Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson ( December 28 , 1856 – February 3 , 1924 ) was the 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921 and leader of the Progressive Movement . He served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910 and was Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913 . He led his Democratic Party to win control of both the White House and Congress in 1912 . Wilson induced a conservative Democratic Congress to pass a progressive legislative agenda , unparalleled until the New Deal in 1933 . This included the Federal Reserve Act , Federal Trade Commission Act , the Clayton Antitrust Act , the Federal Farm Loan Act and an income tax . Child labor was temporarily curtailed by the Keating – Owen Act of 1916 . Wilson also averted a railroad strike and an ensuing economic crisis through passage of the Adamson Act , imposing an 8 - hour workday for railroads . At the outbreak of World War I in 1914 , Wilson maintained a policy of neutrality . Narrowly re - elected in 1916 around the slogan " He kept us out of war " , Wilson ' s second term was dominated by American entry into World War I . That year he proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day in a patriotic speech that bore out the nation ' s anti - German sentiment . In April 1917 , when Germany persisted with submarine warfare , Wilson asked Congress to declare war in order to make " the world safe for democracy . " The United States conducted military operations with the Allies , without a formal alliance . During the war , Wilson focused on diplomacy and financial considerations , leaving military particulars in the hands of the Army . He loaned billions of dollars to Britain , France and other Allies , allowing them to finance their own war effort . On the home front in 1917 , he began the first large - scale draft and borrowed billions of dollars in war funding through the newly established Federal Reserve Bank and Liberty Bonds . He set up the War Industries Board , promoted labor union cooperation , supervised agriculture and food production through the Lever Act and assumed control of the railroads . He also suppressed anti - war movement s with the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 , a crackdown which broadened and intensified to include real and suspected anarchists and communists during the First Red Scare of 1919 – 1920 . In 1918 after years of opposition , Wilson was pressured to change his position on women ' s suffrage , which he then advocated as a war measure . Though he sought and received support from many in the black community , he permitted racial segregation of the Post Office , the U . S . Treasury Department , and the Navy . Wilson took personal control of negotiations when an armistice was requested by Germany , and in 1918 he issued his principles for peace , the " Fourteen Points " . In 1919 he went to Paris to promote the formation of a League of Nations and concluded the Treaty of Versailles . Wilson then suffered a severe stroke , and was unable to secure Senate ratification of the Treaty . By 1920 his disability had diminished his power and influence , and the Democratic party ignored his tentative plan to run for re - election . A devoted Presbyterian , Wilson infused a profound sense of moralism into his internationalism , now referred to as " Wilsonian " — a contentious position in American foreign policy which obligates the United States to promote global democracy . For his sponsorship of the League of Nations , Wilson was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize . Wilson has consistently been ranked by scholars and the public as one of the top ten presidents . Early life . Wilson was born in Staunton , Virginia , on December 28 , 1856 , at 18 – 24 North Coalter Street ( now the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library ) , of Scots - Irish descent . He was the third of four children of Joseph Ruggles Wilson ( 1822 – 1903 ) and Jessie Janet Woodrow ( 1826 – 1888 ) . Wilson ' s paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from Strabane , County Tyrone , Ireland ( now Northern Ireland ) , in 1807 . His mother was born in Carlisle , Cumberland , England , the daughter of Rev . Dr . Thomas Woodrow from Paisley , Scotland , and Marion Williamson from Glasgow . Wilson ' s father Joseph Ruggles Wilson was originally from Steubenville , Ohio , where his grandfather published a pro - tariff and anti - slavery newspaper , " The Western Herald and Gazette " . Wilson ' s parents moved south in 1851 and identified with the Confederacy . His father defended slavery , owned slaves and set up a Sunday school for them ; the parents cared for wounded soldiers at their church , and his father briefly served as a chaplain to the Confederate Army . Woodrow Wilson ' s earliest memory , from the age of three , was of hearing that Abraham Lincoln had been elected and that a war was coming . Wilson would forever recall standing for a moment at Robert E . Lee ' s side and looking up into his face . Wilson ' s father was one of the founders of the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States ( PCUS ) in 1861 after it split from the northern Presbyterians . He served as the first permanent clerk of the southern church ' s General Assembly , was Stated Clerk from 1865 to 1898 and was Moderator of the PCUS General Assembly in 1879 . He became minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Augusta , Georgia , and the family lived there until young Wilson was 14 . Wilson himself in 1873 formally became a member of the Columbia First Presbyterian Church and remained a member throughout his life . Education and marriage . Wilson ' s reading began at age ten , possibly delayed by dyslexia ; he later blamed the lack of schools in the post bellum South . As a teen he taught himself the Graham shorthand system to compensate , and achieved academically with self - discipline , studying at home with his father , then in classes at a small Augusta school . During Reconstruction , Wilson lived in Columbia , South Carolina from 1870 to 1874 , while his father was professor at the Columbia Theological Seminary . Wilson attended Davidson College in North Carolina for the 1873 – 1874 school year , cut short by illness , then transferred to Princeton as a freshman when his father began teaching at the university . He graduated in 1879 , a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity . In his second year , he studied political philosophy and history , was active in the Whig literary and debating society , and wrote for the " Nassau Literary Review " . He organized the Liberal Debating Society and later coached the Whig – Clio Debate Panel . In the hotly contested election of 1876 , Wilson declared his support for the Democratic Party and its nominee , Samuel J . Tilden . In 1879 , Wilson attended law school at the University of Virginia for one year ; he was involved in the Virginia Glee Club and was president of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society . While there , he enjoyed frequent trips to his birthplace Staunton where he visited with cousins , and fell in love with one , Hattie Woodrow , though his affections were unrequited . His health became frail and dictated withdrawal , so he went home to Wilmington , North Carolina , where he continued his law studies . Wilson was admitted to the Georgia bar and made a brief attempt at law practice in January 1882 ; he found legal history and substantive jurisprudence interesting , but abhorred the day to day procedural aspects , and after less than a year abandoned the practice to pursue his study of political science and history . Both parents expressed misplaced concern over a potentially premature decision . In the fall of April 1883 , Wilson entered Johns Hopkins University to study history , political science and the German language . Three years later , he completed his doctoral dissertation , " Congressional Government : A Study in American Politics " , and received a Ph . D . . In late spring of 1883 Wilson was summoned to Rome , Georgia to assist in the settlement of his maternal uncle William ' s estate which was being mishandled by a brother - in - law . While there he met and fell in love with Ellen Louise Axson , the daughter of a minister from Savannah , Georgia ; he proposed to her and they became engaged in Asheville . Wilson ' s marriage to Ellen was delayed 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 closing the family home in Rome , Georgia , and recovering from the initial shock , Ellen advanced her artistic interests by gaining admission to the Art Students League of New York ; post graduation , she pursued portrait art and received a medal for one of her works from the Paris International Exposition . Nevertheless , she happily agreed to sacrifice further independent artistic pursuits in order to keep her marriage commitment , and in 1885 she and Wilson married . Wilson was an automobile enthusiast , and took daily rides while he was President in his favorite car , a 1919 Pierce - Arrow . His enjoyment of motoring made him an advocate of funding for public highways . Wilson was an avid baseball fan , and in 1915 became the first sitting president to attend , and throw out the first ball at , a World Series game . Wilson had been a center fielder during his Davidson College days and was the Princeton team ' s assistant manager . He cycled regularly , including several cycling vacations in the English Lake District . Wilson later took up golf . Academic career . After lecturing at Cornell University in 1886 – 1887 , and joining the Irving Literary Society , Wilson worked at Bryn Mawr College from 1885 until 1888 , teaching ancient Greek and Roman history ; while there , he refused offers from the Universities of Michigan and Indiana . When Ellen was pregnant with their first child in 1886 , the couple decided that Ellen should go to her Aunt Louisa Brown ' s residence in Gainesville , Georgia to have their first child ; she arrived just one day before the baby , Margaret , was born in April 1886 . Their second child , Jessie , was born in August 1887 . In 1888 , Wilson left Bryn Mawr for Wesleyan University , in a controversial decision , since he had signed a three - year contract with Bryn Mawr in 1887 ; both parties claimed contract violations and the matter subsided . At Wesleyan , he coached the football team and founded the debate team , which bears his name . Shortly after the birth of their third child , Eleanor , in October 1889 , Ellen suffered a foot injury , and Wilson added babysitting to his duties . In February 1890 , with the help of friends , Wilson was elected by the Princeton board to the Chair of Jurisprudence and Political Economy at a salary of $ 3000 . He continued a previous practice of reserving time for a six - week course in administration at Johns Hopkins . He was also a faculty member of the short - lived coordinate college , Evelyn College for Women . Additionally , Wilson became the first lecturer of Constitutional Law at New York Law School where he taught with Charles Evans Hughes . Representing