Woodrow Wilson

1856 – 1924

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921, and led the country into the First World War in 1917. As president he ordered the resegregation of the federal civil service, throwing thousands of Black federal employees out of work or into segregated office spaces, and screened the explicitly white-supremacist film The Birth of a Nation at the White House in 1915, lending his prestige to its narrative. His administration jailed political dissidents under the 1917 Espionage Act and 1918 Sedition Act for opposing the war, while he also vetoed federal anti-lynching legislation.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM