Woodrow Wilson's First Nomination and Election as President

Democratic Presidential Nominee Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson, governor of New Jersey, sits in a caned chair at center left and speaks with fellow Democratic politicians assembled at Sea Girt, New Jersey, in August 1912. Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Champ Clark, of Missouri, sits to Wilson's left. The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. On the forty-sixth ballot, Wilson won the Democratic nomination for president, beating Clark and others. Wilson delivered a speech accepting the nomination on August 7, 1912, at Sea Girt. 

This photograph is part of the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress.

Woodrow Wilson's 1913 Inaugural Procession

President William Howard Taft shares the back of an open carriage with President-elect Woodrow Wilson (at right) en route to the inuaguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 1913. Taft served as the twenty-seventh president of the United States; Wilson was the twenty-eighth. Crowds line the streets and even perch in the trees to get a look at the presidents. This image is part of the George Grantham Bain Collection of news photographs at the Library of Congress.

Woodrow Wilson's 1913 Inauguration

Woodrow Wilson takes the oath of office as president of the United States on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 1913. Edward D. White, the chief justice of the United States, administers the oath as outgoing president William Howard Taft looks on.

President Wilson's First Inaugural Address

Woodrow Wilson delivers his first inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 1913. Wilson had just been sworn in as the twenty-eighth president of the United States. This glass-plate image forms part of the George Grantham Bain Collection of photographs at the Library of Congress.