Thomas Woodrow Wilson ( December 28 , 1856 – February 3 , 1924 ) was an American statesman , lawyer , and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 . A member of the Democratic Party , Wilson served as the president of Princeton University and as the 34th governor of New Jersey before winning the 1912 presidential election . As president , he oversaw the passage of progressive legislative policies unparalleled until the New Deal in 1933 . He also led the United States into World War I in 1917 , establishing an activist foreign policy known as " Wilsonianism . " Born in Staunton , Virginia , Wilson spent his early years in Augusta , Georgia , and Columbia , South Carolina . After earning a Ph.D. in political science from Johns Hopkins University ( Wilson is the only president with a doctorate ) , Wilson taught at various schools before becoming the president of Princeton . As governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913 , Wilson broke with party bosses and won the passage of several progressive reforms . His success in New Jersey gave him a national reputation as a progressive reformer , and he won the presidential nomination at the 1912 Democratic National Convention . Wilson defeated incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft and Progressive Party nominee Theodore Roosevelt to win the 1912 presidential election , becoming the first Southerner to be elected president since the American Civil War
1912 Democratic National Convention
1912 Democratic National Convention
Woodrow Wilson