Woodrow+Wilson

=WOODROW WILSON Author: Wendy B.=

In 1913 the United States elected their twenty eighth president: Woodrow Wilson. He was known for his ideas for reforming education. His main goal was to keep the United States from World War One. He had a wife and children. Wilson wasn’t the best president but he did try to be one.

Biographical Information ~ President Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856 in his hometown of Staunton, Virginia. Soon after being born he moved to Augusta, Georgia. He died on February 3, 1924. (Cooper, John Milton, 2009) Wilson‘s father who was name Joseph Ruggles Wilson was a Presbyterian Minister. His mother was Janet Woodrow Wilson but went by Jessie. He had two sisters and one brother. Wilson married twice, his first wife was Ellen Louise Axson and she was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Sadly, Ellen passed away in the White House on August 6, 1914. During his Presidency he remarried to a woman named Edith Bolling Galt. They married a little more than a year after the death of his first wife. In Woodrow Wilson’s first marriage, he had three daughters who were Margaret Woodrow Wilson, Jessie Woodrow Wilson, and Eleanor Randolph Wilson. As a child Woodrow Wilson’s hobbies were playing golf, riding, swimming and most of all he loved walking.(Hamilton Lee H., 2010)

Education ~ Wilson got his education by being taught at home and in private schools. He went to several colleges to finally graduate. The first college he went to was Davidson College in 1873, not too long after signing up he dropped out for health issues. The following year, he joined the College of New Jersey, which is now Princeton, where he pursued his interest in English literature and politics. He studied the classic orators and the techniques of public speech and was a leader among the school debaters. Woodrow Wilson wrote an essay which was “Cabinet Government in the United States” in August of 1879 which was his senior year at college. The essay showed his gift for presentingideas and giving them simple meaning. Wilson studied law and finally graduated in 1879. However, three years after graduation, he was admitted to the bar. He soon realized that he wanted to be an eduator, so he decided to go back to school at Johns Hopkins University where he earned a Ph.D. in Political Science. (”Woodrow Wilson”, 2010)

Significant Contributions in Office ~ Woodrow Wilson became the twenty eighth president in 1913. During his first term as president Wilson went through many major pieces of legislation. The two acts Wilson pushed through was the Federal Reserve Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. The Federal Reserve Act was when was they created central banks. The Federal Trade Commission is when the United States try to keep fair trade within all the states. He tried to keep the United States out of World War One. Wilson won the 1919 Nobel Prize for Peace.(Brands, 2010)

Interesting Facts about the President ~ Woodrow Wilson had many famous quotes and one important one was, “I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.“ The meaning of that quote is that he not only uses his own thoughts, ideas, and intelligence but he rely’s on others’ opinions, thoughts and ideas also. (”Woodrow Wilson Quotes”, 2010) One myth about Woodrow Wilson was his twin brother, Pete, acted as president during Wilson’s first and second term. There are many interesting fun facts about Woodrow Wilson. To begin with, his second wife was a great-grand daughter of Pocahontas. As a child Wilson suffered from dyslexia which made him a slow learner in school.