the American Whig Society , Wilson delivered an oration at Princeton ' s sesquicentennial celebration ( 1896 ) entitled " Princeton in the Nation ' s Service " , which was the origin for the school ' s motto . Wilson became annoyed that Princeton was not living up to its potential , complaining " There ' s a little college down in Kentucky which in 60 years has graduated more men who have acquired prominence and fame than has Princeton in her 150 years . " Political science author . U . S . democratic republic and British parliament contrast . Wilson , a disciple of Walter Bagehot , saw the United States Constitution as cumbersome and open to corruption . Wilson favored a parliamentary system for the United States and in the early 1880s wrote , " I ask you to put this question to yourselves , should we not draw the Executive and Legislature closer together ? Should we not , on the one hand , give the individual leaders of opinion in Congress a better chance to have an intimate party in determining who should be president , and the president , on the other hand , a better chance to approve himself a statesman , and his advisers capable men of affairs , in the guidance of Congress . " Wilson ' s first political work , " Congressional Government " , published in 1885 , advocated a parliamentary system , and provided a critical description of America ' s government , with frequent negative comparisons to Westminster . Critics contended the book was written without the benefit of the author observing any operational aspect of the U . S . Congress , and supporters asserted the work was the product of the imagination of a future statesman . The book reflected the greater power of the legislature , relative to the executive , during the post - bellum period . Wilson later became a regular contributor to the " Political Science Quarterly " . Wilson ' s second publication in 1890 was a textbook , entitled " The State " , used widely in college courses throughout the country until the 1920s . He argued that government should not be deemed evil and advocated the use of government to alay social ills and advance society ' s welfare . in 1889 Wilson contributed to a U . S . historical series , covering the period from Pres . Jackson through Reconstruction . The result was his third publication , entitled " Division and Reunion " , published in 1893 and considered an outstanding contribution to American historical writing . Wilson ' s fourth publication , a five volume work entitled " History of the American People " , was the culmination of a series of articles written for " Harper ' s " , and was published in 1902 . Wilson believed that America ' s system of checks and balances complicated American governance . If government behaved badly , Wilson queried , " How is the schoolmaster , the nation , to know which boy needs the whipping ? " Wilson singled out the United States House of Representatives for particular criticism , saying , " . . . divided up , as it were , into forty - seven seignories , in each of which a Standing Committee is the court - baron and its chairman lord - proprietor . These petty barons , some of them not a little powerful , but none of them within reach [ of ] the full powers of rule , may at will exercise an almost despotic sway within their own shires , and may sometimes threaten to convulse even the realm itself . " In his last scholarly work in 1908 , " Constitutional Government of the United States " , Wilson said that the presidency " will be as big as and as influential as the man who occupies it " . By the time of his presidency , Wilson hoped that Presidents could be party leaders in the same way British prime ministers were . Wilson also hoped that the parties could be reorganized along ideological , not geographic , lines . He wrote , " Eight words contain the sum of the present degradation of our political parties : No leaders , no principles ; no principles , no parties . " Public administration . Wilson also studied public administration , which he called " . . . government in action ; it is the executive , the operative , the most visible side of government , and is of course as old as government itself " . He believed that the study of public administration could enable officials to increase governmental efficiency . He faulted political leaders who focused on philosophical issues and the nature of government and dismissed the critical issues of government administration as mere " practical detail " . He thought such attitudes represented the requirements of smaller countries and populations . By his day , he thought , " . . . it is getting to be harder to run a constitution than to frame one . " He thought it time " . . . to straighten the paths of government , to make its business less unbusinesslike , to strengthen and purify its organization , and it to crown its dutifulness " . He summarized the growth of such foreign states as Prussia , France , and England , highlighting the events that led to advances in administration . By contrast , he thought the United States required greater compromise because of the diversity of public opinion and the difficulty of forming a majority opinion ; thus practical reform to the government was necessarily slow . Yet Wilson insisted that " . . . administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics " and that " . . . general laws which direct these things to be done are as obviously outside of and above administration . " He likened administration to a machine that functions independent of the changing mood of its leaders . Such a line of demarcation is intended to focus responsibility for actions taken on the people or persons in charge . As Wilson put it , " . . . public attention must be easily directed , in each case of good or bad administration , to just the man deserving of praise or blame . There is no danger in power , if only it be not irresponsible . If it be divided , dealt out in share to many , it is obscured . . . " Essentially , the items under the discretion of administration must be limited in scope , as to not block , nullify , obfuscate , or modify the implementation of governmental decree made by the executive branch . President of Princeton University . Wilson had in the past been offered the presidency at the University of Illinois in 1892 , and at the University of Virginia in 1901 , both of which he declined . The Princeton trustees promoted Professor Wilson to president of in June 1902 , replacing Francis Landey Patton , whom the Trustees perceived to be an inefficient administrator . Although the school ' s endowment was barely $ 4 million , Wilson sought $ 2 million for a preceptorial system of teaching , $ 1 million for a school of science , and nearly $ 3 million for new buildings and salary increases . As a long - term objective , Wilson sought $ 3 million for a graduate school and $ 2 . 5 million for schools of jurisprudence and electrical engineering , as well as a museum of natural history . He increased the faculty from 112 to 174 , most of whom he selected himself on the basis of their records as outstanding teachers . The curriculum guidelines he developed proved important progressive innovations in the field of higher education . Wilson also made biblical studies a scholarly pursuit , appointed the first Jew and the first Roman Catholic to the faculty and helped liberate the board from domination by conservative Presbyterians . To emphasize the development of expertise , Wilson instituted academic departments and a system of core requirements where students met in groups of six with preceptors , followed by two years of concentration in a selected major . He tried to raise admission standards and to replace the " gentleman ' s C " with serious study . Wilson aspired , as he told alumni , " to transform thoughtless boys performing tasks into thinking men " . In 1906 Wilson awoke to find himself blind in the left eye , the result of a blood clot and hypertension ; modern medical opinion surmises Wilson had suffered a stroke — he later was diagnosed , as his father had been , with hardening of the arteries ; he took a Bermuda vacation . He began to exhibit his father ' s traits of impatience and intolerance , which would on occasion lead to errors of judgment . In 1896 Wilson had , somewhat prophetically , described his problem , in the sesquicentennial speech at Princeton : " . . . your thorough Presbyterian is not subject to the ordinary laws of life , is of too stubborn a fiber , too unrelaxing a purpose , to suffer mere inconvenience to bring defeat " . When Wilson began vacationing in Bermuda in 1906 he met a socialite , Mary Hulbert Peck , and their visits together became a regular occurrence on his return . Wilson in his letters home to Ellen openly related these gatherings as well his others social events . According to biographer Heckscher , Ellen could sense a problem and it became the topic of frank discussion between them . Wilson Historians have not conclusively established there was an affair ; nevertheless , 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 " . ; Wilson also sent very personal letters which would be used by his adversaries later . While Wilson was vacationing solo in the British Isles , Ellen journeyed to Connecticut where she was able to join the household of coveted artist Florence Griswold to further pursue her own past time . During his time at Princeton he attempted to curtail the influence of social elites by abolishing the upper - class eating club s and proposed moving the students into colleges , also known as quadrangles . Wilson ' s Quad Plan was met with fierce opposition from Princeton ' s alumni . Wilson persisted , saying that giving in " would be to temporize with evil " . In October 1907 , due to the intensity of alumni opposition , the Board of Trustees withdrew its support for the Quad Plan and instructed Wilson to withdraw it . Not long afterwards , Wilson suffered a recurrence of his 1906 ailment ; as before , a vacation was prescribed and proved beneficial . Late in his tenure , a confrontation ensued between Wilson and Andrew Fleming West , Dean of the graduate school , and also West ' s ally ex - President Grover Cleveland , who was a trustee . Wilson wanted to integrate a proposed graduate school building into the campus core while West preferred an extended campus site . In 1909 Wilson ' s final year at Princeton began with a gift made to the graduate school campaign subject to the graduate school being located off campus ; the acceptance of this condition by the board was a pivotal defeat for Wilson . The national press covered the confrontation as a battle between the elites , represented by West , versus the populace , represented by Wilson . From its outset , resistance to Wilson ' s recommendations at Princeton had spawned disenchantment , and invigorated Wilson ' s rumination of future political leadership . Prior to the Democratic presidential nominating convention in 1908 , Wilson had even dropped hints to some influential players in the Democratic Party of his interest in the Democratic ticket . While he had no real expectations of being placed on the