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Woodrow Wilson was born on 28 December
1856 to Joseph Ruggles Wilson, a Presbyterian minister in Staunton, Virginia.
As a child, he lived in Augusta, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina, and
the hard years of Reconstruction had a strong impression on him.
Wilson first attended Davidson College
in 1873 -74 and later transferred to Princeton University. He was an active
student, interested in debate, public speaking and athletics, and graduated
in the middle of his class. He entered the University of Virginia law school
but never completed his degree due to poor health. After an unsuccessful
law practice, Wilson entered The John Hopkins University and studied government
and history. He also wrote his influential book, Congressional Government,
which dealt with the legislative process and the relationship between the
presidency, congress and the committee system. In 1886 he received his
doctoral degree.
On June 24, 1885 Wilson married Ellen Louise
Axon with whom he had three daughters. He taught at Bryn Mawr College and
Wesleyan University, and in 1890 accepted a position at Princeton University.
In 1902 he was elected President of Princeton.
Wilson became involved in New Jersey politics
as a candidate for governor in 1910. After his successful election, Wilson
resigned from Princeton. He actually spent little time as governor, although
he still acquired a reputation as a reformer. This brought him national
recognition and led him to run for president.
There were several key factors in Wilson's
election, including that Wilson was a notable reformer known because of
his actions as governor of New Jersey such as the "primary election law"
and "Employers Liability Act." These efforts had caught the interest of
the national Democratic establishment. Wilson had also met Edward Mandell
House, a wealthy Texan, who was known as a behind-the-scenes operator.
While Wilson's charisma and effective speaking
skills helped build a constituency, another factor in Wilson's national
prominence was the fact that he ran as an outsider and as a progressive.
One of the key factors in Wilson's election was rivalry in the Republican
party between William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. This split the
republican vote and allowed Wilson to get a majority. On 5 November 1912 Wilson
became president.
Wilson continued his progressive politics
early in his presidency, enacting the Federal Reserve Act and establishing
the Federal Trade Commission. When the war broke out in 1914, Wilson sent
House, as his personal advisor, to Paris in order to seek out the possibility
of peace but to no avail.
In 1916 Wilson was reelected president.
After the sinking of the several American ships by the Germans, the United
States entered the war against Germany. This happened reluctantly on Wilson's
part because he had long sought peace.
As the war continued, Wilson promoted the
Fourteen Points, initially announced on 8 January 1918, as the conditions
for a future peace settlement. Through the work of House, the allies agreed
to accept the Points as the basis of the future peace treaty. The Points
were notable because specific territories were described. Most of the allies
were against any negotiations with the Germans, but Wilson remained willing
too. When the Germans sought peace in 1918, they first approached Wilson
and assumed that the Fourteen Points would be used during the peace conference
in Paris.
At the Versailles peace conference, Wilson
choose to represent America himself and went to Paris, but he soon learned
that he would not get what he wanted unless he compromised on many issues.
Sadly at the end of the conference he was unable to get the Senate to ratify
the final treaty. Declining health soon overtook Wilson, and a stroke left
him paralyzed. He died on 3 February 1924.
Read about Colonel House.
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