President Woodrow Wilson

28th President of the United States

under the Constitution of 1787

Media Alert

July 2nd, 2015
New Orleans, Louisiana

After 102 Years, The Federal Government Finally Agrees: Samuel Huntington And Not John Hanson Was The First USCA President to Serve Under The Articles of Confederation.

Historian Stanley Yavneh Klos Pleads With Maryland To Stop Funding Efforts That Purport John & Jane Hanson As The First President & First Lady Of The United States.

Presidential Proclamation 1364 of April 6, 1917, by President Woodrow Wilson declaring war against Germany. - Courtesy of: National Archives and Records Administration

Be Sure to Visit The Woodrow Wilson House Click Here

THOMAS WOODROW WILSON was born in Staunton, Virginia on December 28, 1856. He was the first son and third child of Joseph Ruggles Wilson, a Presbyterian minister, and Jessie Janet Woodrow. In 1859 the family moved when the elder Wilson was named pastor of a church in Augusta, Georgia. The Civil War was difficult as Dr. Wilson was an ardent Confederate sympathizer, and young Wilson witnessed the ruthless behavior of General William T. Sherman’s federal troops who invaded Georgia and South Carolina, and he remained an ardent Southerner throughout his lifetime.

Young Wilson was educated at home and at private schools in Augusta and Columbia, South Carolina, where the Wilsons moved when Dr. Wilson accepted a position as a professor. In 1873 they moved again, to Wilmington, North Carolina where Wilson attended Davidson College, a small Presbyterian school where his father was a trustee. The following year he enrolled at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), 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. His vision of entering national politics was revealed in his visiting cards, which was written "Thomas Woodrow Wilson, senator from Virginia." During his senior year at college he dropped the 'Thomas' from his name and he published an essay, "Cabinet Government in the United States," in the International Review (August 1879). The essay revealed his gift for embellishing ideas and giving them simple and urgent form. He envisioned a government of strong and competent legislators rather than a strong president, and he was encouraged by the excellent reception his essay received He decided to become a lawyer and enter politics and he enrolled in the University of Virginia law school. However, he became inpatient with the fine points of law as he found public speaking and political history more satisfying. He received his law degree and in 1882 settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where he opened a law office with Edward I. Renick, another idealistic young Southerner. However, neither Renick nor Wilson were skilled at the business side of their venture, and in 1883 Wilson relinquished his law career and entered the graduate school of The Johns Hopkins University to study history.

At John Hopkins, Wilson’s mentor, Professor Herbert Baxter Adams permitted him to continue to analyze politics. The result was a book-length expansion of his earlier essay which was accepted and published early in 1885. Congressional Government earned Wilson his Ph.D. degree and enabled him to pursue a literary and academic career.

Wilson had been engaged for several years to Ellen Louise Axson, daughter of a Georgia clergyman, and they were married on June 24, 1885. She was cultured and vivacious and was the perfect mate for him. The couple had three daughters, Margaret Woodrow Wilson (1886 – 1944), Jessie Woodrow Wilson (1887 – 1933) and Eleanor Randolph Wilson (1889 – 1967).

At that time, he also accepted a position with the newly opened Bryn Mawr College, a school for women near Philadelphia, where he taught and pursued his writing for the next three years. In 1888 he accepted a professorship in history and political economy at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. There, in 1889, he published a lengthy textbook analyzing the political nature of society, The State. In 1890 he was offered and accepted a professorship at his alma mater, the College of New Jersey. He began a program of publishing and public appearances and became one of the leading academic personalities of the era. His essays appeared in many magazines and he brought an excitement to his subjects that stirred his students, his colleagues, and the outside reader. He seemed to have abandoned any hope for a political career, but he continued to follow political affairs. Responding to the strong demand for his work, he wrote A History of the American People, published in five volumes in 1902 and his name became familiar and respected.

Wilson was unanimously elected to the presidency of the college in 1902, which had now become Princeton University. During his tenure as president, his innovation and reforms brought wide impact on national university education.

In 1909 Wilson's progressive approach to education attracted the attention of the Democratic political machine. They helped elect him Governor of New Jersey, but learned to regret it when he ended up cleaning house and riding the state house of corruption. Success in New Jersey made him a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. Although he entered the 1912 Democratic National Convention a poor second to Speaker of the House Champ Clark, he won the nomination after 46 ballots. Offering a program of reform he called the New Freedom, Wilson ran against a divided Republican party. In November, Wilson won only 41.85 percent of the popular vote but polled 435 electoral votes, compared with Roosevelt's 88 and President Taft's 8.

