Home > World War I > Woodrow Wilson Biography

December 28, 1856
Staunton, Virginia
February 3, 1924
Washington, D.C.

President, scholar, frustrated peacemaker

Woodrow Wilson, a scholar and university president who entered public life after a successful academic career, is regarded as one of the most influential presidents in U.S. history, largely because of his leadership during World War I and his earnest, though unsuccessful campaign to persuade the U.S. Senate to join the League of Nations, an international assembly that would encourage nations to resolve their disputes through peaceful means. A Democrat, Wilson served as the twenty-eighth president of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. In his first term, he was able to concentrate on his domestic "New Freedom" programs, which increased the power of the federal government to regulate business and the economy.

Wilson's second term was overshadowed by...