This is the quote we're familiar with:
"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." -Woodrow Wilson, after signing the Federal Reserve into existence
Unfortunately, he
did not write all of this,
nor did he write it
after he signed the Federal Reserve act,
but rather before. Therefore, this quote isn't even referring to the Federal Reserve. To say this and then sign us on to the Fed makes him look worse in my book.
Here's the actual quote:
"We have restricted credit, we have restricted opportunity, we have controlled development, and
we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." -Woodrow Wilson,
The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous, page 201, 1913
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=xgwAAAAAYAAJ&dq=the+new+freedom+wilson&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=Sepk0spY55&sig=AwzGXGuJHjsYAMz-D1anIWZM25g&ei=PC6NSY3FAeH8tgfssb2oCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA201,M1He said this
before signing on to the Fed. So much for that. I'm not sure if he actually ever said the first few lines in the top quote. Maybe from another quote of his??