Wilson decided that he wanted to run for president and campaigned for the nomination. It took forty-six ballots at the national convention, but in the end he received the Democratic nomination with Thomas Marshall as his vice president. Wilson was opposed by two Republican candidates: incumbent President William Taft, and former Republican-turned-Bull Moose party candidate Theodore Roosevelt. Since both had come from the Republican party, they split the vote allowing Wilson to easily win. Roosevelt received 27 percent of the popular vote and Taft had 23 percent, while Wilson won with 42 percent of the popular vote and 435 out of 531 electoral votes.

Wilson was nominated to run for the presidency in 1916 on the first ballot with Marshall returning as his vice president. He was opposed by Republican Charles Evans Hughes. At the time of the election, Europe was at war and Wilson ran on with the slogan, “He kept us out of war.” The race was a really close one, especially since Theodore Roosevelt brought many progressives to Wilson's opponent. In the end, California was the deciding state allowing Wilson to win with only 277 out of 534 electoral votes.