Woodrow Wilson was elected the 28th US President in the US Presidential Election 1912 and continued in his office till 1921 after being re-elected in the US Presidential Election 1916. As a stalwart of the Democratic Party, he has defeated Republican rivals as formidable as William Howard Taft and theodore Roosevelt.
It was during the reign of Woodrow Wilson that US sent its army in the World War I.Despite taking part in the World War I, Wilson took many radical measures to restore peace in the world. the peace initiatives won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919.
Woodrow Wilson was born in the year 1856 in Virginia. He was fathered by Reverend Dr. Joseph Wilson. Woodrow Wilson spent a large portion of his childhood in Georgia. He also stayed in South Carolina and North Carolina. Finally he graduated from Princeton. He earned his Ph.D. in the subjects of Political Science and History in 1886 from Johns Hopkins University. He made a mark in the history of US Presidents for being the only President with a Ph.D.
In the early part of his career, Woodrow Wilson served as a faculty in a number of institutions namely Wesleyan University, Bryn Mawr College, Evelyn College for Women, New York Law School, and Princeton University. The trustees of the Princeton University elected Woodrow Wilson as its president. He resigned from the Princeton University in 1909 after which, he moved into the state politics of New Jersey.
Woodrow Wilson was elected the New Jersey Governor on the ticket of Democratic Party. During his tenure as the Governor, the public utility commission was revamped. the compensation for the workers was introduced as well.
In the US Presidential Election 1912, Woodrow Wilson won a large number of electoral votes, which helped him become the US President. During his Presidential tenure, Wilson approved a number of Acts into laws.
Facts about Abraham Lincoln |
|
|---|---|
| Full Name: | Abraham Lincoln |
| Date of Birth: | February 12, 1809, Hodgenville, Kentucky |
| Died on: | April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C. |
| Burial site: | Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois |
| Parents: | Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln; Sarah Bush Johnston (stepmother) |
| Spouse: | Marry Todd (1818-1882; m. 1842) |
| Children: | Robert Todd (1843-1926); Edward Baker (1846-1850); William Wallace (1850-1862); Thomas “Tad” (1853-1871) |
| Religion: | No formal affiliation |
| Education: | No formal education |
| Profession(s): | Lawyer |
| Government ranks: | Illinois state legislator; U.S. Representative from Illinois |
| Political party: | Republican |
| President Term: | March 4, 1861-March 4, 1865 (first term); March 4, 1865-April 15, 1865 (second term) |
| Age when assumed office: | 52 |
Presidential Term and its details |
|
|---|---|
| Dates: | March 4, 1861-March 4, 1865 (first term); March 4, 1865-April 15, 1865 (second term) |
| Vice President: | Hannibal Hamlin (1861-65) |
| Secretary of the Interior | Caleb B. Smith (1861-62) |
| John P. Usher (1863-65) | |
Outcome of the Elections |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | Presidential / Vice Presidential Candidates | Popular votes | Electoral votes |
| Abraham Lincoln / Hannibal Hamlin (Republican) | 1866452 | 180 | |
| John C. Breckinridge / Joseph Lane (Democratic [Southern]) | 847953 | 72 | |
| John Bell / Edward Everett (Constitutional Union [American]) | 590631 | 39 | |
| Stephen A. Douglas / Herschel V. Johnson (Democratic [Northern]) | 1375157 | 12 | |
| 1864 | Presidential / Vice Presidential Candidates | Popular votes | Electoral votes |
| Abraham Lincoln / Andrew Johnson (Republican [National Union]) | 2213635 | 212 | |
| George B. McClellan / George H. Pendleton (Democratic) | 1805237 | 21 | |
Snapshot of Abraham Lincoln’s life |
|
|---|---|
| 1809 | Born in Kentucky |
| 1835-36 | Serves in Illinois state legislature |
| 1847-49 | Serves in to the U.S. House of Representatives |
| 1855 | Serves again in Illinois state legislature |
| 1858 | Loses Senate race to Stephen Douglas, but achieves national recognition for the Lincoln-Douglas debates |
| 1861-65 | Serves as sixteenth U.S. President |
| 1861 | Civil War begins |
| 1864 | Reelected president |
| 1865 | Civil War ends; Lincoln assassinated; Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution-abolishing slavery-is ratified |
Some of the Acts that were signed into law by Woodrow Wilson include:
- The Federal Reserve Act – The central banking system of USA, the Federal Reserve System was created following the implementation of this Act.
- The United States Revenue Act of 1913 – The basic federal income tax tariff rates were slashed from 40% to 25% after this Act was imposed.
- Federal Farm Loan Act – This Act helped in the establishment of 12 regional Farm Loan Banks. these banks helped considerably in the improvement of farmers in US.
- National Prohibition Act – the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was enforced following the imposing this Act. the production, sale and import of liquor was banned after the implementation of this Act.
The National Park Service Act was passed for the conservation of the heritage sites and greeneries. To ensure the pride of the country during the World War I, Woodrow Wilson signed two Acts namely Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918.
The other incident that has helped Woodrow Wilson emerge as one of the prominent US Presidents is his speech to a joint session of US on 8th January, 1918. This speech emphasized 14 points, collectively termed as the ‘Fourteen Points’. these points were mainly targeted at the nations involved in World War I. the speech was meant to end the war. He tried to form a League of Nations, which would maintain the integrity among the territories and the political freedom among each of the nations. He attended the 1919 Paris Peace Conference to materialize the ideal of the League of Nations. the Treaty of Versailles was passed in this Conference which helped in the termination of World War I.
Though Woodrow Wilson succeeded in putting an end to the war, he failed to persuade US, join the League of Nations. This failure has been described as one of the biggest failures in the history of US politics.
Woodrow Wilson lost his health while mobilizing the public sentiment for the Treaty of Versailles. He breathed his last in the year of 1924.