown off their comfortable balance by the events which touched
American honor and safety so closely. Like Wilson, they were shaken out
of that sense of isolation which enveloped them in 1914, and they were
thus prepared for the reception