We now move on with our recent vacation trip through Virginia. I must admit that I have been to this State several times and even to a couple of the sites we visited. But one city I had not been to was Staunton, Virginia. Among other things with was the birthplace of one of my heroes Woodrow Wilson. I’m sure not too many people put Wilson on such a pedestal but I admire him for his wisdom and foresight. Wilson spent the majority of his adult life in New Jersey as president of Princeton University and as Governor. He was president of the U.S. from 1913 to 1921. This period spanned World War I. He is the only president to hold a Ph.D.  Some of his accomplishments as president were Federal Reserve Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and of course his valiant attempt to start the League of Nations, which was the precursor to the U.N. All of these things proved essential to our lives today.But during his day Wilson was somewhat scorned for his radical ideas. Here is a little bit from Wikipedia about him:

A Presbyterian of deep religious faith, Wilson appealed to a gospel of service and infused a profound sense of moralism into his idealistic internationalism, now referred to as “Wilsonianism“. Wilsonianism calls for the United States to enter the world arena to fight for democracy, and has been a contentious position inAmerican foreign policy.^[2] Scholars and experts rank him highly as president–on average as the #6 best president.

For some reasons we Americans have found it difficult to get behind our more intellectual leaders. Wilson was certainly no exception. If only we valued wisdom in our presidents the same way as much of other cultures value wisdom in their aged population.

So here is to you Woodrow. I know you only lived in the house I visited for about a year but it was nice to get even this kind of link to you.