Over the years, peace has been achieved in different ways, but how it is achieved has been the subject of endless debate. Woodrow Wilson and Vladimir Lenin were two very different individuals who grew up in two different countries. Lenin was born and raised in Russia and Wilson was born and raised in the United States. They each had their own ideas about how to achieve peace, but they were similar in one way: they were both important revolutionaries of the 20th century. Wilson's vision for the post-war world was direct and accommodating towards the whole world and was more appropriate in contrast to Lenin's vision; Lenin believed that peace was achieved by first making war, a belief that I believe is more realistic. Wilson believed that peace could be achieved through diplomacy, and this is demonstrated in his speech to a joint session of Congress on the terms of peace. Wilson states: “What we demand in this war… is that the world be made healthy and safe to live in; especially that it be made safe for all peace-loving nations. Wilson believed that the fourteen points he addressed in this joint session of Congress would lead the world to a happier, more secure world, a world at peace. He first emphasizes that all “peace alliances” (Wilson) should take place in front of everyone. Second, he emphasizes that there should be “absolute freedom of navigation on the seas” (Wilson) in times of war or peace. For his third point, he states that this should be a reduction in trade barriers and an "establishment of an equality of commercial conditions among all nations consenting to peace" (Wilson). For his fourth point, he believes there should be a reduction in the amount of "national armaments... middle of paper... I ultimately led Wilson to involve America in the war, yet he did not still not encouraged as a means of achieving peace. He addressed a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918, about his fourteen points that would lead the world to peace, and on November 11, 1918, World War I ended. Works Cited “War and Revolution in the Twentieth Century”. In Lives and Legacies: Biographies in Western Civilization, Volume Two, ed. Jonathan S. Perry, 97-109. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2009. Wilson, Woodrow. “Address to a Joint Session of Congress on the Conditions of Peace,” January 8, 1918. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database). Available on the World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=65405.