A Pastor’s Son As President

A Pastor’s Son As President

He pursued peace with godly convictions.

DESCENDING from Presbyterian pastors on both sides of his family, Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Virginia in December 1856. His father, Dr. Joseph Ruggles Wilson, was a pastor and seminary professor. His parents were completely devoted to their son, homeschooling him, training him in daily Bible reading, and raising him to see the world from a Christian perspective. The Civil War dominated his childhood, undoubtedly influencing his lifelong quest for peace. During the winter of 1872–73, Wilson experienced a sobering conversion to Jesus Christ.

The integrating concept he learned from his parents was God’s covenant with humanity. God made commandments that people are to live by, and he also made promises for those who trust in him. For Wilson, the covenantal framework meant that not only was there the call for strenuous obedience from individuals but also a bond between church and society. He admired John Calvin as “the greatest reforming Christian statesman.”

After graduating from Princeton University, Wilson practiced law, motivated by his passion to see justice served. But as an attorney he found himself more interested in ideas than in acquiring clients. So he returned to graduate school at Johns Hopkins University, receiving a Ph.D. in history in 1886. Wilson’s intellect shone in the academic sphere and led to an apointment as a history professor at Princeton in 1890.

He so distinguished himself over the next decade that in 1902 Princeton appointed him its president, the first layperson to hold the office. Great energy and zeal characterized all of his activities.

Central to Wilson’s thinking was the belief that God ruled the world and that people were to become the servants of God’s will in the world. This conviction motivated him throughout his life.

During his presidency at Princeton, Wilson had the first in a series of small strokes that began to harden his already forceful personality. As a leader he was unexcelled—except with people whose vision or ambition were at odds with his own.

In 1910 Wilson accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for govenor of New Jersey, winning easily. His success in reforming the state’s social and political systems helped him get elected president of the United States just two years later. With a congressional majority of like-minded progressives, Wilson made rapid reform: creating the Federal Reserve System, reducing tariffs, and establishing the first nationwide child labor laws.

Wilson kept the United States out of the war that broke out in Europe in 1914 and was elected to a second term in 1916. However, he lost his majority in Congress and was increasingly frustrated by his inability to pass legislation. Then in April 1917, when Germany’s aggression on the high seas threatened U.S. interests, Wilson, the man who revered peace above all, reluctantly led the nation into World War I.

A year and a half later the war’s end gave Wilson the chance to leave his mark on world history. He proposed creating a League of Nations to promote higher standards of justice on an international scale. Many countries embraced the idea, but back home, Congress staunchly refused the United States’ entry into the League. Undaunted, Wilson took his zeal on the road, determined to convince the American people of the rightness of his cause. But the tour ended abruptly when Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke in 1919.

Although his faith and convictions remained strong, he was disappointed with himself and died on February 3, 1924, disillusioned with politics. Yet friend and foe alike agreed that he was a man of great personal integrity.

Reflection

Whatever Wilson’s flaws, his ideals were grounded in his Christian education and in the Christian faith that characterized his life. Were you surprised to read that Wilson was a Christian? Because many of our schools teach just the secular side of history, we sometimes hear only part of the story.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in understanding.

Proverbs 9:10