Editing Woodrow Wilson (section)

==== Home front ====
{{main|United States home front during World War I}}
[[File:FoodWillWinTheGreatWarNOLA.jpg|thumb|A banner reading, "Food will win the war—don't waste it", in front of city hall in [[New Orleans]] in October 1918]]
[[File:Women workers in ordnance shops, Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company, Nicetown, Pennsylvania. Hand chipping with pneumati - NARA - 530774.jpg|thumb|Women workers in an ordnance shop in [[Pennsylvania]], in 1918]]
With the American entrance into World War I in April 1917, Wilson became a war-time president. The [[War Industries Board]], headed by [[Bernard Baruch]], was established to set U.S. war manufacturing policies and goals. Future President [[Herbert Hoover]] led the [[United States Food Administration|Food Administration]]; the [[Federal Fuel Administration]], run by [[Harry Augustus Garfield]], introduced [[daylight saving time]] and rationed fuel supplies; William McAdoo was in charge of war bond efforts; [[Vance C. McCormick]] headed the War Trade Board. These men, known collectively as the "war cabinet", met weekly with Wilson.<ref>Heckscher (1991), p. 469.</ref> Because he was heavily focused on foreign policy during World War I, Wilson delegated a large degree of authority over the home front to his subordinates.<ref>Cooper (1990), pp. 296–297</ref> In the midst of the war, the federal budget soared from $1&nbsp;billion in [[fiscal year]] 1916 to $19&nbsp;billion in fiscal year 1919.<ref name="clements156157"/> In addition to spending on its own military build-up, Wall Street in 1914–1916 and the Treasury in 1917–1918 provided large loans to the Allied countries, thus financing the war effort of Britain and France.<ref>Cooper (1990), pp. 276, 319</ref>

Seeking to avoid the high levels of inflation that had accompanied the heavy borrowing of the [[American Civil War]], the Wilson administration raised taxes during the war.<ref>Weisman (2002), pp. 320</ref> The [[War Revenue Act of 1917]] and the [[Revenue Act of 1918]] raised the top tax rate to 77 percent, greatly increased the number of Americans paying the income tax, and levied an [[excess profits tax]] on businesses and individuals.<ref>Weisman (2002), pp. 325–329, 345</ref> Despite these tax acts, the United States was forced to borrow heavily to finance the war effort. Treasury Secretary McAdoo authorized the issuing of low-interest war bonds and, to attract investors, made interest on the bonds tax-free. The bonds proved so popular among investors that many borrowed money in order to buy more bonds. The purchase of bonds, along with other war-time pressures, resulted in rising inflation, though this inflation was partly matched by rising wages and profits.<ref name="clements156157">Clements (1992), pp. 156–157</ref>

To shape public opinion, Wilson in 1917 established the first modern propaganda office, the [[Committee on Public Information]] (CPI), headed by [[George Creel]].<ref>Berg (2013), pp. 449–450</ref> Wilson called on voters in [[1918 United States elections|the 1918 off-year elections]] to elect Democrats as an endorsement of his policies. However the Republicans won over alienated [[German-Americans]] and took control.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Livermore |first=Seward W. |date=1948 |title=The Sectional Issue in the 1918 Congressional Elections |journal=The Mississippi Valley Historical Review |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=29–60 |doi=10.2307/1895138 |jstor=1895138}}</ref> Wilson refused to coordinate or compromise with the new leaders of House and Senate—Senator [[Henry Cabot Lodge]] became his nemesis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parsons |first=Edward B. |date=1989 |title=Some International Implications of the 1918 Roosevelt-Lodge Campaign Against Wilson and a Democratic Congress |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=141–157 |jstor=40574571}}</ref> In November 1919, Wilson's attorney general, [[A. Mitchell Palmer]], began to target anarchists, [[Industrial Workers of the World]] members, and other antiwar groups in what became known as the [[Palmer Raids]]. Thousands were arrested for incitement to violence, espionage, or sedition. Wilson by that point was incapacitated and was not told what was happening.<ref name="cooper201209">Cooper (2008), pp. 201, 209</ref>