Wilson, Woodrow Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States (1913-21), secured a legislative program of progressive domestic reform, guided his country during WORLD WAR I, and sought a peace settlement based on high moral principles, to be guaranteed by the LEAGUE OF NATIONS. Early Life and Career Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Va., on Dec. 28, 1856. He was profoundly influenced by a devoutly religious household headed by his father, Joseph Ruggles Wilson, a Presbyterian minister, and his mother, Janet Woodrow Wilson, the daughter of a minister. Woodrow (he dropped the Thomas in 1879) attended (1873-74) Davidson College and in 1875 entered the College of N