Woodrow Wilson, who has become a popular lecturer at Princeton, had published his third book, entitled Division and Reunion, in 1893.

It will become a standard university textbook for teaching mid- and late- nineteenth century U.S. history.

In 1897, Houghton Mifflin publishes Wilson's biography on George Washington.

In February 1890, with the help of friends, Wilson had been elected by the Princeton University Board of Trustees to the Chair of Jurisprudence and Political Economy, at an annual salary of three thousand dollars (equivalent to $83,656 in 2018).

He quickly gained a reputation as a compelling speaker.

During his time as a professor at Princeton, he also delivered a series of lectures at Johns Hopkins, New York Law School, and Colorado College.

In 1896, Francis Landey Patton announced that Princeton would henceforth officially be known as Princeton University instead of the College of New Jersey, and he unveiled an ambitious program of expansion that included the establishment of a graduate school.

In the 1896 presidential election, Wilson rejected Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan and supported the conservative "Gold Democrat" nominee, John M. Palmer.

Wilson's academic reputation continues to grow throughout the 1890s, and he turns down positions at Johns Hopkins, the University of Virginia, and other schools because he wants to remain at Princeton.