Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States. The early life of Woodrow Wilson covers the time period from his birth in late 1856 through his entry into electoral politics in 1910. Wilson spent his early years in the American South, mainly in Augusta, Georgia, during the Civil War and Reconstruction. After earning a Ph.D. in political science from Johns Hopkins University, Wilson taught at various schools before becoming the president of Princeton University. Wilson later went onto become governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913, a major progressive reformer and then finally, President of the United States from 1913 to 1921.
Early life
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born to a family of Scots-Irish and Scottish descent, in Staunton, Virginia.Heckscher (1991), p. 4 He was the third of four children and the first son of Joseph Ruggles Wilson (1822–1903) and Jessie Janet Woodrow (1826–1888). Wilson's paternal grandparents had immigrated to the United States from Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland in 1807, settling in Steubenville, Ohio. His grandfather James Wilson published a pro-tariff and anti-slavery newspaper, The Western Herald and Gazette.Walworth (1958, vol. 1), p. 4 Wilson's maternal grandfather, Reverend Thomas Woodrow, migrated from Paisley, Scotland to Carlisle, England, before moving to Chillicothe, Ohio in the late 1830s.Berg (2013), pp. 27–28 Joseph met Jessie while she was attending a girl's academy in Steubenville, and the two married on June 7, 1849. Soon after the wedding, Joseph was ordained as a Presbyterian pastor and assigned to serve in Staunton.Berg (2013), pp. 28–29 Thomas was born in The Manse, a house of the Staunton First Presbyterian Church where Joseph served. Wilson's parents gave him the nickname "Tommy", which he used through his undergraduate college years.Testimony of classmate E.P. Davis in Josephus Daniels, The Life of Woodrow Wilson, 1856–1924. Chicago: John C. Winston Co., 1924; p. 50. Before he was two, the family moved to Augusta, Georgia. Wilson grew up in a home where slave labor was utilized.Cooper (2008), p. 95
Wilson's earliest memory was of playing in his yard and standing near the front gate of the Augusta parsonage at the age of three, when he heard a passerby announce in disgust that Abraham Lincoln had been elected and that a war was coming.Auchinloss (2000), ch. 1 By 1861, both of Wilson's parents had come to fully identify with the Southern United States and they supported the Confederacy during the American Civil War.Cooper (2009), p. 17 Wilson's father was one of the founders of the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) after it split from the Northern Presbyterians in 1861. He became minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, and the family lived there until 1870.White (1925), ch. 2
After the end of the Civil War, Wilson began attending a nearby school, where classmates included future Supreme Court Justice Joseph Rucker Lamar and future ambassador to Switzerland Pleasant A. Stovall.Berg (2013), pp. 38–39 Though Wilson's parents placed a high value on education, he struggled with reading and writing until the age of thirteen, possibly because of developmental dyslexia.O'Toole (2018), pp. 1–2 From 1870 to 1874, Wilson lived in Columbia, South Carolina, where his father was a theology professor at the Columbia Theological Seminary.Walworth (1958, vol. 1), ch. 4 In 1873, Wilson became a communicant member of the Columbia First Presbyterian Church; he remained a member throughout his life.Heckscher (1991), p. 23.
Wilson attended Davidson College in North Carolina for the 1873–74 school year, but transferred as a freshman to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).Berg (2013), pp. 45–49 He studied political philosophy and history, joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, was active in the Whig literary and debating society, and organized the Liberal Debating Society.Berg (2013), pp. 58–60, 64, 78 He was also elected secretary of the school's football association, president of the school's baseball association, and managing editor of the student newspaper.Berg (2013), pp. 64–66 In the hotly contested presidential election of 1876, Wilson declared his support for the Democratic Party and its nominee, Samuel J. Tilden.Heckscher (1991), p. 35. Influenced by the work of Walter Bagehot, as well as the declining power of the presidency in the aftermath of the Civil War, Wilson developed a plan to reform American government along the lines of the British parliamentary system. Political scientist George W. Ruiz writes that Wilson's "admiration for the parliamentary style of government, and the desire to adapt some of its features to the American system, remained an enduring element of Woodrow Wilson's political thought."Ruiz (1989), p. 166 Wilson's essay on governmental reform was published in the International Review after winning the approval of editor Henry Cabot Lodge.Berg (2013), pp. 70–72
After graduating from Princeton in 1879,Berg (2013), pp. 72–73 Wilson attended the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was involved in the Virginia Glee Club and served as president of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society.Heckscher (1991), p. 53. After poor health forced his withdrawal from the University of Virginia, Wilson continued to study law on his own while living with his parents in Wilmington, North Carolina.Berg (2013), pp. 82–83
Wilson was admitted to the Georgia bar and made a brief attempt at establishing a legal practice in Atlanta in 1882.Berg (2013), pp. 84–86 Though he found legal history and substantive jurisprudence interesting, he abhorred the day-to-day procedural aspects. After less than a year, he abandoned his legal practice to pursue the study of political science and history.Heckscher (1991), pp. 58–59.