With a Democratic majority in Congress, Wilson pushed through many reforms, including the graduated income tax, a lower tariff, laws restricting child labor and the Federal Reserve Act. However, he proved to be less decisive on other reform issues. He had little confidence in the ability of women to vote and participate in politics, but for political reasons he was slow to oppose the determined suffragettes. Similarly, he fought for the child labor law with obvious reluctance and supported the Adamson Act only to head off a threatened strike by railroad workers. Wilson’s most obvious failure at reform was his policy toward blacks. Segregation had never been the custom in federal government offices in Washington, D.C. However, faced with strong pressure from his fellow Southerners, Wilson allowed segregation in the capital. Challenged with his vague promises before election that he would treat blacks with fairness, he could only say that the new policy of segregation was in the best interests of blacks and he would angrily end the interview when he was disputed.

Wilson suffered a severe personal loss on August 6, 1914, with the death of his wife. Combined with the sickness and tension that had plagued him for most of his life, her death was almost more than he could bear. He sought solace in more intensive work and leaned heavily on his few friends. The following year he met Edith Bolling Galt, a southerner and the widow of a Washington jeweler. She and Wilson were married on December 18, 1915.

In 1916, the war in Europe was the major issue of the day. Wilson opposed intervention and narrowly won re-election. Soon after, Germany’s mounting aggression against the United States forced Wilson to declare war, to “make the world safe for democracy.”

After the Allied victory, Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” peace plan paved the way for the creation of the League of Nations. Against the advisement of his doctor, Wilson set out on a national tour to generate public demand for ratification of the League. The physical strain was too great for his frail body. He nearly collapsed following a speech at Pueblo, Colo., on September 25, 1919. He returned to Washington, and suffered a severe stroke and paralysis of the left side on October 2. He never fully recovered. On November 19 the Republican controlled Senate rejected the League’s Treaty of Versailles. Wilson's stroke left him physically incapacitated but his condition was not made public. Mrs. Wilson jealously guarded her husband, and most likely feared that his resignation would sap his will to live. To her he was "first my beloved husband whose life I was trying to save ... after that he was the president of the United States." As a result, his Cabinet members were denied access to him. His wife decided what printed materials he could see, and his state papers became few and unsatisfactory.

The Democratic Party, at its 1920 convention, bestowed lavish praise on Wilson, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1919, but decided to nominate James M. Cox for president.

After leaving office Wilson retired to a house on S Street in Washington, D.C., where he lived in virtual seclusion. He died on February 3, 1924 and was buried in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

War Addresses of Woodrow Wilson

Edited by Arthur Roy Leonard, MA,

Ginn and Company, 1918

Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth president of the United States, was born at Staunton, Virginia, on December 28, 1856, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His grandfather, James Wilson, came to Philadelphia from Ireland in 1807 and became the publisher of a chain of newspapers. His wife was Anne Adams, an Ulster girl. Woodrow Wilson's father, Reverend Joseph Ruggles Wilson, was the youngest son of James Wilson, and was born in Steubenville, Ohio. He married Janet Woodrow, of Chillicothe, Ohio, daughter of Reverend Thomas Woodrow, a Scotch Presbyterian minister. In 1855 Reverend Joseph Wilson became pastor of a Presbyterian church in Staunton, Virginia, and here Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born.

The Wilson family removed to Augusta, Georgia, before Woodrow was two years old. Thus his childhood was spent in the South during the Civil War. His first teacher was a Confederate veteran who had returned from four years of soldiering. In 1870 the family moved to Columbia, South Carolina, where Woodrow attended a local academy. At the age of seventeen he entered Davidson College, North Carolina, where he remained less than a year, because of ill health. In 1875 he entered Princeton College and graduated in 1879. He was noted in his college days for his debating and literary ability and was editor of the Princetonian. In 1881 he graduated in law from the University of Virginia, and practiced law for a year in Atlanta, Georgia. Then he entered Johns Hopkins University for post-graduate work in political science. He received the degree of Ph.D. in 1886, his thesis on "Congressional Government" being at once accepted as authoritative. For three years (1885-1888) Mr. Wilson taught at Bryn Mawr College, going then to Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, for two years (18881890). He was called to Princeton in 1890 as Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Economy. In 1902 he was made president of Princeton University, his term of office being noted for many important reforms, all of which were in the direction of the democratization of the institution.