ticket , he did leave instructions that he not be offered the vice presidential nomination — before leaving for a vacation in Scotland ; his ideas at the time were thereby considered politically as well as geographically detached and fanciful . Nevertheless , the seeds had been sown . Wilson later commented that politics was less brusk than university administration . Wilson was elected president of the American Political Science Association in 1910 , but soon decided to leave his Princeton post and enter New Jersey state politics . McGeorge Bundy in 1956 described Wilson ' s contribution to Princeton : " Wilson was right in his conviction that Princeton must be more than a wonderfully pleasant and decent home for nice young men ; it has been more ever since his time " . Governor of New Jersey . In January 1910 Wilson had drawn the attention of New Jersey ' s U . S . Senator James Smith , Jr . and George Harvey as the potential Democratic standard bearer in the upcoming gubernatorial election , and on July 12 , 1910 he was introduced to New Jersey ' s power players at the Lawyers Club in New York , including James Richard Nugent , Robert S . Hudspeth , Millard F . Ross , and Richard V . Lindabury . The bosses had chosen their man , but his nomination was not a given — many , including organized labor , felt Wilson was an inexperienced newcomer . Nevertheless , the bosses marshaled their forces at the party convention , and on September 14 Wilson was nominated ; this , despite his endorsement of the local option on the liquor issue — in opposition to the political machine . He submitted his letter of resignation to Princeton on October 20 . Wilson ' s opponent in the general election was the Republican candidate Vivian M . Lewis , the State Commissioner of Banking and Insurance . Wilson ' s campaign focused on his promise that if elected he would not be beholden to party bosses . Wilson quickly shed his professorial style for more emboldened speechmaking , and presented himself as a full - fledged progressive . He soundly defeated Lewis by a margin of more than 650 , 000 votes , although Republican William Howard Taft had carried New Jersey in the 1908 presidential election by more than 82 , 000 votes . Historian Edmund Morris called Wilson in the Governor ' s race a " dark horse " and attributed his and others ' success against the Taft Republicans in 1910 in part to the emergent national progressive message enunciated by Theodore Roosevelt in his post - presidency . In the 1910 election , the Democrats also took control of the General Assembly , though the State Senate remained in Republican hands . Wilson appointed Joseph Patrick Tumulty as his private secretary , a position he held throughout Wilson ' s political career . He began formulating his reformist agenda , intending to ignore the demands of party machinery . In fact , after Wilson ' s election , political boss U . S . Senator Smith asked Wilson to endorse his own reelection bid in the state legislature ; Wilson refused , and endorsed Smith ' s opponent James E Martine . When Martine became the victor , Wilson had manifestly positioned himself as a new leader in the party in that state . Wilson concentrated on four major state reforms — changes in the election laws . a corrupt practices act , Workmen ' s Compensation and the establishment of a commission to regulate utilities . The Geran bill , drafted by Del . Elmer H Geran expanded public participation in primaries for all offices including party officials and delegates ; it was thus directed at the power of the political bosses , and it passed the assembly , albeit by a narrow margin . The corrupt practices law and Workmen ' s Compensation statute soon followed . Democratic nomination . Wilson ' s prominence as governor and in the national media induced his presidential campaign in 1912 . Wilson committed himself to try for the Democratic nomination in March of the prior year when he spoke at an Atlanta meeting of the Southern Commercial Congress ; afterwards he said : " I was given a dinner , breakfast and reception , and on every possible occasion was nominated for the presidency ! " While Wilson was in Atlanta , his wife Ellen , alert that key Democrat William Jennings Bryan was visiting Princeton , and recalling Wilson ' s opposition to him in 1896 , invited him for dinner upon Wilson ' s return . Indeed , the establishment of rapport with Bryan , the most recent standard bearer of the party , was a success . Wilson began a truly public campaign for the nomination in the south , with a speech to the Pewter Platter Club in Norfolk , Va . . While he was received enthusiastically , the speech , reformist in nature , was considered provocative and radical by the conservative audience , making the visit on the whole less than positive . With Wilson the first Southerner to have a serious chance at the White House since 1848 however , Southern Democrats in general strongly supported Wilson ' s campaign for the nomination in 1912 . More of Wilson ' s support came from young progressives in that region , including intellectuals , editors and lawyers . Wilson managed to maneuver through the complexities of local politics . For example , in Tennessee the Democratic Party was divided over prohibition ; Wilson was progressive and sober , but not dry , and appealed to both sides . They united behind him to win the presidential election in the state , but divided over state politics and lost the gubernatorial election . After Norfolk , Wilson then proceeded westward to Kansas , Colorado , California , Oregon and Washington ; he favored voting reforms which empowered the populace , such as the initiative , the referendum and the recall ( excepting judges ) . In California Wilson was asked about his views on women ' s suffrage and though he was firmly opposed , he evasively said that it was a matter for the states to decide . in July 1911 Wilson brought William Gibbs McAdoo and Edward Mandell House in to manage the campaign . The 1912 Democratic convention in Baltimore was one of the most dramatic conventions in American history ; only the Republican conventions of 1880 and 1940 , and the Democratic convention of 1952 are comparable . William F . McCombs who helped Wilson win the governorship served as convention Chairman . The Republicans at their convention had set the stage a week earlier , nominating incumbent William Howard Taft , with Theodore Roosevelt stalking out , to launch an independent campaign to split the party vote . Wilson was convinced that the Baltimore convention should be allowed to work its will without his interference — so he went golfing and motoring . As for his assistant Tumulty , he " nearly collapsed " under the strain The convention deadlocked for over forty ballots — no candidate could reach the two - thirds vote required . The leading contender was House Speaker Champ Clark , a prominent progressive , strongest in the border states . Other less charismatic contenders were Governor Judson Harmon of Ohio , and Representative Oscar Underwood of Alabama . Publisher William Randolph Hearst , a leader of the left wing of the party , supported Clark . William Jennings Bryan , the nominee in 1896 , 1900 and 1908 , played a critical role in his declared opposition to any candidate supported by " the financiers of Wall Street " . Indeed , on the tenth ballot New York ' s delegation went unanimously to Clark , and the battle lines were clearly drawn between the bosses and the rank and file delegates . Bryan then announced on the fourteenth ballot that his vote for Clark would be withheld due to the New York vote . Wilson ' s tally began to climb steadily , and he initially topped Clark ' s vote on the thirtieth ballot . Bryan announced for Wilson , who ultimately won the nomination on the 46th ballot . Wilson chose Indiana Governor Thomas R . Marshall as his running mate General election . Wilson directed Chairman of Finance , Henry Morganthau not to accept contributions from corporations and to prioritize smaller donations from the widest possible quarters of the public , and Morgenthau succeeded admirably . In order to further embolden Democrats , especially in New Jersey and New York , Wilson set out to ensure the defeat of local candidates supported by machines , who were running for re - election — James Smith Jr . ( U . S . Senate in New Jersey ) and John Dix ( Governor of New York ) . He succeeded in both of these efforts and thereby weakened arguments that party control resided with political bosses . Speeches in Buffalo and New York City exemplified the pattern of Wilson ' s speechmaking . His oratory style was , " right out of my mind as it is working at the time " . He maintained towards his primary opponent Roosevelt a tone of humorous detachment , describing the Bull Moose party as " the irregular Republicans , the variegated Republicans " . Wilson shunned the stump speech campaign routine , and initially was reticent to conduct an extensive campaign tour , but this changed after Roosevelt went on the offensive . A notably progressive speech In Minneapolis included the following : " that property as compared with humanity , as compared with the vital red blood in the American people , must take second place , not first place " . Wilson frequently sought out Louis D . Brandeis for advice on economic policy — that corporate trusts be regulated by the government . His campaign then increased its focus upon the elimination of monopoly in all forms . Wilson also concluded that major reforms in banking and a lower tariff were needed to eliminate the spheres of entrenched interests which distorted the functioning of the free - market . In Indianapolis he said that for the next president " there will be no greater burden in our generation than to organize the forces of liberty … And to make conquest of a new freedom for America " . This serendipitous comment spawned the title of Wilson ' s policy of " New Freedom " , emphasizing the lower tariffs and limited federal government – albeit with increased anti - trust law enforcement and creation of a new banking regulator , the Federal Reserve System . When Roosevelt was wounded by an assassin , Wilson restricted his events to those already scheduled and limited his criticism to the regular Republicans . It was evident by this time that the Wilson movement would not be checked . The GOP split between Taft and Roosevelt enlarged Wilson ' s success in the electoral college . Wilson appealed to African Americans and promised to work for them , gaining some support among them in the North at the expense of the Republicans . Wilson took 41 . 