Born: 1856, Staunton, VA
Died: 1924

The son of a Presbyterian minister, Woodrow Wilson was a progressive reformer and idealist. He was also remote and rigid — righteous to a fault. After attending Princeton and practicing law briefly, he returned to his alma mater as a professor of political science, becoming president of the University in 1902. In 1910, Wilson was elected Governor of New Jersey and in 1912 he became the Democrat’s Presidential nominee on the 46th ballot.

Backed by a Democratic majority in Congress, President Wilson pushed through numerous reforms, including a graduated income tax, a lower tariff, laws restricting child labor, and the Federal Reserve Act. In 1916 the war in Europe was the major issue of the day — Wilson opposed intervention and narrowly won re-election. Soon after, Germany’s mounting aggression against the U.S. forced the President to declare war, to “make the world safe for democracy.”

In his “Fourteen Points” peace plan, Wilson called for a “League of Nations” after the Allied victory. But Congress, by then Republican and isolationist, failed to ratify the League’s Treaty (of Versailles). Wilson suffered a stroke while on a national tour promoting the League, which had become his passion. In 1920 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Twenty-Eighth President
Democrat

Born: 1833, North Bend, OH
Died: 1901

The grandson of President William Henry (“Tippecanoe”) Harrison, Benjamin Harrison was a conservative Indiana lawyer and a staunch advocate (some said pawn) of big business. He served as a colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1881, where he supported a high tariff. Chosen as the Republican Presidential candidate in 1888, Harrison received substantial campaign contributions from American manufacturers who favored his protectionist stance.

President Harrison sponsored the first Pan-American Congress. In domestic affairs, he supported the McKinley Tariff Act, which increased import duties; a new Pension Act and other appropriation bills; the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which regulated monopolies; and the Silver Purchase Act, which authorized the minting of additional silver coins. In all, Congress spent over $1 billion in a single session, setting a peacetime record. While manufacturers benefited from high tariffs under Harrison, they did not pass the benefits on to labor. Faced with mounting resentment among industrial workers, and a depressed farm economy, Harrison lost his big for a second term to former President Grover Cleveland — the same man he had defeated four years before.

Twenty-Third President
Republican