Famous People Who Overcame Dyslexia
Woodrow Wilson
 Dr.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February
3, 1924) was the 45th state Governor of New Jersey (1911-1913)
and later the 28th President of the United States (1913-1921).
He was the second Democrat to serve two consecutive terms
in the White House.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton,
Virginia in 1856 to Reverend Dr. Joseph Ruggles Wilson and
Janet Woodrow. His ancestry was Scotch-Irish going back to
Strabane, in modern-day Northern Ireland. Wilson grew up in
Augusta, Georgia and always claimed that his earliest memory
was of hearing that Abraham Lincoln had been elected and that
a war was coming. Wilson's father and mother were originally
from Ohio, but sympathized with the South in the Civil War.
They treated wounded Confederate soldiers at their church
and let their son go out and see Jefferson Davis paraded in
handcuffs by victorious Union army. Wilson would forever recall
standing "for a moment at General Lee's side and looking
up into his face."
Despite suffering from dyslexia
and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Wilson taught
himself shorthand to compensate for his difficulties and was
able to achieve academically through determination and self-discipline,
but never quite overcame his dyslexia. Wilson attended Davidson
College for one year and then transferred to Princeton University,
graduating in 1879. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternal
organization. Afterward, Wilson studied law at the University
of Virginia for one year. After completing and publishing
his dissertation, Congressional Government, in 1886, he received
his Ph.D. in political science from Johns Hopkins University.
Wilson remains the only American president to have earned
a doctoral degree.
Additional Links:
Audio
clips of speeches - Michigan State University Vincent
Voice Library
Woodrow
Wilson House - Washington D.C.
Woodrow Wilson Birthplace
- The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library
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