8 % of the popular vote and won 435 electoral votes from 40 states . It is not clear if Roosevelt extracted more support from fellow Republican Taft , or fellow progressive Wilson . First term , 1913 – 1917 . Finding himself " completely fagged out " by the election , Wilson immediately thereafter set sail with Ellen and daughters Jesse and Eleanor for Bermuda ( Margaret remained in New York for singing lessons . ) The relaxation was thorough and included carriage rides , sailing , bicycling and picnics along the shore . As was often the case , Wilson ' s relaxation and rest not only energized him but on occasion even extended to aggression , even combativeness . Back home , and also suffering with a case of grippe ( influenza ) , Wilson grimly commented on his future job that " this is not a rosewater affair ” ; and he further described the presidency as an office " in which a man must put on his war paint ” . He added that his type features would certainly not suffer from the disguise . At a banquet in Virginia celebrating his birthday , the president - elect expressed his bitterness for the lack of the Virginia delegation ' s convention support , saying " the trouble with some gentlemen was that they had ceased to believe in the Virginia bill of rights " . In Chicago , he addressed the Commercial Club , including some of the most powerful industrial and financial leaders of the Midwest ; he unapologetically emphasized his progressivism and called his audience to account for their malpractices in business affairs . In his inaugural address Wilson reiterated his agenda for lower tariffs and banking reform , as well as aggressive trust and labor legislation . To celebrate the inauguration , the Wilsons decided against an inaugural ball and instead gathered with family and friends at the White House . Wilson ' s demand for private reflection was evident when he immediately announced that office seekers were not permitted to visit the White House . His decision - making style was to use solitude in conjunction with prevailing opinions in making decisions . Wilson ' s personal staff reflected his preferences ; Tumulty ’ s provided a political buffer and intermediary with the press . His irrepressible Irish sentiment offset the president ' s often dour Scotch disposition . Another close member of his personal staff was his physician , Navy medical officer Cary T . Grayson , who familiarized himself with the president ' s medical history and confirmed the circulatory problem and hardening of the arteries . Wilson pioneered twice - weekly press conferences in the White House . Though they were modestly effective , the president prohibited his being quoted and was particularly indeterminate in his statements . The first such press conference was on March 15 , 1913 , when reporters were allowed to ask him questions . In 1913 , he also became the first president to deliver the State of the Union address in person since 1801 when Thomas Jefferson discontinued this practice . Wilson , the only Democrat besides Grover Cleveland to be elected president since 1856 , recognized his Party ' s need for high level federal patronage . Wilson was also the first Southerner elected to the White House since 1869 and worked closely with Southern Democrats . In Wilson ' s first month in office Postmaster General Albert S . Burleson and Treasury Secretary William G . McAdoo permitted lower level officials to racially segregate employees in those departments . Segregation in the federal government , which had begun earlier , now accelerated in accord with predominant public opinion . Heckscher argues that Wilson had indeed promised to deal generously with racial injustices , but did not deliver on these assurances , out of concern for his considerable legislative agenda . In an early and instructive foreign policy matter , Wilson responded to an angry protest by the Japanese when the state of California proposed legislation which excluded the Japanese from land ownership in the state . Wilson was reticent to assert federal supremacy over the state ' s legislation . There was talk of war and some argument within the cabinet for a show of naval force , which Wilson firmly rebuffed ; after diplomatic exchanges the scare subsided . Japan wanted a treaty ( beyond the Root – Takahira Agreement then in place ) but none was negotiated ; Japanese anger and humiliation remained high for this and other reasons for decades to come . In implementing economic policy , Wilson had to transcend the sharply opposing policy views of the Southern and agrarian wing of the Democratic Party led by Bryan , and the pro - business and Northern wing led by urban political bosses — Tammany in New York , Sullivan in Chicago and Smith and Nugent in Newark . In his Columbia lectures of 1907 Wilson had said " the whole art of statesmanship is the art of bringing the several parts of government into effective cooperation for the accomplishment of particular common objects " . As he took up the first item of his " New Freedom " agenda — lowering the tariffs — he quite adroitly applied this artistry . With large Democratic majorities in Congress and a healthy economy , he promptly seized the opportunity to effectuate his agenda . Wilson also made quick work of realizing his pledges to beef up antitrust regulation and to bring reform to banking and currency matters . While Wilson was busy with his prodigious legislative agenda , Ellen spent the summer and fall months of 1913 in Cornish , NH where she reprised her painting and was quite delighted doing so . She completed a number of New Hampshire landscapes which matched or exceeded the skills she had displayed up to that time . Though Wilson travelled to Cornish for brief visits , they both bemoaned their extended separation and frequently exchanged letters reflecting this and their affection for one another . Tariff legislation . To facilitate reduction of the tariffs , Wilson garnered unexpected support from a previous rival Oscar Underwood , Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee , and Sen . Furnifold M . Simmons , Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee . In May 1913 , the Underwood Tariff passed in the House by a vote of 274 to 5 ; it would take a bit longer passing in the Senate — in September — and was signed by Wilson three weeks later . Its effects were soon overwhelmed by the changes in trade caused by World War I . Wilson mobilized public opinion behind the tariff changes by denouncing corporate lobbyists in an address to Congress , and by staging an elaborate signing ceremony . The revenue lost by the lower tariff was replaced by a new federal income tax , authorized by the 16th Amendment . Federal Reserve System . Wilson had not waited for completion of the tariff legislation to proceed with his next item of reform — banking — which he initiated in June 1913 . After consulting with Brandeis , Wilson declared the banking system must be " public not private , must be vested in the government itself so that the banks must be the instruments , not the masters , of business . " He tried to find a middle ground between conservative Republicans , led by Senator Nelson W . Aldrich , and the powerful left wing of the Democratic party , led by William Jennings Bryan , who strenuously denounced private banks and Wall Street . The latter group wanted a government - owned central bank that could print paper money as Congress required . The compromise , based on the Aldrich Plan but sponsored by Democratic Congressmen Carter Glass and Robert Owen , allowed the private banks to control the 12 regional Federal Reserve Bank s , but appeased the agrarians by placing controlling interest in the System in a central board appointed by the president with Senate approval . Moreover , Wilson convinced Bryan ' s supporters that because Federal Reserve notes were obligations of the government , the plan met their demands for an elastic currency . Having 12 regional banks , with designated geographic districts , was meant to weaken the influence of the powerful New York banks , a key demand of Bryan ' s allies in the South and West , and was a key factor in winning Glass ' support . The Federal Reserve Act passed in December 1913 . Wilson named Paul Warburg and other prominent bankers to direct the new system . While power was supposed to be decentralized , the New York branch dominated the Fed as the " first among equals " . The new system began operations in 1915 and played a major role in financing the Allied and American war effort . The strengthening of the Federal Reserve was later a major accomplishment of the New Deal . At the end of 1913 , summing up the president ' s efficacy , the Saturday Evening Post stated , " This administration is Woodrow Wilson ' s and non - other ' s . He is the top , middle and bottom of it . There is not an atom of divided responsibility … the Democratic Party revolves about him . He is the center of it — the biggest Democrat in the country — the leader and the chief " . Antitrust and other measures . Wilson began pushing for legislation which culminated with the Federal Trade Commission Act signed in September 1914 . In doing so , Wilson broke with his predecessors ' practice of litigating the antitrust issue in the courts , known as trust - busting ; the new Federal Trade Commission provided a new regulatory approach , to encourage competition and reduce perceived unfair trade practices . In addition , he pushed through Congress the Clayton Antitrust Act making certain business practices illegal , such as price discrimination , agreements prohibiting retailers from handling other companies ' products , and directorates and agreements to control other companies . The power of this legislation was greater than that of previous anti - trust laws since it dictated accountability of individual corporate officers and clarified guidelines . This law was considered the " Magna Carta " of labor by Samuel Gompers because it ended union liability antitrust laws . In 1916 , under threat of a national railroad strike , Wilson approved legislation that increased wages and cut working hours of railroad employees ; there was no strike . In the summer of 1914 Wilson gained repeal of toll exemptions at the Panama Canal for American ships ; this was received positively by the international community , as a cessation of past discrimination against foreign commerce . The measure was considered unpatriotic by U . S . business interests and opponents such as Tammany Hall . With the President reaching out to new constituencies , a series of programs were targeted at farmers . The Smith – Lever Act of 1914 created the modern system of agricultural extension agents sponsored by the state agricultural colleges . The agents taught new techniques to farmers . The 1916 Federal Farm Loan Act provided for issuance of low - cost long - term mortgages to farmers . Child labor was curtailed by the Keating – Owen Act of 1916 , but the U . S . Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1918 . No major child labor prohibition would take effect until the 1930s . Mexican Revolution . In October 1913 when Mexico ' s president Victoriano Huerta summarily dissolved the Mexican Congress , Wilson withdrew diplomatic recognition , in an attempt to isolate him globally using a policy called " watchful waiting ” . This attempt appeared to be succeeding , with Britain and Germany for example , until Wilson removed an embargo on the shipment of arms to Huerta ’ s opposition , the Constitutionalists , led by Venustiano Carranza ; this was considered too destabilizing , and strengthened support for the existing government . Wilson defended his action , " we are the friends of constitutional government . . . because in no other way can our neighbors work out their own development in peace and liberty " . Wilson appeared to contradict himself soon after , telling the British ambassador that political stability in Mexico could only be achieved when a fair distribution of land was carried out . Wilson ' s ambiguity led to his being misunderstood and even mocked in regard to the matter . After a U . S . naval crew was briefly detained at Tampico disagreements intensified . Wilson received approval from the Congress to use military force if needed and later ordered an occupation of Vera Cruz , incorrectly assuming there would be little opposition . In fact , the action resulted in fatalities — 126 Mexicans and 19 Americans — and Wilson ' s reputation as a statesman suffered severely for a time both at home and abroad . His miscalculation may well have resulted from his wife Ellen ' s failing health at the time , which weighed heavily upon him . Wilson gladly accepted the offer of the so - called ABC powers — Argentina , Brazil and Chile — to mediate the Mexican dispute . With the negotiations prolonged in Niagara Falls , under mounting pressure Huerta fled to Spain and a month later Carranza victoriously entered Mexico City . Though the administration had achieved the desired result , it was a pyrrhic victory , as Carranza ' s lieutenant , Pancho Villa , presented a more serious threat in 1916 . Miners strike , wife ' s death and remarriage . In a 1914 dispute between Colorado miners and their company , a confrontation resulted in the Ludlow Massacre — the deaths of eight strikers , eleven children and two mothers . Part owner John D . Rockefeller , Jr . refused Wilson ' s offer of mediation , conditioned upon collective bargaining , so Wilson sent in U . S . troops . While Wilson succeeded in bringing order to the situation , and demonstrated support for the labor union , the miners ' unconditional surrender to the implacable owners was a defeat for Wilson . His wife Ellen ' s failing health , due to kidney failure , worsened in the spring of 1914 ; after a fall , she was bedridden , then rallied briefly , but Wilson wrote " my dear one … grows weaker and weaker , with a pathetic patience and sweetness " He was at her bedside to the end , which came August 6 , when Wilson despairingly said " Oh my God , what am I to do . " Wilson later wrote accurately of his mourning and depression , " Of course you know what has happened to me … God has stricken me almost beyond what I can bear " . Six Months of depression followed for him , though mourning continued . At the same time that Wilson ' s private world shattered , World War I broke out in Europe , and this momentously changed his political life . In January 1915 , Wilson emerged from his depression during a spirited speech in Indianapolis where he said , " the trouble with the Republican Party is that it has not had a new idea for thirty years … the Republican Party is still a covert and a refuge for those who are afraid , for those who want to consult their grandfathers about everything . " Another sign of Wilson ’ s emotional restoration was the aggressiveness with which he pursued passage of a ship - purchase bill to bulk up the inadequately equipped merchant marine . This lasted until March 1915 , when he moderated , drew back from the bill and , without its passage , congratulated the Congress for its work in the session just ended — his initial journey through mourning was evident . In February 1915 Wilson had met Edith Bolling Galt , an attractive southern widow and jeweler . After several meetings , he fell in love and in May Wilson proposed . He was rebuffed initially but Wilson was undeterred and the courtship continued . Edith initially did not pursue the furtherance of their physical interaction with the vigor of Wilson , but she gradually warmed to the relationship and they became secretly engaged in the fall of 1915 . Many in Wilson ' s camp had become concerned about the appearance of a premature romance soon after the death of his wife ; the engagement was made public in October and they were married on December 18 . World War I , 1914 – 1916 . From 1914 until early 1917 Wilson ' s primary objective was to keep America out of the war in Europe , and his policy was , " the true spirit of neutrality , which is the spirit of impartiality and fairness and friendliness to all concerned . " Wilson addressed the Congress in 1914 , " Such divisions amongst us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the one great nation at peace , the one people holding itself ready to play a part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and accommodation , not as a partisan , but as a friend . " He made numerous offers to mediate and sent Colonel House on diplomatic missions ; however , the Allies and the Central Powers dismissed the overtures . Wilson even thought it counterproductive to comment on atrocities by either side ; this led to assertions of heartlessness on his part . Republicans , led by Theodore Roosevelt , criticized Wilson ' s refusal to build up the U . S . Army in anticipation of war , but Wilson retained the support of the peace element , including women and the religious . Britain declared a blockade of neutral ships carrying contraband goods to Germany . Wilson mildly protested non - lethal British violations of neutral rights ; the British knew it wasn ' t a " casus belli " for the U . S . In early 1915 Germany declared the waters around Great Britain to be a war zone ; Wilson dispatched a note of protest , imposing " strict accountability " on Germany for the safety of neutral ships . The meaning of the policy , dubiously applied to specific incidents , evolved with the policy of neutrality , but ultimately formed the substance of U . S . responses over the next two years . The commercial British steamship " Falaba " was sunk in March 1915 by a German submarine with the loss of 111 lives , including one American in the Thrasher Incident . Wilson chose to avoid risking escalation of the war as a result of the loss of one American . In the spring of 1915 a German bomb struck an American ship , the " Cushing " and a German submarine torpedoed an American tanker , the " Gulflight " . Wilson took the view , based on some reasonable evidence , that both incidents were accidental , and that a settlement of claims could be postponed to the end of the war . A German submarine torpedoed and sank the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania in May 1915 ; over a thousand perished , including many Americans . In a Philadelphia speech that weekend Wilson said , " There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight . There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right " . Many reacted to these remarks with contempt . Wilson sent a subdued note to the Germans protesting its submarine warfare against commerce ; the initial reply was evasive and received in the United States with indignation . Secretary of State Bryan , a dedicated pacifist , sensing the country ’ s path to war , resigned , and was replaced by Robert Lansing . The White Star liner the " Arabic " was then torpedoed , with two American casualties . The U . S . threatened a diplomatic break unless Germany repudiated the action ; the German ambassador then conveyed a note , " liners will not be sunk by our submarines ” . Wilson had not stopped the submarine campaign , but won agreement that unarmed merchant ships would not be sunk without warning ; and most importantly he had kept the U . S . out of the war . Meanwhile , Wilson requested and received funds in the final 1916 appropriations bill to provide for 500 , 000 troops . It also included a five - year Navy plan for major construction of battleships , cruisers , destroyers and submarines — showing Wilson ' s dedication to a big Navy . In March 1916 the " Sussex " , an unarmed ferry under the French flag , was torpedoed in the English Channel and four Americans were counted among the dead ; the Germans had flouted the post - " Lusitania " exchanges . The president demanded the Germans reject their submarine tactics . Wilson drew praise when he succeeded in wringing from Germany a pledge to constrain their U - boat warfare to the rules of cruiser warfare . This was a clear departure from existing practices — a diplomatic concession from which Germany could only more brazenly withdraw , and regrettably did . Coincidentally , early 1916 brought two separate Mexican incidents in which thirty - six Americans were killed by the forces of Pancho Villa ; Wilson ordered Gen . John Pershing and 4000 troops across the border to reinforce Carranza . In early April , though Villa had not been captured , Pershing ' s forces had broken up and dispersed his bands ; yet , the forces continued their pursuit . Carranza then pivoted against the Americans and accused them of a punitive invasion ; a confrontation in Parral resulted in two dead Americans and two wounded , plus hundreds of Mexican casualties . Pershing , recommending the railroads be seized and the country occupied , was ordered by Wilson to withdraw . Wilson made a plea for postwar union in May 1916 ; his speech recited the right of every nation to its sovereignty , territorial integrity and freedom from aggression . " So sincerely do we believe these things ” , Wilson said , " that I am sure that I speak the mind and wish of the people of America when I say that the United States is willing to become a partner in any feasible association of nations formed in order to realize these objectives ” . At home the speech was seen as a turning point in policy . In Europe the words were received by the British and the French without comment . His harshest European critics rightly thought the speech reflected indifference on Wilson ’ s part ; indeed , Wilson never wavered from a belief that the war was the result of corrupt European power politics . Wilson made his final offer to mediate peace on December 18 , 1916 . As a preliminary , he asked both sides to state their minimum terms necessary for future security . The Central Powers replied that victory was certain , and the Allies required the dismemberment of their enemies ' empires ; no desire for peace existed , and the offer lapsed . Presidential Election of 1916 . Wilson ' s remarriage rejuvenated his personal aspirations for re - election . Edith Wilson enjoyed , as Ellen never had , the crowds and the power as a close collaborator with her husband . Executive decisions just prior to the campaign also enabled Wilson to bolster his political mastery . He was presented with a vacancy on the Supreme Court , which he succeeded in filling with a controversial nominee , Louis Brandeis , the first Jewish member of the court . Also , in the summer of 1916 the nation ’ s economy was endangered by a railroad strike . The president called the parties to a White House summit in August — after two days and no results , Wilson proceeded to settle the issue , using the maximum eight hour work day as the linchpin . Once the Congress passed the Adamson bill incorporating the president ’ s proposal , the strike was cancelled . Wilson was praised for averting a national economic disaster , though the law was received with howls from conservatives denouncing a sellout to the unions and a surrender by Congress to an imperious president . In the campaign , McCombs was replaced as chairman of the Democratic Party by Vance C . McCormick , a leading progressive , and Ambassador Henry Morgenthau was recalled from Turkey to manage campaign finances . " Colonel " House played an important role in the campaign . " He planned its structure ; set its tone ; helped guide its finance ; chose speakers , tactics , and strategy ; and , not least , handled the campaign ' s greatest asset and greatest potential liability : its brilliant but temperamental candidate . " Wilson , renominated without opposition , employed his campaign slogan " He kept us out of war " , though he never promised unequivocally to stay out of the war . In his acceptance speech on September 2 , 1916 , Wilson pointedly warned Germany that submarine warfare resulting in American deaths would not be tolerated , saying " The nation that violates these essential rights must expect to be checked and called to account by direct challenge and resistance . It at once makes the quarrel in part our own . " As the Party platform was drafted , Senator Owen of Oklahoma urged Wilson to take ideas from the Progressive Party platform of 1912 “ as a means of attaching to our party progressive Republicans who are in sympathy with us in so large a degree . ” At Wilson ' s request , Owen highlighted federal legislation to promote workers ’ health and safety , prohibit child labour , provide unemployment compensation and establish minimum wages and maximum hours . Wilson , in turn , included in his draft platform a plank that called for all work performed by and for the federal government to provide a minimum wage , an eight - hour day and six - day workweek , health and safety measures , the prohibition of child labour , and ( his own additions ) safeguards for female workers and a retirement program . Wilson ' s opponent was Republican Charles Evans Hughes , former governor of New York with a progressive record similar to Wilson ' s as governor of New Jersey . Theodore Roosevelt commented that the only thing different between Hughes and Wilson was a shave . However , Hughes had to try to hold together a coalition of conservative Taft supporters and progressive Roosevelt partisans , and his campaign never assumed a definite form . Wilson ran on his record and ignored Hughes , reserving his attacks for Roosevelt . When asked why he did not attack Hughes directly , Wilson told a friend , " Never murder a man who is committing suicide . " The election outcome was in doubt for several days and was determined by several close states . Wilson won California by 3 , 773 of almost a million votes cast , and New Hampshire by 54 votes . Hughes won Minnesota by 393 votes out of over 358 , 000 . In the final count , Wilson had 277 electoral votes vs . Hughes ' s 254 . Wilson was able to win by picking up many votes that had gone to Teddy Roosevelt or Eugene V . Debs in 1912 . By the time Hughes ' concession telegram arrived , Wilson commented " it was a little moth - eaten when it got here " . Second term , 1917 – 1921 . Wilson was aggravated with the British for ignoring his suggestion of a postwar league of nations ; he also objected to their seizure of mail from neutral ships and their blacklisting of firms trading with Britain ' s enemies . Britain also appeared hypocritical in its handling of a rebellion in Northern Ireland , with their execution of prisoners in Dublin , while claiming to defend the rights of other subjugated peoples in fighting Germany . Wilson reacted with restraint — in the War of 1812 the U . S . had been ill - served by attempts to retaliate against Britain . Wilson insisted a league of nations was the solution to ending the war . Wilson found it increasingly difficult to maintain neutrality , after Germany rescinded earlier promises — the Arabic pledge and the Sussex pledge . Early in 1917 Johann von Bernstorf , the German ambassador to the United States informed Lansing of Germany ' s commitment to unrestricted submarine warfare — with tears in his eyes — knowing the U . S reaction would adversely effect his country ' s lot . Then came the revelation of the Zimmermann Telegram , in which Germany attempted to enlist Mexico as an ally , promising Mexico that if Germany was victorious , she would support Mexico in winning back the states of Texas , New Mexico and Arizona from the U . S . Wilson ' s reaction after consulting the cabinet and the Congress was a minimal one — that diplomatic relations with the Germans be brought to a halt . The president said , " We are the sincere friends of the German people and earnestly desire to remain at peace with them . We shall not believe they are hostile to us unless or until we are obliged to believe it " . In March 1917 several American ships were sunk by Germany and Teddy Roosevelt reacted , " if he does not go to war I shall skin him alive ” . Wilson called a cabinet meeting on March 20 , in which the vote was unanimous for war . War declared and allied association . Wilson delivered his " War Message " to a special session of Congress on April 2 , 1917 , declaring that Germany ' s latest pronouncement had rendered his " armed neutrality " policy untenable and asking Congress to declare Germany ' s war stance was an act of war . He proposed the United States enter the war to " vindicate principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power " . The German government , Wilson said , " means to stir up enemies against us at our very doors " . He then also warned that " if there should be disloyalty , it will be dealt with a firm hand of repression . " Wilson closed with the following , " We have no quarrel with the German people . We have no feeling towards them but one of sympathy and friendship . We are glad to fight for the ultimate peace of the world … the German people included : for the rights of nations great and small and for the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and obedience . The world must be made safe for democracy " . The declaration of war by the United States against Germany passed by strong Congressional majorities on April 4 , 1917 , and was approved by the President on April 6 , 1917 . The U . S . did not sign a formal alliance with the United Kingdom or France but operated as an " associated " power . The U . S . raised a massive army through conscription and Wilson gave command to General John J . Pershing , with complete authority as to tactics , strategy and some diplomacy . Edward M . House , Wilson ' s key unofficial foreign affairs advisor , became the president ' s main channel of communication with the British , and William Wiseman , a British naval attaché , was House ’ s principal contact in England . Their personal relationship succeeded in serving the powers well , by overcoming strained relations in order to achieve essential understandings between the two governments . House also became the U . S . representative on the Allies ' Supreme War Council . March 1917 also brought the Bolshevik revolution in Russia , which impacted the strategic role of the U . S . in the war . The overthrow of the Czar removed a serious barrier to America ' s entry into the European conflict ; at the same time , the revolt also relieved the Germans of a major threat on their eastern front , and allowed them to dedicate more troops to the Western front , thus making U . S . forces central to Allied success in battles of 1918 . Wilson initially rebuffed pleas from the Allies to dedicate military resources to an intervention in Russia , based partially on his experience from attempted intervention in Mexico ; nevertheless he ultimately was convinced of the potential benefit and agreed to dispatch a limited force to assist the Allies on the eastern front . The Germans launched an offensive at Arras which prompted an accelerated deployment of troops by Wilson to the Western front — by August 1918 a million American troops had reached France . The Allies initiated a counter offensive at Somme and by August the Germans had lost the military initiative and an Allied victory was in sight . In October came a message from the new German Chancellor Prince Max of Baden to Wilson requesting a general armistice . In the exchange of notes with Germany they agreed the Fourteen Points in principle be incorporated in the armistice ; House then procured agreement from France and Britain , but only after threatening to conclude a unilateral armistice without them . Gen . Pershing , in a letter to Wilson considered unfitting , disagreed entirely with the armistice and recommended an unconditional surrender by Germany . Home front . The War Industries Board , headed by Bernard Baruch , was established to set U . S . war manufacturing policies and goals ; future President Herbert Hoover lead the Food Administration , to conserve food ; the Federal Fuel Administration , run by Henry Garfield , introduced daylight saving time and rationed fuel supplies ; William McAdoo was in charge of war bond efforts and Vance McCormick headed the War Trade Board . All of the above , known collectively as the " war cabinet " , met weekly with Wilson at the White House . These and other bodies were headed by businessmen recruited by Wilson for a - dollar - a - day salary to make the government more efficient in the war effort . More favorable treatment was extended to those unions that supported the U . S . war effort , such as the American Federation of Labor ( AFL ) . Wilson worked closely with Samuel Gompers and the AFL , the railroad brotherhoods , and other ' moderate ' unions , which saw enormous growth in membership and wages during Wilson ' s administration . In the absence of rationing consumer prices soared ; income taxes also increased and workers suffered . Despite this , appeals to buy war bond s were highly successful . The purchase of wartime bonds had the result of shifting the cost of the war to the affluent 1920s . Antiwar groups , anarchists , communists , Industrial Workers of the World members , and other labor groups attempting to sabotage the war effort were targeted by the Department of Justice ; many of their leaders were arrested for incitement to violence , espionage , or sedition . Wilson also established the first western propaganda office , the United States Committee on Public Information , headed by George Creel , the " Creel Commission " , which circulated patriotic anti - German appeals and conducted censorship of materials considered seditious . To further counter disloyalty to the war effort at home , Wilson pushed through Congress the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 to suppress anti - British , pro - German , or anti - war statements . While he welcomed socialists who supported the war , he pushed at the same time to arrest and deport foreign - born enemies . Many recent immigrants , resident aliens without U . S . citizenship , who opposed America ' s participation in the war were deported