WILSON 



6302 



WILSON 



second as an educational administrator. He 

 vd frequent addresses, and contributed 

 freely to periodicals on educational topics; at 

 the same time he made a name for himself as a 

 teacher. His courses were largely attended, 

 because the man himself, as well as his meth- 

 ods of presenting knowledge, was attractive. 



Wilson's presidency at Princeton was notable 

 for the many reforms he introduced. The un- 

 dergraduate course of study was revised, the 

 .1 plant was greatly improved, the teach- 

 ing staff was strengthened by the addition of 



WOODROW WILSON 



WAR PRESIDENT 



A man of high intellect, whose mind has been 

 refined by study and whose penetrating vision 

 perceives all shades of American opinion. He 

 -<-s in the highest degree two masterly 

 qualities which mark the statesman, namely, pa- 

 tience, wherein no event can draw from him a 

 premature conclusion, and when he has reached 

 his conclusion, action, from which nothing can 

 make him recede. 



distinguished specialists, and an endowment 

 fund was raised for the Graduate School. Alto- 

 gether the most important change was the in- 

 troduction of the preceptorial system. The un- 

 derlying principle of this system is a more inti- 

 mate and effectual contact between teacher and 

 pupil than the formal lecture courses provide. 

 His purpose, as stated in his own words, was to 

 transform Princeton "from a place where there 

 are youngsters doing tasks to a place where 

 there are men thinking." His administration 

 of the university placed him practically on a 

 level with other great college presidents, like 

 Eliot of Harvard, Angell of Michigan, Jordan 

 of Leland Stanford and Butler of Columbia, 

 and made him a national figure. 



The Man of Letters. It was his literary work 

 which first drew wide public attention to Wood- 

 row Wilson. His work as a man of letters, 

 with only a few exceptions, falls wholly within 

 the period of his activity as an educator. The 

 remarkable feature of this entire output is the 

 evidence it gives of a sustained interest and 

 concentration of purpose. While President of 

 the United States, Wilson once said that he 

 had "a single-track mind." His literary work, 

 all in the field of political science, seems to 

 show that he meant what he said and knew it 

 to be true. His first book, Congressional Gov- 

 ernment: A Study in American Politics, was 

 submitted as a thesis for his doctor's degree, 

 but unlike most theses it immediately became 

 a political classic. It is one of that small class 

 of books which includes Bryce's American Com- 

 monwealth and Bagehot's The English Consti- 

 tution, which no library on political science 

 should lack. 



Scarcely less important is his manual on The 

 State: Elements of Historical and Practical 

 Politics. This comprehensive volume traces 

 government to its origins. Among Wilson's 

 other books are Division and Reunion, dealing 

 with American history from 1829 to 1889; Mere 

 Literature and Other Essays; George Washing- 

 ton.; Constitutional Government in the United 

 States; The New Freedom, written in 1913; 

 When A Man Comes to Himself, and A His- 

 tory of the American People, a five-volume 

 work which has become deservedly popular and 

 is recognized as authoritative. The volume 

 and variety of Wilson's liferary activities were 

 not as great as those of some other Presidents, 

 but they were sufficient to secure his election 

 to the American Academy of Arts and Letters 

 and to other literary organizations. He was 

 the seventh President of the United States who, 

 when elected, was a member of the American 

 Philosophical Society. 



Governor of New Jersey. New Jersey, po- 

 litically, has generally been an example of what 

 a state ought not to be. About 1910 there 

 arose a demand for a new type of government, 

 a demand which found its object in Woodrow 

 Wilson. By training, attainments and character, 

 Woodrow Wilson was particularly well qualified 

 to serve as a popular leader. He took no part 

 in the movements to enlist popular support for 

 his candidacy, but when the Democratic state 

 convention named him on the first ballot he 

 acted without hesitation. 



In accepting the nomination, Wilson ad- 

 dressed the convention in words which, with 



