woodrow wilson

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Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1924 in Stanton Virginia.
His Father was Joseph Wilson, a Presbyterian minister who served as chaplain in the Confederate army during the Civil War. His Mother was Jessie Woodrow who was born in England and was the daughter of a minister (Charles River Ed. 80). Wilson’s family lived in Augusta, Georgia during the time the Union Army occupied the area during the Civil War. Wilson was homeschooled because his mother was afraid of how witnessing the violence of the war would influence him. Still unable to read at the age of ten, he may have been dyslexic (Charles River Ed. 99-100).
His academic successfulness improved when his family moved to Columbia, South Carolina during the Reconstruction Era. His father secured a job at Columbia Seminary, and Wilson began studying under him (Charles River Ed. 106). He began his college career at Davidson in North Carolina but was unable to continue his studies because of his poor health. His family moved again, this time to New Jersey where his father began teaching at the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton. Wilson chose political science and philosophy as his majors and enjoyed debating about Reconstruction. “Because I love the South, I rejoice in the failure of the Confederacy” (Charles River Ed. 122). Wilson became involved in campus life, and—even though he was an average student—attained his first academic success. Finishing 38 out of 100, Wilson decided to attend law school at the University of Virginia (Charles River Ed. 123). He never intended on becoming a lawyer. He planned to use his education in law to begin a political career. “The profession I chose was politics. The profession I entered was the law. I entered the one beca...

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...tially paralyzed. Wilson died in February of 1924 and was buried in Washington D.C. (Charles River Ed. 791). One of his greatest accomplishments of his Progressive Era is securing women the right to vote. He is greatly criticized for not convincing Congress to sign the Treaty of Versailles or join the League of Nations. It is believed that if the League of Nations had been successful, World War II could have been avoided (Charles River Ed. 795).

Works Cited

Charles River Editors. American Legends: The Life of Woodrow Wilson. Boston: Charles River Editors, 2012. Kindle Edition.
Garraty, John A. “The Training of Woodrow Wilson.” American Heritage Magazine. 7.5 (1956): 10-16. American Heritage Magazine. Web. 3 May 2014.
Wilson, Woodrow. “Do Your Bit for America.” National Geographic Magazine. 31.4 (1917): 289-293. National Geographic Magazine. Web. 3 May 2014.

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