Thomas Woodrow Wilson - Years in the Making

[CROWN COUNCIL]

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in 1856 as a third child with two older sisters. Unlike some of the other potential Presidents of the United States, he didn’t accidently drift into the president’s pattern. He did have some beliefs that he thought would benefit other people. He wanted enough power and position to enable him to present his beliefs to a broad audience in a convincing way.

He didn’t attend pubic schools but was tutored by his father who identified Tommy as a slow learner when he could not read easily until he was 11 years old. When he did attend a private school at age 16, he lacked the social skills he might have developed had he attended public schools. By the time he entered Princeton, he was well adjusted, quite popular and became editor of the school paper. While in school, he developed an interest in politics and realized to feed that interest he would need a law degree. He enrolled in the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was able to pass the bar test before he graduated from law school and so dropped out of school and began to practice law.

It was apparent that he had developed some superior writing skills when his doctor’s thesis on congressional government was published as a book. Along the way, he dropped his first name having decided that Woodrow was much more dignified. and suitable for a young man than Tom or Thomas. In the years that followed, he practiced law, filled some teaching assignments and wrote articles for the local papers. When he received an appointment as a professor at Princeton, he was delighted and became a very popular teacher. His successes in teaching and administration led to his eventually being appointed president of Princeton. His improvements in the teaching system were many and recognized as significant.

When Woodrow Wilson was recognized as an accomplished organizer and with progressive ideas for government, he was asked to be a candidate for governor of New Jersey. Remembering his interest in politics, he accepted and was elected in 1911. Again his capable leadership and significant reforms made him very popular.

A year later he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States. With an interesting situation that put three candidates on the ballot, the two candidates with Republican-type leanings split the Republican vote and Wilson was elected with less than majority vote, but with more votes than either of his opponents. He resigned his office as Governor of New Jersey when he assumed the Presidency.

Again Woodrow Wilson’s leadership was dynamic and filled with remarkable reforms. He organized the Federal Reserve System, lowered tariffs to promote world trade, and gave the general public more participation in selecting and electing leaders among other things.

When Woodrow Wilson was two years into his first term as president, the war in Europe was raging. President Wilson was working to keep the United States in a position of neutrality. With this position for his country and general popularity as president, Wilson easily won reelection in 1916. By mid-1917 German submarines began to attack American ships traveling between the United States and England, and it was obvious that the United States had to enter the war against Germany. It was then not long before Germany surrendered. Wilson then led the world in purposing the League of Nations hopefully to end war for all time with a mechanism to settle conflicts in a peaceful way. From that design came the United Nations of which the United States became a member. Among other things, Wilson successfully led a successful crusade to give women the right to vote.

From his untiring dedication to his responsibilities as President and workaholic nature, Woodrow Wilson became ill and he passed away in February 1924. He was called a “great leader “ for many reasons but chiefly because he understood the dreams of plain people and worked continuously to provide them.

Gregory B. Anderson–director

[Neal Smith]

Another interesting note on Wilson as a Progressive - he re-segregated the U.S. Military.  All races were included among the troops before Wilson was elected but Wilson segregated them into black and white units during his presidency.