Introduction:
On March 4th, 1913, Woodrow Wilson became the first southerner elected as president since Zachary Taylor in 1848. He was born in Virginia and was raised in Georgia and South Carolina. He came from a society that was still recovering from the civil war and still liked confederate ideas. Wilson's memories of the Civil War were Union soldiers marching into his town of Agusta, Georgia, and seeing his mother treat wounded Confederate soldiers. He faced the poverty and struggles of reconstruction.
Parents:
His father, Joseph Ruggles Wilson, he carried strong confederate beliefs and was a pastor at Presbyterian churches and thought theology at colleges. He was the leader of the Presbyterian Church of the Confederate States of America. Wilson grew up in a very religious household, where his father taught him Christian values and ways. Wilson's Mother was an immigrant from England, who was a good mother to him when growing up.
Childhood/Education:
Wilson lived a happy childhood in Agusta, Georgia. He did not go to a public school when he was younger because they were not common, but he was tutored by former confederate soldiers. Wilson had Dyslexia and was nearsighted, so he had trouble reading and learning. Wilson later enrolled in Princeton university(smaller back then) and graduated near the top of his class. He then studied law on his own in North Carolina. He moved to Atlanta and ended up becoming an attorney. He got bored of the job, so he went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and studied political science and history. He was an avid debater during his college years. Wilson married Ellen Axson when he was 28. They shared presbyterian beliefs. His wife would later encourage him to make welfare programs for the poor as well as other economic reforms.
Career:
Wilson ended up teaching at and becoming the president of Princeton, transforming it and the Ivy League schools into progressive universities. In 1910, Wilson approached the New Jersey Democratic Party to run for governor. He won the election by a landslide on the first ballot. When he was in office, he went against machine politics. He worked towards getting workers compensation laws. He caught the eye of Democratic Party leader William Jennings Bryan, and the rest is history.
Sources:
https://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/wilson_woodrow.html
http://millercenter.org/president/biography/wilson-life-before-the-presidency
This gives a lot more insight to Wilson's education and upbringing than the video did which helps justify the policies he had. Having a president who was on the opposing side of the union during the civil war seems as though it would be controversial and upsetting to the republicans, but all of the progressive reforms he enacted made him very popular, although as we learned in the documentary he did not put any effort into improving race relations and he supported segregation. It is so interesting that such a well spoken and educated president was dyslexic and had trouble learning when he was younger, and it gives insight to how motivated he was to become governor, president of Princeton and eventually president of the country because he was able to overcome so many disadvantages.
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