Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States between 1913 and 1921.[1] He was born in Virginia and grew up in Georgia.[1][2] In 1917, after the U.S. had been neutral, it got involved with the First World War. Because of Wilson, the League of Nations was founded.[3] Therefore, he received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1919.[2] Between 1890 and 1902, Wilson worked as professor for law at Princeton University.[4][5]
Woodrow Wilson | |||||||||
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 Portrait by Harris & Ewing, 1919 | |||||||||
| 28th President of the United States | |||||||||
| In office March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921 | |||||||||
| Vice President | Thomas R. Marshall | ||||||||
| Preceded by | William Howard Taft | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Warren G. Harding | ||||||||
| 34th Governor of New Jersey | |||||||||
| In office January 17, 1911 – March 1, 1913 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | John Franklin Fort | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | James Fairman Fielder | ||||||||
| 13th President of Princeton University | |||||||||
| In office October 25, 1902 – October 21, 1910 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Francis Patton | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Grier Hibben | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | Thomas Woodrow Wilson December 28, 1856 Staunton, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | February 3, 1924 (aged 67) Washington, D.C., U.S. | ||||||||
| Resting place | Washington National Cathedral | ||||||||
| Political party | Democratic | ||||||||
| Spouse(s) | |||||||||
| Children | |||||||||
| Father | Joseph Ruggles Wilson | ||||||||
| Education | |||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Awards | Nobel Peace Prize (1919) | ||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||
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He was one of the initiators of the League of Nations, the creation of which he strongly supported.[6] He died of a stroke in Washington DC at age 67
Life
Woodrow Wilson, son of Joseph Ruggles Wilson and Janet "Jessie" Woodrow Wilson, was born in Staunton, Virginia, United States. Wilson's father was a Presbyterian minister. Wilson had one brother and two sisters.[7] He studied from 1875 to 1879 at the University of Princeton in New Jersey. Between 1879 and 1883, Wilson studied law at the University of Virginia.[5] In 1885, he did a doctorate at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. His dissertation was about the "Congressional Government". In the same year, Wilson was married to Ellen Louise Axson.[5]
Wilson started to teach political science at Princeton University in 1886.[1][8] He became the director of Princeton University in 1902. Wilson kept in this position until 1910. Wilson's goal was to change the pedagogical system, the social system and the style of the campus.[2]
Political career
He was elected to be the Governor of New Jersey for the Democratic Party in 1911.[4] On November 4, 1912, Wilson was elected the 28th President of the United States.[5] He won with 42% against the incumbent president William Howard Taft. His time being president started in March 1913.
Wilson mostly handled domestic matters during his first term. He passed laws to prevent monopolies from forming, started a few business regulations, passed laws protecting workers, and created the Federal Reserve. During his second term, he also helped women gain the right to vote.[source?]
In 1914, his wife Ellen died of Bright's Disease.[9] His doctor, Cary Grayson, introduced him to a girl named Edith Galt, whose husband was also dead. After two months they fell in love and got married. For a long time he focused on her instead of his job as president. But soon, he got back to work.
In 1917, Wilson entered the country in World War One. America was previously neutral, but German submarines kept sinking American ships sailing in British waters and even tried to encourage Mexico to invade the United States, which was the final straw for Wilson. World War One was a war between the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire) and the Allied Powers (England, France, and Italy). America was on the Allies' side. The Allies won the war a year later.
Wilson took a ship to Europe to talk with the leaders of the other Allies about what to do with Germany. They came up with the Treaty of Versailles. A part of the Treaty of Versailles said that there will be a group of countries called the League of Nations. A lot of people in America did not like the League of Nations because they thought that it was none of America's business to mess with other countries' problems.
Wilson's political enemy, Senator Henry Lodge from Massachusetts, made a different version of the Treaty of Versailles. Even though Wilson was very sick, he traveled around the country asking people to like the Treaty and the League. Wilson ended up having a stroke. It was the first time he had one. It was very bad and Wilson was not able to run the country as best he could. His thinking also was not great because of the stroke. But, he stayed President and told Congress not to vote for Henry Lodge's new treaty. Congress listened but also said no to Wilson's treaty.
Wilson received criticism for many of his decisions. Theodore Roosevelt criticized him for entering the war too late.
Wilson nationalized private industries such as the telegraph, telephone, railroad, and prices rose exponentially. As prices began to rise, a recession set in and racial riots began leading to 150 deaths. His inability to subside racial struggles and the creation of the federal reserve make him one of the most consequential presidents of all time.
Woodrow Wilson Media
Wilson, c. mid-1870s
In September 1883, Wilson proposed to his future wife, Ellen Axson Wilson, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister in Savannah, Georgia
Woodrow Wilson, as President of Princeton University
As president of Princeton University, Wilson lived in Prospect House on the university campus.
Wilson as New Jersey governor in 1911
The 1912 presidential electoral college map
Wilson and his cabinet in 1918
Wilson giving his first State of the Union address in 1913 before a joint session of Congress, which initiated the modern practice of the State of the Union being given in person before all members of Congress
Map of Federal Reserve Districts with Federal Reserve banks (in black circles), District branches (in black squares), and the Federal Reserve's national headquarters in red
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The biography of Thomas Woodrow Wilson by The White House". The US government. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Biography of Thomas Woodrow Wilson – the Nobel Prize winner". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ↑ "Woodrow Wilson (compiled with his approval by Hamilton Foley): Woodrow Wilson's Case for the League of Nations, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1923". Time.com. Archived from the original on 2011-04-06. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Woodrow Wilson's biography". spartacus schoolnet. Archived from the original on 2011-11-28. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "A biography of Woodrow Wilson". dhm. Archived from the original on 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- ↑ "The American history – Woodrow Wilson". The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ↑ "Wilson's biography at americanhistory.com". Archived from the original on 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- ↑ "Wilson's biography". Advameg Inc. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
- ↑ "Ellen Axson Wilson by The White House". The US government. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
Other websites
Quotations related to Woodrow Wilson at Wikiquote
Media related to Woodrow Wilson at Wikimedia Commons