In 1910 Mr. Wilson was urged to become a candidate for governor of New Jersey. He was elected as a Democrat in a state which had been Republican for sixteen years. As governor of New Jersey he was able to put into operation many reforms which his long study of political philosophy had convinced him were wise. Among these were a direct-primary law and a corrupt-practices act which have since met with general acceptance in our political system. A law creating a public-utilities commission and establishing stringent control over corporations has generally been regarded a most salutary reform in dealing with the difficult matter of relationship between the state and the corporations. Mr. Wilson's success in bringing about these reforms was so marked that he soon became a leading candidate for the presidency. At the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore in 1912 Mr. Wilson was nominated on the forty-sixth ballot. A split in the Republican party that year made his election in November almost inevitable. Mr. Wilson received 435 electoral votes out of 531.

As president, Mr. Wilson has acted along the same lines of progressive and constructive statesmanship which made him so successful as president of Princeton and governor of New Jersey. He was reelected in November, 1916, for a second term.

The most remarkable and significant accomplishment of Woodrow Wilson's undergraduate college days was an article on "Cabinet Government in the United States," published in the International Review for August, 1879. The article is marked by a breadth of knowledge, range of vision, and independence of thought rarely found hi a young man of twenty-three. The Princeton University library has an incomplete bibliography of the published writings and addresses of Woodrow Wilson. This list shows seventy-five titles for the twenty-five years between 1875 and 1900.

The following list includes some of the most important of his books and magazine articles:

Congressional Government, A Study of American Politics. 1885.
The State: Elements of History and Practical Politics. 1889.
Division and Reunion. 1893.
An Old Master and Other Political Essays. 1893.
Mere Literature. 1896.
History of the American People (5 vols.). 1901.
Constitutional Government in the United States. 1008.
Mr. Cleveland as President. Atlantic Monthly, March, 1897.
The Makers of the Nation. Atlantic Monthly, July, 1897.
On Being Human. Atlantic Monthly, September, 1897.
A Lawyer with a Style. Atlantic Monthly, September, 1898.
Reconstruction of the Southern States. Atlantic Monthly, January, 1901.
Politics, 1857-1907. Atlantic Monthly, November, 1907.
The States and the Federal Government. North American Review, May, 1908.

Woodrow Wilson's style is marked by vivacity and incisiveness, and at times possesses considerable literary charm. Mr. Wilson is an independent thinker, of remarkable breadth of vision, and his discussions of political and historical questions are always clear and convincing. He makes few false motions, uses no superfluous words, but like a master workman makes all his strokes tell. Another noteworthy quality of Woodrow Wilson, the writer, is the measured judgment and calm detachment with which he treats of subjects which ordinarily rouse men's passion to the boiling point. An early example of this characteristic is his essay on "Mr. Cleveland as President" written before the end of Mr. Cleveland's second term. His war addresses are marked by the same cool judgment, the same clear independent thinking, the same range of vision, and the same incisive style which are characteristic of his earlier literary productions. One is never at a loss for his meaning: his words ring like steel on flint; his judgment is never swayed by passion.

America's Four Republics: The More or Less United States

By: Stanley Yavneh Klos

First United American Republic: United Colonies of North America: 13 British Colonies United in Congress was founded by 12 colonies on September 5th, 1774 (Georgia joined in 1775) and governed through a British Colonial Continental Congress. Peyton Randolph and George Washington served, respectively, as the Republic's first President and Commander-in-Chief;
Second United American Republic: The United States of America: 13 Independent States United in Congress was founded by 12 states on July 2nd, 1776 (New York abstained until July 8th), and governed through the United States Continental Congress. John Hancock and George Washington served, respectively, as the Republic's first President and Commander-in-Chief;
Third United American Republic: The United States of America: A Perpetual Union was founded by 13 States on March 1st, 1781, with the enactment of the first U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, and governed through the United States in Congress Assembled. Samuel Huntington and George Washington served, respectively, as the Republic's first President and Commander-in-Chief;
Fourth United American Republic: The United States of America: We the People was formed by 11 states on March 4th, 1789 (North Carolina and Rhode Island joined in November 1789 and May 1790, respectively), with the enactment of the U.S. Constitution of 1787. The fourth and current United States Republic governs through the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in Congress Assembled, the U.S. President and Commander-in-Chief, and the U.S. Supreme Court. George Washington served as the Republic's first President and Commander-in-Chief.

