(1856-1924), twenty-eighth president of the United States (1913-21). Born in Staunton, Virginia, Wilson earned a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and developed strong leadership abilities as a college teacher and as president of Princeton University. He published many books on government and political science. In 1910 Wilson was elected governor of New Jersey, and two years later he gained the Democratic nomination for president. A split in the Republican party between William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt allowed Wilson to win the
election of 1912 with a minority of votes. Wilson won reelection in a close race with Republican Charles Evans Hughes in 1916.
During the Wilson administration Congress passed the
Federal Reserve Act (1913) and the
Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914). It broadened the Constitution by passing the Seventeenth Amendment (1913) allowing the direct election of senators, the Eighteenth Amendment (1919) establishing
Prohibition, and the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) giving women the right to vote. The
Panama Canal opened in 1914, the United States purchased the
Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917, and the United States entered
World War I in 1917.
At war's end Wilson drew up his
Fourteen Points (1918) and helped write the
Treaty of Versailles (1919) and the Covenant of the
League of Nations (1919) in an effort to bring about a lasting world peace. In 1919 he suffered a paralyzing stroke while campaigning for the peace treaty. The U.S. Senate did not ratify the treaty, but Wilson received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Although an idealistic and intelligent man, he tended to be arrogant and inflexible, which hurt him in the attainment of his goals, especially during the contest over the Treaty of Versailles.
