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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