The First United American Republic

Continental Congress of the United Colonies Presidents

Sept. 5, 1774 to July 1, 1776

Peyton Randolph	September 5, 1774	October 22, 1774
Henry Middleton	October 22, 1774	October 26, 1774
Peyton Randolph	May 20, 1775	May 24, 1775
John Hancock	May 25, 1775	July 1, 1776

The Second United American Republic
Continental Congress of the United States Presidents
July 2, 1776 to February 28, 1781

John Hancock	July 2, 1776	October 29, 1777
Henry Laurens	November 1, 1777	December 9, 1778
John Jay	December 10, 1778	September 28, 1779
Samuel Huntington	September 29, 1779	February 28, 1781

Commander-in-Chief United Colonies & States of America

George Washington: June 15, 1775 - December 23, 1783

The Third United American Republic

Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled
March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789

Samuel Huntington	March 1, 1781	July 6, 1781
Samuel Johnston	July 10, 1781	Declined Office
Thomas McKean	July 10, 1781	November 4, 1781
John Hanson	November 5, 1781	November 3, 1782
Elias Boudinot	November 4, 1782	November 2, 1783
Thomas Mifflin	November 3, 1783	June 3, 1784
Richard Henry Lee	November 30, 1784	November 22, 1785
John Hancock	November 23, 1785	June 5, 1786
Nathaniel Gorham	June 6, 1786	February 1, 1787
Arthur St. Clair	February 2, 1787	January 21, 1788
Cyrus Griffin	January 22, 1788	January 21, 1789

The Fourth United American Republic
Presidents of the United States of America

Chart Comparing Presidential Powers
of America's Four United Republics - Click Here

United Colonies and States First Ladies

1774-1788

United Colonies Continental Congress	President	18^th Century Term	Age
Elizabeth "Betty" Harrison Randolph (1745-1783)	Peyton Randolph	09/05/74 – 10/22/74	29
Mary Williams Middleton (1741- 1761) Deceased	Henry Middleton	10/22–26/74	n/a
Elizabeth "Betty" Harrison Randolph (1745–1783)	Peyton Randolph	05/20/ 75 - 05/24/75	30
Dorothy Quincy Hancock Scott (1747-1830)	John Hancock	05/25/75 – 07/01/76	28

United States Continental Congress	President	Term	Age
Dorothy Quincy Hancock Scott (1747-1830)	John Hancock	07/02/76 – 10/29/77	29
Eleanor Ball Laurens (1731- 1770) Deceased	Henry Laurens	11/01/77 – 12/09/78	n/a
Sarah Livingston Jay (1756-1802)	John Jay	12/ 10/78 – 09/28/78	21
Martha Huntington (1738/39–1794)	Samuel Huntington	09/29/79 – 02/28/81	41

United States in Congress Assembled	President	Term	Age
Martha Huntington (1738/39–1794)	Samuel Huntington	03/01/81 – 07/06/81	42
Sarah Armitage McKean (1756-1820)	Thomas McKean	07/10/81 – 11/04/81	25
Jane Contee Hanson (1726-1812)	John Hanson	11/05/81 - 11/03/82	55
Hannah Stockton Boudinot (1736-1808)	Elias Boudinot	11/03/82 - 11/02/83	46
Sarah Morris Mifflin (1747-1790)	Thomas Mifflin	11/03/83 - 11/02/84	36
Anne Gaskins Pinkard Lee (1738-1796)	Richard Henry Lee	11/20/84 - 11/19/85	46
Dorothy Quincy Hancock Scott (1747-1830)	John Hancock	11/23/85 – 06/06/86	38
Rebecca Call Gorham (1744-1812)	Nathaniel Gorham	06/06/86 - 02/01/87	42
Phoebe Bayard St. Clair (1743-1818)	Arthur St. Clair	02/02/87 - 01/21/88	43
Christina Stuart Griffin (1751-1807)	Cyrus Griffin	01/22/88 - 01/29/89	36

