Virginia – Page 5 – Kevin's America

Presidential Museum, Staunton VA

(Thomas) Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the US.
He was the eighth (and so far, last) president born in Virginia. He was born in this house in Staunton VA in 1856. This was the manse for the Presbyterian Church. His father was a Presbyterian minister.

Due to COVID, the birthplace house was not open for visitors, but I was able to see the foyer through the front window.

Bust of President Wilson, wearing a mask. He was president during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, so he actually did wear a mask back then!

President Wilson’s Pierce Arrow, which he used is his post-presidency days (1921-1924).

Wilson’s desk at Princeton. He went to UVA law school, practiced law in Rome GA, where he met and married his first wife. Ellen Axson, another Presbyterian minister’s child. First Lady Ellen Wilson died in 1914.

Wilson earned a PhD in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University, still the only president to have earned a PhD. He subsequently taught at Princeton University, and later was president of Princeton. He also served as governor of New Jersey for two years before winning the presidency in 1912.

President Wilson suffered several strokes, including one before he ran for President. He suffered two debilitating strokes in 1918 as president, and was largely unseen the last two years of his presidency. He required assistance when leaving the White House in 1921 to attend President Warren Harding’s inauguration.

He lived in Washington DC after he left office, and died in 1924. He is buried inside the National Cathedral in DC.

Due to a schism in the Republican Party, (Theodore Roosevelt ran third party after he failed to gain the Republican nomination from President Taft), Wilson won a decisive Electoral College victory, even though he won only 41.8% of the popular vote. Roosevelt and Taft combined for 50.7%.

President Wilson was a racist in a big way. The first major movie ever screened at the White House was “The Birth of A Nation”, which was glorified the KKK from the Reconstruction Era. He also continued segregating the Civil Service.

President Wilson’s progressive policies expanded the Federal government bureaucracy. He also opposed voting rights for women.
Three constitutional amendments were ratified during the Wilson presidency.
17th: Enabled direct election of Senators
18th: Prohibition of alcohol manufacturing and sale
19th: Women’s right to vote

After campaigning in 1916 that he kept the US out of war, President Wilson led the US into World War I after the Germans sunk the Lusitania, which killed 1198 people, including 128 Americans.

World War I poster.
It was interesting to see these posters after seeing the World War II art posters at the FDR Museum in New York in 2018.

Medic tent. It may be hard to see in this small picture, but there are rats all over this display!

After the war, President Wilson worked tirelessly to institute his “Fourteen Points” toward worldwide peace, which culminated in the creation of the League of Nations, which was a precursor to the United Nations. The League of Nations failed when the US Congress rejected it. It was a huge defeat and embarrassment for President Wilson.