For Sale: HK-882 1917 Thomas Elder World War I – A Little Group of Willful Men SCD

TOP POP and only three have been certified by NGC. On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. Congress did not vote to declare war. Coin dealer Thomas Elder, who was very patriotic, struck this satirical medal listing congressmen who voted against the war declaration. The obverse paraphrases a quote by President Woodrow Wilson when he was upset because congress did not support his war request which states “A Little group of willful men have rendered the government of the United States helpless and contemptable.

In early 1917, American sentiment was increasingly in favor of entering the war in Europe. A bill which would arm American merchant ships was making its way through Congress; the law would give the ships the power to defend themselves against German submarine attacks. The bill easily passed the House, but when it reached the Senate it was blocked by a small group opposed to the war.

The group was led by Senator Robert La Follette, of Wisconsin, and by Senator George Norris, of Nebraska. On March 4, 1917, those senators organized a filibuster so that the bill could not come up for a vote. That’s when President Wilson spoke up. Angered, the president said that the “Senate of the United States is the only legislative body in the world which cannot act when its majority is ready for action. A little group of willful men, representing no opinion but their own, have rendered the great government of the United States helpless and contemptible.”