*Constitution of 1787* First Ladies	President	Term	Age
Martha Washington	George Washington	April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797	57
Abigail Adams	John Adams	March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801	52
Martha Wayles Jefferson Deceased	Thomas Jefferson	September 6, 1782 (Aged 33)	n/a
Dolley Madison	James Madison	March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817	40
Elizabeth Monroe	James Monroe	March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825	48
Louisa Adams	John Quincy Adams	March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829	50
Rachel Jackson Deceased	Andrew Jackson	December 22, 1828 (aged 61)	n/a
Hannah Van Buren Deceased	Martin Van Buren	February 5, 1819 (aged 35)	n/a
Anna Harrison	William H. Harrison	March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841	65
Letitia Tyler	John Tyler	April 4, 1841 – September 10, 1842	50
Julia Tyler	John Tyler	June 26, 1844 – March 4, 1845	23
Sarah Polk	James K. Polk	March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849	41
Margaret Taylor	Zachary Taylor	March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850	60
Abigail Fillmore	Millard Fillmore	July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853	52
Jane Means Pierce	Franklin Pierce	March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857	46
Lifelong Bachelor	James Buchanan	n/a	n/a
Mary Todd Lincoln	Abraham Lincoln	March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865	42
Varina Davis*	Jefferson Davis*	February 22, 1862 – May 10, 1865
Eliza McCardle Johnson	Andrew Johnson	April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869	54
Julia Boggs Dent Grant	Ulysses S. Grant	March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877	43
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes	Rutherford B. Hayes	March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881	45
Lucretia Rudolph Garfield	James A. Garfield	March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881	48
Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur	Chester Arthur	January 12, 1880 (Aged 43)	n/a
Frances Folsom Cleveland	Grover Cleveland	June 2, 1886 – March 4, 1889	21
Caroline Scott Harrison	Benjamin Harrison	March 4, 1889 – October 25, 1892	56
Frances Folsom Cleveland	Grover Cleveland	June 2, 1886 – March 4, 1889	28
Ida Saxton McKinley	William McKinley	March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901	49
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt	Theodore Roosevelt	September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909	40
Helen Louise Herron Taft	William H. Taft	March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913	47
Ellen Axson Wilson	Woodrow Wilson	March 4, 1913 – August 6, 1914	52
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson	Woodrow Wilson	December 18, 1915 – March 4, 1921	43
Florence Mabel King Harding	Warren G. Harding	March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923	60
Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge	Calvin Coolidge	August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929	44
Lou Henry Hoover	Herbert C. Hoover	March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933	54
Eleanor Roosevelt	Franklin D. Roosevelt	March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945	48
Elizabeth Virginia "Bess" Truman	Harry S. Truman	April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953	60
Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower	Dwight D. Eisenhower	January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961	56
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy	John F. Kennedy	January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963	31
Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson	Lyndon B. Johnson	November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969	50
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon	Richard M. Nixon	January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974	56
Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Ford	Gerald R. Ford	August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977	56
Eleanor Rosalynn Carter	James Earl Carter, Jr.	January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981	49
Nancy Davis Reagan	Ronald Wilson Reagan	January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989	59
Barbara Pierce Bush	George H. W. Bush	January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993	63
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton	William Jefferson Clinton	January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001	45
Laura Lane Welch Bush	George W. Bush	January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009	54
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama	Barack H. Obama	January 20, 2009 to date	45

Capitals of the United Colonies and States of America

Philadelphia	Sept. 5, 1774 to Oct. 24, 1774	City Tavern & Carpenter’s Hall
Philadelphia	May 10, 1775 to Dec. 12, 1776	Pennsylvania State House
Baltimore	Dec. 20, 1776 to Feb. 27, 1777	Henry Fite’s House
Philadelphia	March 4, 1777 to Sept. 18, 1777	Pennsylvania State House
Lancaster	September 27, 1777	Lancaster Court House
York	Sept. 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778	York-town Court House
Philadelphia	July 2, 1778 to June 21, 1783	College Hall - PA State House
Princeton	June 30, 1783 to Nov. 4, 1783	Nassau Hall
Annapolis	Nov. 26, 1783 to Aug. 19, 1784	Maryland, State House
Trenton	Nov. 1, 1784 to Dec. 24, 1784	French Arms Tavern
New York City	Jan. 11, 1785 to Nov. 13, 1788	New York City Hall
New York City	October 6, 1788 to March 3,1789	Walter Livingston House
New York City	March 3,1789 to August 12, 1790	Federal Hall
Philadelphia	December 6,1790 to May 14, 1800	Congress Hall
Washington DC	November 17,1800 to Present	Five US Capitols

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Woodrow Wilson

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Wednesday, July 2, 2014