Woodrow Wilson Biography - 28th President of USA

The Twenty-eighth President of the United States of America Woodrow Wilson Biography. He was born on December 28, 1856, in Staunton, Virginia.

Woodrow Wilson Life

He was the third out of four children of Jessie Janet Woodrow and Reverend Dr. Joseph Ruggles Wilson. He was both Scottish and Scots-Irish.

Wilson's father was from Steubenville, Ohio, at the location where his grandfather published The Western Herald and Gazette, a pro-tariff and abolitionist newspaper.

In 1851, Wilson's parents moved to the South, where his father defended the practice of slavery, owned slaves, and set up a Sunday school for his slaves. They also cared for soldiers at their church.  The majority of Woodrow's childhood was spent in Augusta, Georgia since his father was the minister at the First Presbyterian Church there.

Woodrow Wilson Education

Woodrow did not learn how to read until he was ten years old, and he may have had dyslexia. As a teenager, he taught himself shorthand. Through self-discipline and determination, he was able to achieve academically. He continued schooling and in 1883 earned his Ph.D. in political science and history.

Woodrow Wilson was in bad health in his childhood, but much of it may have been an overreaction by his mother. He did suffer from hypertension and he had his first stroke when he was 39.

Woodrow Wilson Marriage

Wilson married Ellen Louise Axson in 1885, who was the daughter of a minister. Together they had three daughters: Margaret Woodrow Wilson, Jessie Wilson, and Eleanor R. Wilson. His first wife died in 1914. He married Edith Galt in 1915.

He was a direct descendent of Pocahontas, the famous Native American. Also, he was the President of Princeton University from 1902 until 1910. Additionally, he was also the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 until 1913.

President Woodrow Wilson

He was elected as a Democrat to the Presidency in 1912. During his first term as president, he managed to get Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Farm Loan Act, and the Revenue Act of 1913. In many federal agencies, Wilson allowed segregation, which ultimately resulted in the firing of black workers.

Woodrow Wilson Achievements

For his second term, he was barely re-elected. His second term was centered on the first World War. He asked Congress to declare war in April of 1917 and started the first draft since the Civil War. However, he was able to raise funds through Liberty Bonds. Also, he set up the War Industries Board. And he used the Lever Act to supervise food production and agriculture.

Woodrow Wilson also promoted the growth of labor unions, took control of the railroads, and enacted federal drug prohibition. In addition, he suppressed anti-war movements. Under his presidency, the National woman's suffrage began.

Near the end of the war, Wilson began to take control of the negotiations occurring with Germany, which included the armistice. During this time, he issued the Fourteen Points, which demonstrated in his mind how a post-war world could avoid conflict such as this one.

To sum up, he visited Paris in 1919 in order to create the League of Nations and for the Treaty of Versailles. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, primarily for his efforts to form the League of Nations.

Wilson had a stroke in 1919. It left him with permanent paralysis of the left portion of his body. He was in his bed for weeks. He remained physically disabled for the remainder of his term in office. Woodrow Wilson died on February 3, 1924.

President Woodrow Wilson Facts

NICKNAME
Professor

BIRTH
December 28, 1856, in Staunton, Virginia

MOTHER
Janet (Jessie) Woodrow Wilson

FATHER
Joseph Ruggles Wilson

BROTHER
Joseph

MARRIAGE
First Wife: Ellen Louise Axson June 24, 1885, in Savannah, Georgia
Second Wife: Edith Bolling Galt December 18, 1915, in Washington D.C.

CHILDREN
Margaret Woodrow, Jessie Woodrow, and Eleanor Randolph

EDUCATION
College of New Jersey (Princeton), 1879

RELIGION
Presbyterian

PRE-PRESIDENCY PROFESSION
Lawyer, professor, and college president

MILITARY SERVICE
None

POLITICAL LIFE
Governor of New Jersey (1911-1913)

POLITICAL PARTY
Democrat

INAUGURATION
March 4, 1913, at the age of 56
Woodrow Wilson - First and Second Term Inaugural Address

Woodrow Wilson Administration

PRESIDENCY
Two terms (March 4, 1913-March 4, 1921)

VICE PRESIDENT
Thomas R. Marshall (1913-1921)

FIRST LADY
Ellen Wilson (Died August 6, 1914)
Facts about Ellen Wilson
Biography of Ellen Wilson

Edith Wilson (December 15, 1915 - March 4, 1921)
Facts about Edith Wilson
Biography of Edith Wilson

SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS
James C. McReynolds (1914)
Louis D. Brandeis (1916)
John H. Clarke (1916)

AMENDMENTS ENACTED
17th Amendment
18th Amendment
19th Amendment

Woodrow Wilson Cabinet

SECRETARY OF STATE
William Jennings Bryan (1913-1915)
Robert Lansing (1915-1920)
Bainbridge Colby (1920-1921)

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
William G. McAdoo (1913-1918)
Carter Glass (1918-1920)
David F. Houston (1920-1921)

SECRETARY OF WAR
Lindley M. Garrison (1913-1916)
Newton D. Baker (1916-1921)

ATTORNEY GENERAL
James C. McReynolds (1913-1914)
Thomas W. Gregory (1914-1919)
A. Mitchell Palmer (1919-1921)

POSTMASTER GENERAL
Albert S. Burleson (1913-1921)

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Josephus Daniels (1913-1921)

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Franklin K. Lane (1913-1920)
John B. Payne (1920-1921)

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
David F. Houston (1913-1920)
Edwin T. Meredith (1920-1921)

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
William C. Redfield (1913-1919)
Joshua W. Alexander (1919-1921)

SECRETARY OF LABOR
William B. Wilson (1913-1921)

POST PRESIDENCY LIFE

No profession, Ill

DEATH
February 3, 1924, in Washington D.C. at the age of 67

BURIAL PLACE
National Cathedral, Washington D.C

LANDMARKS
Staunton, Va. (birthplace)
Columbia, S.C. (boyhood home)
Woodrow Wilson House Museum and Washington National Cathedral (grave), D.C.