Ah. Had a touch of Spring last week, but March has not quite had its last “roar” before we depart the winter and welcome official Spring this Saturday. It is gray on this late (official) Winter day in Virginia’s Piedmont. We honor President Biden’s aggressive Rescue Tour of the Battleground States with 3-minute stops by the the Chief Executive to assure residents that everything fine. What’s more, the gigantic flood of Federal Money (you know, the cash that used to be ours) will help cement a new legislative process by which hundreds of disassociated fragments of contradictory bills are lumped and rolled together into single appropriations with cool but contradictory names.

In that spirit, it is appropriate that we honor the memory of Edith Bolling Galt Wilson on this St. Patrick’s Day. She is a former First Lady with the longest name on record. But there is more to add to her memory, since she also was arguably the first Female President. She had married widower Woodrow Wilson in December 1915, during his first term as President. A stable, married President was an essential feature in the campaign for a second term. There was rumor that the partnership was hasty and contrived, but externally it appeared a happy marriage.

The enormous stress of the conflict in Europe took its toll on Mr. Wilson. Returning to the U.S. after negotiations on the post-war order, he suffered a massive stroke in October 1919. The consequences of it kept him bedridden and partially paralyzed until he died in 1924. There were enormous issues at stake, including the League of Nations and his assertion of a new role for America on the world stage.

Edith stood up to the crisis and declared herself the President’s Steward. As such, she managed the office of the President and determined which communications and matters of state were important enough to bring to the attention of the bedridden Chief Executive. Her dramatic role was the subject of some conversation at the time, and later was addressed by things like the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. That amendment, following Constitutional norms, permitted the removal of a stricken President on the vote of the Cabinet.

That issue recently became a matter of discussion under former President Trump, who was assailed for his aggressive Twitter persona. It has not for our current President. We will see how that plays out, since the matter of who is actually in charge of our Executive Branch is a matter of speculation. But we have certainly seen unusual things before, and doubtless are seeing one now.

I am sure we will be fine. Mr. Wilson’s joint presidency did lead to some interesting changes in the way our government works. Edith and others in the President’s inner circle hid the true extent of the President’s illness and disability from the American public. Edith also took over a number of routine duties and details of the Executive branch until he left office in March 4, 1921. In that year-nd-a-half, Edith determined which communications and matters of state were important enough to bring to her bedridden husband.

She later said she “…studied every paper sent from the different Secretaries or Senators and tried to digest and present in tabloid form the things that, despite my vigilance, had to go to the President. I, myself, never made a single decision regarding the disposition of public affairs. The only decision that was mine was what was important and what was not, and the very important decision of when to present matters to my husband.” She became the sole communication link between the President and his Cabinet, and required they send her all pressing matters, memos, correspondence, questions, and requests.

That included successfully pushing for the removal of SecState Robert Lansing after he conducted a series of Cabinet meetings without the President (or Edith herself) present. She would often add new notes or suggestions to Presidential messages, and routinely handled classified information. After her time in the Oval Office, she argued her actions had been sanctioned by Woodrow’s doctors. Their Constitutional role is uncertain, as is the role of Medical Experts today. Edith was praised at the time, but as we know, times change. Her role as First de facto Female Chief Executive ended a century ago this month.

In following decades, revisionist scholars assailed her as “a woman of narrow views and formidable determination.” It is a funny feeling, since we have some of the same rhetoric flying around today. There is a stark difference, though. In 1921, we knew who Edith Wilson was.

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com