The earliest phonograph was invented by Thomas A. Edison in 1877 when Woodrow Wilson was in college. By 1916 phonographs were in many homes and recorded music was available on both cylindrical and disc formats. In this time, sheet music remained a mainstay of the American music industry. Many middle class families owned a piano and many family members could play piano. Thus, sheet music, like the example, was a way to promote ideas, including political candidacies. The song "We Want Wilson in the White House Four Years More" was a Wilson campaign song in the reelection campaign of 1916. The song includes the lyrics:
We want Wilson in the White House
Four years more;
We want Wilson there to guide us
As he's done before.
He's first, last and always for America
And he's kept us out of war _ God bless him.
We want Wilson in the White House
Four Years more.