Woodrow Wilson was in law and academia before politics. After earning a Ph.D., he joined the Princeton faculty and became university president in 1902. By 1910, he was New Jersey’s governor. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt’s third party candidacy allowed him to defeat incumbent William Taft to become commander in chief.

First lady Ellen Wilson died in the White House in August 1914 as World War I began. Wilson became deeply depressed; his mood lifted after meeting widow Edith Bolling Galt. They married in December 1915.

Wilson had pledged U.S. neutrality in the war and became consumed with efforts to maintain this stance. He was re-elected in 1916. By April 1917, Germany’s continued acts of aggression led to formal U.S. involvement in World War I. America’s participation changed the dynamic and helped the Allies win the war.

In 1918, Wilson issued the Fourteen Points, outlining a path to peace in Europe and introducing the League of Nations. He would later win the Nobel Peace Prize. Also during his administration, the 18th and 19th amendments to the Constitution—prohibiting alcoholic beverages in the United States and giving women the right to vote, respectively—were enacted.

Campaigning tirelessly for the League, Wilson suffered a stroke in September 1919 that left him incapacitated. His condition was hidden from the public; the first lady became so involved in official business that she later became known as the secret president.

After Wilson’s second term ended, he retired to his home in Washington, D.C., where he died three years later.