Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)

1. 1856 Dec. 28

   Born Thomas Woodrow Wilson, Staunton, Va., the son of Reverend Joseph Ruggles Wilson and Janet Woodrow Wilson

2. 1859

   Moved with family to Augusta, Ga.

3. 1870

   Moved with family to Columbia, S.C.

4. 1873

   Entered Davidson College, Davidson, N.C., but withdrew after the first year because of ill health

5. 1875

   Entered College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

6. 1879

   B.A., Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

7. 1881

   Graduated, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, Va.

8. 1882

   Admitted to the Georgia bar

9. 1882-1883    

   Practiced law in partnership with Edward I. Renick, Atlanta, Ga.

10. 1885

    Married Ellen Louise Axson (1860-1914)

    Professor, history and political science, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa.

    Published Congressional Government. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.

11. 1886

    Ph.D., political science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

12. 1888-1890    

    Professor, political science, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.

13. 1889

    Published The State: Elements of Historical and Practical Politics. Boston: D.C. Heath & Co.

14. 1890-1902    

    Professor, jurisprudence and political economy, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

15. 1893

    Published Division and Reunion, 1829-1889. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.

16. 1896

    Published George Washington. New York and London: Harper & Brothers

17. 1902-1910    

    President, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

18. 1902

    Published A History of the American People. New York and London: Harper & Brothers

19. 1908

    Published Constitutional Government in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press

20. 1911-1913    

    Governor of New Jersey

21. 1913-1921    

    President of the United States

22. 1914, Aug.6 

    First wife Ellen Axson Wilson died  

23. 1915, Dec. 18

    Married Edith Bolling Galt (1872-1961)

24. 1917

    Asked Congress for a declaration of war on Germany

25. 1918

    Fourteen Points speech outlined American war aims and plans for peace Program

    Addressed opening session of peace conference, Paris, France, on plan to establish the League of Nations

26. 1919

    Signed peace treaty with Germany at Versailles, France

    Suffered paralytic strokes during and after speaking tour to win public support for the League of Nations

27. 1920

    Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

    Treaty of Versailles defeated in the U.S. Senate

28. 1921

    Retired to home in Washington, D.C.

29. 1924, Feb. 3 

    Died, Washington, D.C.