Ultimately, Wilson was able to convince Senate Democrats to vote to confirm Brandeis who served on the court until 1939. In contrast to McReynolds, Brandeis became one of the court's leading progressive voices.[148] When a second vacancy arose in 1916, Wilson appointed progressive lawyer John Hessin Clarke. Clarke was confirmed by the Senate and served on the Court until retiring in 1922.[149]

First-term foreign policy
Main article: Foreign policy of the Woodrow Wilson administration
Latin America
See also: United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution and Banana Wars
Uncle Sam entering Mexico in 1916 to punish Pancho Villa. Uncle Sam says "I've had about enough of this."Wilson sought to move away from the foreign policy of his predecessors, which he viewed as imperialistic, and he rejected Taft's Dollar Diplomacy.[150] Nonetheless, he frequently intervened in Latin American affairs, saying in 1913: "I am going to teach the South American republics to elect good men."[151] The 1914 Bryan–Chamorro Treaty converted Nicaragua into a de facto protectorate, and the U.S. stationed soldiers there throughout Wilson's presidency. 