Wilson, Woodrow (1856–1924)

Woodrow Wilson was among the first generation of U.S. professional political scientists and historians and went on to become the nation's twenty-eighth president. Schooled by his father in the power of oratory in political leadership, Wilson attended Princeton University and became fascinated with the workings of constitutions and the open debate he believed the British parliamentary system fostered. Following graduation in 1879, Wilson published “Cabinet Government in the United States,” an article arguing that Congressional debates had become too removed from public opinion and that Congress should be replaced with the parliamentary system to restore American political leadership.

Hoping for a political career, Wilson entered law school at the University of Virginia in 1879, spending a year and half there before dropping out to finish his ...