to Soviet Russia or other nations under the powers granted in the Immigration Act of 1918 . In an effort at reform and to shake up his Mobilization program , Wilson removed the chief of the Army Signal Corps and the chairman of the Aircraft Production Board on April 18 , 1918 . On May 16 , the President launched an investigation , headed by Republican Charles Evans Hughes , into the War Department and the Council of Defense . The Hughes report released on October 31 found no major corruption violations or theft in Wilson ' s Mobilization program , although the report found incompetence in the aircraft program . With congressional elections approaching , in 1918 Wilson made an appeal to the public for the retention of a Democratic majority and this seriously backfired due to its self - serving tone – Republicans successfully picked up majorities in both houses of Congress . The Fourteen Points . Wilson initiated a secret series of studies named The Inquiry , primarily focused on Europe , and carried out by a group in New York which included geographers , historians and political scientists ; the group was directed by Col . House . The studies culminated in a speech by Wilson to Congress on January 8 , 1918 , wherein he articulated America ' s long term war objectives . It was the clearest expression of intention made by any of the belligerent nations . The speech , known as the Fourteen Points , was authored mainly by Walter Lippmann and projected Wilson ' s progressive domestic policies into the international arena . The first six dealt with diplomacy , freedom of the seas and settlement of colonial claims . Then territorial issues were addressed and the final point , the establishment of an association of nations to guarantee the independence and territorial integrity of all nations — a League of Nations . The address was translated into many languages for global dissemination . Peace Conference 1919 . When the time came , Wilson spent six months in Paris for the Peace Conference — thereby the first U . S . president to travel to Europe while in office , and the first to visit the Pope . Wilson disembarked from the " George Washington " in Brest on December 13 ; he took a break from the negotiations and departed February 14 , 1919 for home , then returned to Paris three weeks later and remained until the conclusion of a treaty in June . Heckscher describes Wilson , during the first four weeks of the Conference as , “ playing , with force and discretion , a commanding role … he established his priorities , secured accommodation on major issues and won preliminary acceptance of the League . He promoted his plan in France , and then at home in February Wilson gave a speech at the Metropolitan Opera House in defense of the League — he was more insistent about it than ever . Heckscher contends that the enduring image of Wilson as a grim , unsmiling and unforgiving figure dates from this visit home during the conference . While the general public along with editorial writers , churches and peace groups generally favored the League , the Republicans vowed to defeat the League and discredit Wilson . Wilson notably did not address the Congress as to ongoing deliberations at the peace conference , as indeed his counterpart Lloyd George did with Parliament . Heckscher opines that this was a missed opportunity to forge the debate even though the Congressional majority had changed . In France he was without the usual control over his message through the media ; in fact , the French initiated an aggressive propaganda campaign in the midst of the Conference to effect its outcome . At the conclusion of the visit home Wilson suffered an illness en route to France ; the ensuing months brought a decline in health and in power and prestige . On arrival , it was immediately clear the conference had struggled in his absence — Col . House had compromised Wilson ' s prior gains , and Wilson set out to attempt to regain the lost ground . During these " dark days " of the conference Taft cabled to Wilson three proposed amendments to the League covenant which he thought would considerably increase its acceptability to the Europeans — the right of withdrawal from the League , the exemption of domestic issues from the League and the inviolability of the Monroe Doctrine . Wilson very reluctantly accepted these amendments , explaining why he later was more inflexible in the Senate treaty negotiations . On April 3 Wilson fell violently ill during a conference meeting , in a narrow escape from influenza . Though his symptoms receded within a couple of days , those around him noticed a distinct , lasting deterioration . The charter of the proposed League of Nations was incorporated into the conference ' s Treaty of Versailles . Japan proposed that the Covenant include a racial equality clause . Wilson was indifferent to the issue , but acceded to strong opposition from Australia and Britain . After the conference , Wilson said that " at last the world knows America as the savior of the world ! " For his peace - making efforts , Wilson was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize . John Maynard Keynes , an anti - Wilson and anti - League intellectual , asserted Wilson was not well regarded at the Conference , " . . . he was in many respects . . . ill - informed as to European conditions . . . his mind was slow and unadaptable . . . There can seldom have been a statesman of the first rank more incompetent than the President in the agilities of the council chamber . " Keynes ' highly regarded rhetoric became the prevailing judgment of the conference for decades . Treaty fight , 1919 . The chances were less than favorable for ratification of the treaty by a two - thirds vote of the Republican Senate . Public opinion was mixed , with intense opposition from most Republicans , Germans , and Irish Catholic Democrats . In numerous meetings with Senators Wilson discovered hardened opposition had hardened . Despite his weakened physical condition Wilson decided to barnstorm the Western states , scheduling 29 major speeches and many short ones to rally support . Wilson had earlier downplayed Germany ' s as guilt in starting the war by calling for " peace without victory " , but he had taken an increasingly hard stand at Paris and rejected advice to soften the treaty ' s treatment of Germany . In a reversal of his earlier position , in summer 1919 Wilson repeatedly stressed Germany ' s guilt , saying the treaty , " seeks to punish one of the greatest wrongs ever done in history , the wrong which Germany sought to do to the world and to civilization ; and there ought to be no weak purpose with regard to the application of the punishment . She attempted an intolerable thing , and she must be made to pay for the attempt . " Wilson had a series of debilitating strokes and had to cut short his trip on September 26 , 1919 . He became an invalid in the White House , closely monitored by his wife , who insulated him from negative news and downplayed for him the gravity of his condition . Senator Lodge led the opposition to the treaty in the Republican controlled Senate ; the key point of disagreement was whether the League would diminish the power of Congress to declare war . It proved possible to build a majority for the treaty in the Senate , but the two - thirds coalition needed to ratify was insurmountable . One block of Democrats strongly supported the Versailles Treaty ; a second group supported the Treaty but followed Wilson in opposing any amendments or reservations . The largest bloc — Lodge and the Republicans — wanted a treaty with reservations , especially on Article X , which empowered the League of Nations to make war without a vote by the United States Congress . Finally , a bipartisan group of 13 " irreconcilables " opposed a treaty in any form . In mid - November 1919 Lodge and his Republicans formed a coalition with the pro - Treaty Democrats , and were close to a two - thirds majority for a Treaty with reservations ; but the seriously indisposed Wilson rejected this compromise and enough Democrats followed his lead to defeat ratification . Cooper and Bailey suggest that Wilson ' s stroke in September had debilitated him from negotiating effectively with Lodge . Post war : 1919 – 1920 . Wilson ' s administration did effectively demobilize the country at the war ' s end . A plan to form a commission for the purpose was abandoned in the face of Republican control the Senate , which complicated the appointment of commission members . Instead , Wilson favored the prompt dismantling of wartime boards and regulatory agencies . Demobilization was chaotic and violent ; four million soldiers were sent home with little planning , little money , few benefits , and other vague promises . A wartime bubble in prices of farmland burst , leaving many farmers deeply in debt after they purchased new land . Major strikes in the steel , coal , and meatpacking industries disrupted the economy in 1919 . Racial animosity erupted in serious race riots of ethnic whites against blacks in Chicago , Omaha , and two dozen other major cities in the North . As the election of 1920 approached , Wilson momentarily imagined that a deadlocked Democratic convention might nominate him for a third term with a campaign focused on the League of Nations . No one around the President adequately clarified for him that he was too incapacitated , had insufficient support , and that the League defeat was irreversible . In retirement , Wilson harbored hopes for a White House run in 1924 despite the absence of substantial support . Other foreign affairs . Wilson frequently intervened in Latin American affairs , saying in 1913 : " I am going to teach the South American republics to elect good men . " These interventions included Mexico in 1914 , Haiti , Dominican Republic in 1916 , Cuba in 1917 , and Panama in 1918 . The U . S . maintained troops in Nicaragua throughout the Wilson administration and used them to select the president of Nicaragua and then to force Nicaragua to pass the Bryan - Chamorro Treaty . American troops in Haiti , under the command of the federal government , forced the Haitian legislature to choose as Haitian president the candidate Wilson selected . Wilson ordered the military occupation of the Dominican Republic shortly after the resignation of its President Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra in 1916 . The U . S . military worked in concert with wealthy Dominican landowners to suppress the " gavilleros " , a " campesino " guerrilla force fighting the occupation . The occupation lasted until 1924 , and was notorious for its brutality against those in the resistance . Wilson also negotiated a treaty with Colombia in which the U . S . apologized for its role in the Panama Revolution of 1903 – 1904 . After Russia left World War I following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 , the Allies sent troops there to prevent a German or Bolshevik takeover of allied - provided weapons , munitions and other supplies previously shipped as aid to the pre - revolutionary government . Wilson sent armed forces to assist the withdrawal of Czechoslovak Legions