Woodrow Wilson:

America has had a legacy of great presidents, who have changed America for the better.
One that left his mark on the United States was Woodrow Wilson. He was known to all as a
political reformer. He was more concerned about human rights than about property rights. He
regarded himself as the personal representative of the people. Wilson felt that strong executive
leadership was necessary for progress. He felt that Americas role in not only WW1 but in the
world was as a peace broker. Throughout his presidency and career he fought to bring about
peace in America

Woodrow Willson was born Thomas Woodrow Wilson in Virginia in 1856. His
grandparents were immigrants to America from Ireland. His father, Joseph Ruggles Wilson, was
a Presbyterian minister. His mother, Janet Woodrow, was an immigrant from England. She
moved to the United States in 1836 with her family. He was homeschooled by his father until he
age of 13. At the age of 14 him and his family moved to Columbia, South Carolina. He began to
develop an interest in government law by reading books on the science of government. The
person he looked up to most at this time was William Gladstone, a conservative politician. He
went to college at Davidson College in North Carolina for 15 months before he transferred to
Princeton, then known as the College of New Jersey. In his senior year he dropped the name
Thomas and used the name Woodrow Wilson.

He received his law degree from the University of Virginia. He felt he was not made to be
a lawyer due to his struggles to start a practice. He then went to Johns Hopkins University for
two years where he studied history and political science. He earned his doctorate from the
university and is the only US president to have a PhD. At the age of 29 he started his career as
a educator. He taught at Bryn Mawr College for Women, Wesleyan University, and the College
of New Jersey. He then became the president of the College of New Jersey from 1902 - 1910.
While president he made it his mission to build a university that would produce leaders and
statesmen. He wanted to get rid of social clubs at Princeton but many students, parents and
alumni were against this. A group of teachers at the college were determined to place the
graduate college under a separate administration and far removed from the undergraduate
campus. Wilson lost this battle but it did attract wide publicity and led to his election as governor
of New Jersey in 1910.

New Jersey was run by a group of political bosses who thought they could use Wilson as
a respectable front. However, he did not go along with them and instead appealed directly to the
voters for support of his programs. In a little over a year he put through a public utility act,
control act, a corrupt political practices act, a womens compensation act and a direct primary
act. These reforms attracted national attention. In 1912 he won the Democratic partys
nomination for President of the United States. In a three way election he won the presidential
election. He received only 42 percent of the popular vote but the majority of the electoral vote.

During his first term as president he passed many pieces of legislation but there were
three major ones. The first was the Underwood Act, it lowered tariffs. The second was the
Federal Reserve Act which provided the nation with a more elastic money supply that it badly
needed. The third was the Federal Trade Commission, which prohibited unfair business
practices. These pieces of legislation helped grow the economy and still continue to impact
America today.
 During his 1st term and while running for his second term as President he called upon
the United States to be neutral during WWI. However, after he was elected for his second term
he realized America could no longer remain neutral. On April 2nd, 1917, he asked congress for
a declaration of war on Germany. Wilson said that this war was a war to end war. He spread
this message all across the world in an effort to bring about peace. On January 8th, 1918 he
announced what would be called the fourteen points to bring about a peace settlement. He felt
they were more then just peace terms but that they were terms for a better tomorrow. The war
ended on Nov. 11th, 1918. He went to Paris to attend the peace conference to fight for his
policies in person. The peace treaty was agreed upon in June of 1919. His greatest success
was in writing the Versailles Treaty the constitution of a League of Nations. He brought it to
senate but it failed by 7 votes. He tried to gain public support after this happened but was
unable to due to his declining health. He passed away on Feb. 3rd, 1924.

President Wilson brought about peace and change to America. His goal was to help the
American people in any way that he could. He helped women by passing the 19th amendment
which allowed women the right to vote. He created legislation that brought about revenue for the
American economy. He spread a message of peace in a time when America needed it most. He
even put his health on the line to fight for what he felt was right for the American people.He
dedicated his life to paving a way for a greater America.

Resources:

www.woodrowwilson.org

www. whitehouse.gov

www.biography.com

www.nobelprize.org

www.millercenter.org

www.wilsoncenter.org