Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856, in Staunton, Virginia, the third of four children. Wilson’s family fiercely defended the Confederate cause, but also set up a Sunday school for their slaves. Reportedly, one of Wilson’s earliest memories was hearing Robert E. Lee say that Abraham Lincoln had been elected and that war was coming. Wilson attended Davidson College in North Carolina and then Princeton here took great interest in studying political philosophy and history. As a student at Princeton, Wilson served as speaker of the Whig Party, wrote for the Nassau Literary Review, organized the Liberal Debating Society, and coached another debating group.