ABSTRACT
Woodrow Wilson served as the twenty-eighth president of the United States. Elected in 1912, he left office after two terms and died in 1924. Wilson became president after an extraordinarily successful career as a college professor, president of Princeton University, and governor of New Jersey. For all his successes, President Wilson gained a reputation for indifference to civil liberties. During the campaign of 1912, Wilson had actively courted African American voters, but events during his first term reflected the attitude of most southern whites toward racial matters. Like other presidents, Wilson never completely controlled his agenda. In economic issues he was focused, disciplined, and passionate. Although he was a Presbyterian teetotaler, he thought prohibition was a bad idea because it was divisive and unenforceable. President Wilson fared little better on the issue of women's suffrage.