along the Trans - Siberian Railway , and to hold key port cities at Arkangel and Vladivostok . Though specifically instructed not to engage the Bolsheviks , the U . S . forces engaged in several armed conflicts against forces of the new Russian government . Revolutionaries in Russia resented the American intrusion . As Robert Maddox puts it , " The immediate effect of the intervention was to prolong a bloody civil war , thereby costing thousands of additional lives and wreaking enormous destruction on an already battered society . " Wilson withdrew most of the soldiers on April 1 , 1920 , though some remained until as late as 1922 . In 1919 , Wilson guided American foreign policy to " acquiesce " in the Balfour Declaration without supporting Zionism in an official way . Wilson expressed sympathy for the plight of Jews , especially in Poland and in France . In May 1920 , Wilson sent a long - deferred proposal to Congress to have the U . S . accept a mandate from the League of Nations to take over Armenia . Bailey notes this was opposed by American public opinion , while Richard G . Hovannisian states that Wilson " made all the wrong arguments " for the mandate and focused less on the immediate policy than on how history would judge his actions : " [ he ] wished to place it clearly on the record that the abandonment of Armenia was not his doing . " The resolution won the votes of only 23 senators . Incapacity . The immediate cause of Wilson ' s incapacity in September 1919 was the physical strain of the public speaking tour he undertook in support of ratification of Treaty of Versailles . In Pueblo , Colorado , on September 25 , 1919 , he collapsed and never fully recovered . On October 2 , 1919 , he suffered a serious stroke , leaving him paralyzed on his left side , and with only partial vision in the right eye . He was confined to bed for weeks and sequestered from everyone except his wife and physician , Dr . Cary Grayson . For some months he used a wheelchair and later he required use of a cane . His wife and aide Joe Tumulty were said to have helped a journalist , Louis Seibold , present a false account of an interview with the President . He was insulated by his wife , who selected matters for his attention and delegated others to his cabinet . Wilson temporarily resumed a perfunctory attendance at cabinet meetings . By February 1920 , the President ' s true condition was public . Many expressed qualms about Wilson ' s fitness for the presidency at a time when the League fight was reaching a climax , and domestic issues such as strikes , unemployment , inflation and the threat of Communism were ablaze . No one , including his wife , his physician or personal assistant were willing to take upon themselves responsibility for the certification , required by the Constitution , of his " inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office " . This complex case became a motivation for passage of the 25th Amendment . Woman ' s suffrage . Wilson favored woman suffrage at the state level , but held off support for a nationwide constitutional amendment because his party was sharply divided , with the South opposing an amendment on the grounds of state ' s rights . In any case the only Southern state to give their women the vote was Arkansas . The National Woman ' s Party ( NWP ) in 1917 - 1919 launched a highly visible campaign attacking Wilson and his party for not enacting an amendment . Wilson , however , kept in close touch with the much larger and more moderate suffragists of the National American Woman Suffrage Association . He continued to hold off until he was sure the Democratic Party in the North was supportive ; the 1917 referendum in New York State in favor of suffrage proved decisive for him . In January , 1918 , Wilson went in person to the House and made a strong and widely published appeal to the House to pass the bill . It passed but the Senate stalled until 1919 then finally sent the amendment to the states for ratification . Behn argues that : Civil rights . Several historians have criticized a number of Wilson ' s policies on racial grounds . According to critics , Wilson believed that slavery was wrong on economic labor grounds , rather than for moral reasons . They also argue that he idealized the slavery system in the South , viewing masters as patient with " indolent " slaves . In terms of Reconstruction , they argue that Wilson held the common southern view that the South was demoralized by Northern carpetbaggers and that overreach on the part of the Radical Republicans justified extreme measures to reassert Democratic national and state governments . Wilson ' s War Department drafted hundreds of thousands of blacks into the army , giving them equal pay with whites , but in accord with military policy from the Civil War through the Second World War , kept them in all - black units with white officers , and kept the great majority out of combat . When a delegation of blacks protested the discriminatory actions , Wilson told them " segregation is not a humiliation but a benefit , and ought to be so regarded by you gentlemen . " In 1918 , W . E . B . Du Bois — a leader of the NAACP who had campaigned for Wilson — was offered an Army commission in charge of dealing with race relations ; DuBois accepted , but he failed his Army physical and did not serve . While president of Princeton University , Wilson had discouraged blacks from applying for admission , preferring to keep the peace among white students and alumni . Wilson ' s " History of the American People " ( 1901 ) explained the Ku Klux Klan of the late 1860s as a lawless reaction to a lawless period . Wilson wrote that the Klan " began to attempt by intimidation what they were not allowed to attempt by the ballot or by any ordered course of public action " . Administration and Cabinet . Wilson ' s chief of staff ( " Secretary " ) was Joseph Patrick Tumulty from 1913 to 1921 , but he was largely upstaged after 1916 when Wilson ' s second wife , Edith Bolling Galt Wilson , assumed full control of Wilson ' s schedule . The most important foreign policy advisor and confidant was " Colonel " Edward M . House until Wilson broke with him in early 1919 , for his missteps at the peace conference in Wilson ' s absence . Supreme Court . Wilson appointed three Associate Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States : Other courts . Along with his Supreme Court appointments , Wilson appointed 75 federal judges , including three Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States , 20 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals , and 52 judges to the United States district courts . Retirement , death and personal affairs . In 1921 , Wilson and his wife Edith retired from the White House to an elegant 1915 town house in the Embassy Row ( Kalorama ) section of Washington , D . C . Wilson continued daily drives , and attended Keith ' s vaudeville theatre on Saturday nights . Wilson was one of only two Presidents ( Theodore Roosevelt was the first ) to have served as president of the American Historical Association . Wilson attended only two state occasions in his retirement : the ceremonies preceding the burial of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery , in Arlington , Virginia , on Armistice Day ( November 11 ) , 1921 ; and President Warren G . Harding ' s state funeral in the U . S . Capitol on August 8 , 1923 . On November 10 , 1923 , Wilson made a short Armistice Day radio speech from the library of his home , his last national address . The following day he spoke briefly from the front steps to more than 20 , 000 well wishers gathered outside the house . On February 3 , 1924 , Wilson died at home of a stroke and other heart - related problems . He was interred in a sarcophagus in Washington National Cathedral , the only president interred in Washington , D . C . Mrs . Wilson stayed in the home another 37 years , dying there on December 28 , 1961 , Wilson ' s birthday and the day she was to be the guest of honor at the opening of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge across the Potomac River near and in Washington , D . C . Wilson wrote his one - page will on May 31 , 1917 , and appointed his wife Edith as his executrix . He left his daughter Margaret an annuity of $ 2 , 500 annually for as long as she remained unmarried , and left to his daughters what had been his first wife ' s personal property . The rest he left to Edith as a life estate with the provision that at her death , his daughters would divide the estate among themselves . In the event that Edith had a child , her children would inherit on an equal footing with his daughters . As the second Mrs . Wilson had no children from either of her marriages , he was thus providing for the child of a possible subsequent third marriage on her part . Legacy . In recognition of having signed on March 2 , 1917 the so - called " Jones Act " that granted United States citizenship to Puerto Ricans , streets in several municipalities in the U . S . territory were renamed " Calle Wilson " , including one in the Mariani neighborhood in Ponce and the Condado section of San Juan . The largest denomination of U . S . currency ever printed , the $ 100 , 000 bill bears Wilson ' s portrait ( meant for use only among Federal Reserve Bank s ; fewer than a dozen regular notes of this type were printed ) . The USS " Woodrow Wilson " ( SSBN - 624 ) , a Lafayette - class ballistic missile submarine , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Wilson . She later was converted into an attack submarine and redesignated SSN - 624 . The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs was founded at Princeton in 1930 . It was created in the spirit of Wilson ' s interest in preparing students for leadership in public and international affairs . Shadow Lawn , the Summer White House for Wilson during his term in office , became part of Monmouth University in 1956 . The college has placed a marker on the building , renamed Woodrow Wilson Hall , commemorating the home . It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985 . In 1944 , Darryl F . Zanuck of 20th Century Fox produced a film titled " Wilson " . It looked back with nostalgia to Wilson ' s presidency , especially concerning his role as commander - in - chief during World War I . A section of the Rambla of Montevideo , Uruguay , is named Rambla Presidente Wilson . A street in the 16th " arondissement " in Paris , running from Trocadéro to the Place de l ' Alma , is named the Avenue du Président Wilson . The Pont Wilson crosses the Rhône river in the center of Lyon , France . The Boulevard du Président Wilson extends from the main train station of Strasbourg and connects to the Boulevard Clemenceau . In Bordeaux , the Boulevard du Président Wilson links to the Boulevard George V . The Quai du Président Wilson forms part of the port of Marseille . Praha hlavní nádraží , the main railway station of Prague has , for much of its history , been known as the " Wilson Station " ( Czech : Wilsonovo nádraží ) . The in Ghent , Belgium . In 2010 , Wilson was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame .