Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson was the president who led the United States through World War I. After a respectable career as a scholar, Wilson became the president of Princeton College in 1902. He entered politics in 1910 when he was persuaded to run for governor of New Jersey. After only two years as governor, he beat out Teddy Roosevelt and William H. Taft in the presidential election of 1912. Although he first championed isolationism, he became a strong advocate for U.S. involvement in World War I. When the war ended in 1918, he pushed for the U.S. to join the League of Nations, precursor to the United Nations. His plans were confounded by Congress, but Wilson still won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919. The same year he suffered a stroke which left him party paralyzed; he was assisted in his duties by the First Lady, Edith Galt Wilson. Wilson finished his second term and was succeeded by Warren G. Harding in 1921.

Extra credit: Often thought of as an egghead, Wilson was also a winning football coach at Wesleyan University for two seasons (1888-89)... He was the 28th president... Wilson is the only U.S. president buried in Washington, D.C.