Personal life
In 1883, Wilson met and fell in love with Ellen Louise Axson, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister from Savannah, Georgia.Heckscher (1991), pp. 62–65. He proposed marriage in September 1883; she accepted, but they agreed to postpone marriage while Wilson attended graduate school.Berg (2013), pp. 89–92 Wilson's marriage to Ellen was complicated by traumatic developments in her family; in late 1883, Ellen's father Edward, suffering from depression, was admitted to the Georgia State Mental Hospital where, in 1884, he committed suicide. After recovering from the initial shock, Ellen gained admission to the Art Students League of New York. After graduation, she pursued portrait art and received a medal for one of her works from the Paris International Exposition. She happily agreed to sacrifice further independent artistic pursuits in order to keep her marriage commitment, and in 1885 she and Wilson married.Heckscher (1991), pp. 71–73. She strongly supported his career and learned German so that she could help translate works of political science that were relevant to Wilson's research.Berg (2013), p. 107
Their first child, Margaret, was born in April 1886, and their second child, Jessie, was born in August 1887.Heckscher (1991), p. 85. Their third and final child, Eleanor, was born in October 1889.Berg (2013), p. 112 Wilson and his family lived in a seven bedroom Tudor Revival house near Princeton, New Jersey from 1896 to 1902, when they moved to Prospect House on Princeton's campus.Berg (2013), pp. 123–124, 137 In 1913, Jessie married Francis Bowes Sayre Sr., who later served as High Commissioner to the Philippines.Berg (2013), p. 317 In 1914, Eleanor married William Gibbs McAdoo, who served as the Secretary of the Treasury under Wilson and later represented California in the United States Senate.Berg (2013), p. 328
When Wilson began vacationing in Bermuda in 1906, he met a socialite, Mary Hulbert Peck. Their visits together became a regular occurrence on his return. Wilson in his letters home to Ellen openly related these gatherings as well his other social events. According to biographer August Heckscher, Wilson's friendship with Peck became the topic of frank discussion between Wilson and his wife. Wilson historians have not conclusively established there was an affair; but Wilson did on one occasion write a musing in shorthand—on the reverse side of a draft for an editorial: "my precious one, my beloved Mary."Heckscher (1991), p. 174. Wilson also sent very personal letters to her which would later be used against him by his adversaries.Cooper (2009) pp. 99–101.
Ellen died from Bright's disease in August 1914, the second year of Wilson's presidency. National First Lady Library. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
Following the death of his first wife, Wilson met and began a courtship with Edith Bolling Galt; the two married in a quiet ceremony at the White House in December 1915.
Academic career Professor In late 1883, Wilson entered Johns Hopkins University, a new graduate institution in Baltimore built on the Humboldtian model of higher education, the education model of many German universities, that was dedicated to research.Mulder (1978), pp. 71–72 In order to successfully complete his Ph.D., Wilson studied the German language extensively. At times Wilson referenced German sources, both as an academic and during the lead up to America's entry into World War I; though he noted doing so took considerable time and effort as he was not fully fluent.Pestritto (2005), 34. Wilson hoped to become a professor, writing that "a professorship was the only feasible place for me, the only place that would afford leisure for reading and for original work, the only strictly literary berth with an income attached."Berg (2013), p. 92 During his time at Johns Hopkins, Wilson took courses by eminent scholars such as Herbert Baxter Adams, Richard T. Ely, and J. Franklin Jameson.Berg (2013), pp. 93–95 Wilson spent much of his time at Johns Hopkins writing Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics, which grew out of a series of essays in which he examined the workings of the federal government.Berg (2013), pp. 95–98 He received a Ph.D. in history of government from Johns Hopkins in 1886.Pestritto (2005), p. 34
In early 1885, Houghton Mifflin published Congressional Government, which received a strong reception; one critic called it "the best critical writing on the American constitution which has appeared since the Federalist Papers." That same year, Wilson accepted a teaching position at Bryn Mawr College, a newly established women's college on the Philadelphia Main Line.Berg (2013), pp. 98–100 Wilson taught at Bryn Mawr College from 1885 until 1888.Heckscher (1991), pp. 77–82. He taught ancient Greek and Roman history, American history, political science, and other subjects. He sought to inspire "genuine living interest in the subjects of study" and asked students to "look into ancient times as if they were our own times."Berg (2013), pp. 102–105 However at the time, there were only 42 students at the college, nearly all of them too passive for his taste. M. Carey Thomas, the dean, was a staunch feminist, and Wilson clashed with her over his contract, resulting in a bitter dispute. In 1888, Wilson left Bryn Mawr College and was not given a farewell.Heckscher (1991), pp. 80–93. Following his departure from Bryn Mawr, Wilson took up a position at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.Heckscher (1991), pp. 93–94. At Wesleyan he coached the football team, founded a debate team,Heckscher (1991), p. 96. and taught graduate courses in political economy and Western history.Berg (2013), pp. 109–110