The New Freedom

The New Freedom policy of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson promoted antitrust modification, tariff revision, and reform in banking and currency matters.

This policy stood in direct opposition to former President Theodore Roosevelt's ideas of New Nationalism, particularly on the issue of antitrust modification. According to Wilson, "If America is not to have free enterprise, she can have freedom of no sort whatever." In presenting his policy, Wilson warned that New Nationalism represented collectivism, while New Freedom stood for political and economic liberty from such things as trusts (powerful monopolies). Although he and Roosevelt agreed that economic power was being abused by the American government, Wilson's ideas split with Roosevelt on how the government should handle the restraint of private power, as in through dismantling corporations that had too much economic power in a large society.

Once elected Wilson seemed to abandon his "New Freedom" and adopted policies that were more similar to those of Roosevelt's New Nationalism, such as the Federal Reserve System. Unlike William Howard Taft and Roosevelt, Wilson was not aggressive in trying to break up trusts. Instead he favored the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Trade Commission, which set the boundaries for good behavior, and prosecuted companies that crossed the line.