A former president of Princeton University and governor of New
Jersey, Wilson won election to his first term in the White House
as a Democrat in 1912 on a campaign program called The New
Freedom, which stressed individualism and states' rights. From
the day he took office in March 1913—when a parade organized by
the Congressional Union, later to become known as the National
Organization for Women, drew crowds away from the inauguration
ceremonies—Wilson had to contend with the growing controversy
over women's suffrage on the home front. His administration saw
the passage of several major acts of legislation, including the
Federal Reserve Act and the creation of the Federal Trade
Commission, designed to regulate business practices. As war
broke out in Europe in the summer of 1914, Wilson lost his wife
of thirty years, Ellen, to liver cancer. Unable to abandon
himself to his grief, he instead dedicated himself to his work,
winning re-election in 1916 on a strict neutrality platform and
the slogan He kept us out