April 6, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the day President Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany, officially putting America into World War I.
While decision was made easily for the government, it wasn't for the 28th president.
Four days prior to the 6th, Wilson had to address a joint session of Congress asking to enter the war.
The House voted 373 to 50 in favor and the Senate's vote was 82 to six.
Wilson was painted as a man of peace and even won his 1916 re-election on a peace platform, so he was reluctant to enter the war at first.
His slogan for the campaign even backed up his stance:
“He Kept Us Out of War”
However, he realized that it was necessary in order to "make the world safe for democracy."
The war also set the tone for decades to come when it came to our military.
The United States had an army of only about 200,000 soldiers but had to bump it up to 2 million troops overseas.
During this time Congress also passed the Espionage Act and Sedition Act which made it illegal to write about or criticize the United State's war efforts.