Woodrow Wilson
The scholar-president who won WWI and lost the peace — Wilson's 14 Points and League of Nations vision shaped the international order for a century, but the Senate rejected the League and Wilson had a stroke trying to sell it to the public. He also re-segregated the federal workforce.
Pantheon Standing
| List Name | Rank | Combined |
|---|---|---|
| Greatest U.S. Presidents of All Time | #1 | 96.0 |
The Age Divide
Voters under 30 and over 35 rank Woodrow Wilson significantly differently across lists.
The Cultural Record
Discography
No entries on record.
Awards & Recognition
No Grammy data on record.
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28th President
World War I
14 Points
League of Nations (Congress rejected)
Federal Reserve
Federal Trade Commission
19th Amendment (women's vote)
re-segregated federal government
Princeton president
stroke 1919 (Edith Wilson ran White House)
Birth of a Nation screening at White House
The Case For Woodrow Wilson
“The longevity argument alone puts them in a category of one. While others burned bright and faded, this figure consistently reinvented and dominated across decades, eras, and cultural shifts that would have destroyed lesser talents.”
“Technically unmatched. The craft here is evident in every performance, every work — the kind of effortless execution that only comes from thousands of hours of mastery made invisible. They make the impossible look inevitable.”
“Commercial success should never be held against artistic legacy. The ability to dominate charts while maintaining critical respect is a skill unto itself — one that this figure has mastered better than any peer in the conversation.”
Rank History
Ranking history will be available once voting opens for Woodrow Wilson.
Often Compared To
Martin Van Buren
#2President / Democrat — Kinderhook, New York · 1837–1841
The first professional politician to reach the presidency — Van Buren invented the modern political party machine with New York's Albany Regency and then watched his presidency collapse under the Panic of 1837, a financial crisis he inherited from Jackson.
Lyndon B. Johnson
#3President / Democrat — Stonewall, Texas · 1963–1969
The most legislatively productive president since FDR — in a single term, LBJ passed the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid, the Higher Education Act, and the most sweeping social legislation in American history. Vietnam destroyed him and his presidency, and he knew it.