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 Edith
Bolling Galt Wilson
First Lady for a
Crisis
By Anne Adams
Will there ever be a
woman president?
Though this has not
happened and perhaps will in the future,
there was one time when some historians
believe there actually was a female chief
executive. Not elected but who stepped into
the role by her husband’s illness. For when
President Woodrow Wilson was incapacitated
with a stroke, Edith Bolling Galt Wilson
entered what she described as her “period of
stewardship.” However, some critics were
sure she had actually assumed total control.
Yet no matter what she did, it was an
unexpected and unique role for a middle-aged
lady who just a few years before fell in
love with a love struck ex-professor who
just happened to be President of the United
States.
Edith Bolling was born
in Western Virginia in October 1872, the
daughter of a successful, popular
lawyer/judge and she grew up in a richly
cultured environment with loving attention
from parents and grandparents. The Bollings
were proud of their family heritage and
particularly of their descent from
Pocahontas.
After a home education,
Edith as a teenager attended a female
academy and later went to live with her
oldest sister who was married and living in
Washington. While staying there, she met a
cousin of her brother in law – the man who
become her first husband.
Norman Galt’s father
owned a fine Washington jewelry store, which
Norman was set to take over and though he
was only nine years older than Edith was,
somehow he seemed older because he was
stuffy and formal in demeanor. Still, he was
obviously smitten with her, she was fond of
him, and after several years of courtship,
they were married in April, 1896.
It proved a happy
marriage and Norman enjoyed pampering his
wife. They often traveled to Europe where
Edith was fitted with elegant fashions and
where she acquired a life long love of good
clothing. Also, Galt provided her a unique
means of transportation – a luxuriously
equipped electric car, complete with dual
flower vases mounted inside the vehicle.
Since Edith was the only woman driving such
a vehicle in 1904 Washington, she naturally
acquired local notice. Unfortunately, the
Galts remained childless after Edith
miscarried early in their marriage.
In January 1908, Norman
suddenly succumbed to a liver infection,
leaving the 35-year-old widow his jewelry
store, the business continued to be
profitable, and with an efficient manager,
her supervision was minimal
Several years later,
Edith befriended a young woman who was the
daughter of a deceased acquaintance. In the
winter of 1914, the young woman introduced
Edith to her male companion, Dr. Cary
Grayson, who just happened to be the White
House physician. In turn, Dr. Grayson
introduced Edith to Miss Helen Bones, the
President’s cousin. President Wilson’s wife
Ellen had recently passed away and Miss
Bones was seeking outside friends as a break
from the bereavement. As their friendship
developed, Miss Bones and Edith began taking
regular walks in neighboring parks, and then
having tea at Edith’s home.
Then in March 1915,
after such a walk, Helen asked Edith to
return to the White House with her for tea,
saying that they would be alone since Dr.
Grayson and the President were out playing
golf. Though Edith was concerned that her
shoes were too muddy after their walk, Helen
persuaded her to come. Yet just as they
emerged from the elevator to the second
floor family quarters, around the corner
came Dr. Grayson and the President, in golf
togs and with muddy shoes. Edith later
recalled that she was actually better
dressed than the President in his casual
sports clothes was.
After a change of
clothes and a shoe cleaning, they joined the
women for tea, and ended the evening with an
invigorating conversation. Wilson found
Edith entertaining and stimulating, and
though she declined his dinner invitation
that day, she accepted future dates. They
had a great deal in common, particularly
their common southern heritage.
Edith soon found that
while she enjoyed the friendship of the
President he was becoming more serious about
her. By May, 1915 he proposed, but the
surprised Mrs. Galt declined saying they had
known each other too short a time and that
his first wife’s death had been too recent.
Still, Edith said she
would consider his proposal, and she did for
many weeks. She continued to see Wilson and
accompany him and his family group on
drives, to vacation spots and even sailing
on the presidential yacht. She was away part
of the summer of 1915 and that absence
helped her realize her affection for the
President so when she returned to a white
House dinner, she was ready to accept his
proposal.
Their engagement
remained private for the time being as Edith
wondered if they should wait to marry until
after the 1916 election, since it was
possible Wilson might not be re-elected.
However, Wilson pressed her to marry sooner,
saying he needed her support at that time.
News of the engagement had leaked out and
when they heard about it, Wilson’s political
advisors and his family expressed concern
that a second marriage so soon would
threaten him politically.
At the same time, there
surfaced a letter from a Mrs. Mary Peck who
threatened to reveal Wilson’s romance with
her if he married Edith. She had been a
female friend of both his and Ellen’s and
they had been correspondents, but it is
doubtful if there had been any affair.
Wilson felt that there was nothing to her
claim, but feared that her claims about her
alleged romance with him might expose Edith
to malicious gossip. He was willing to
release Edith from the engagement.
After a great deal of
thought, Edith decided to proceed with the
marriage despite the threat of gossip and
wrote Wilson a letter reassuring him of her
position. Yet when she had heard nothing
after three days, she was surprised when a
concerned and disturbed Dr. Grayson appeared
at her door. He pleaded with her to come to
the White House where the President was ill,
and on her arrival, she reassured Wilson of
her feelings for him. However, he showed her
the unopened letter she had written, saying
he had so worried she would reject him that
he had become ill.
The wedding was set for
December 18 and Wilson was happier than he
had ever been – clowning, cracking jokes and
even clicking his heels in the air and
singing the popular song “Oh, You Beautiful
Doll.”
The President and the
new First Lady returned to the White House
just after the New Year, 1916 where Edith
was to prove a popular, glamorous and
charming First Lady. Wilson found her a
sympathetic and attentive listener to his
concerns and problems. Then as war was
declared on Germany in 1917, Edith embraced
the patriotic efforts to save resources for
the war effort. She ceased much official
entertaining, sewed garments for the Red
Cross and took her turn serving sandwiches
and coffee at train yards to soldiers who
were passing through.
In December, 1918,
Wilson, Edith, and their party sailed for
Europe for a tour and for victory
celebrations and then to Paris for the Peace
Conference where Wilson would present his
Fourteen Points and plan for the peace
treaty he hoped would establish the new
League of Nations. Still, he came down with
influenza, greatly concerning both Edith and
Dr. Grayson. They returned to the U.S. where
Wilson began his appeal to the public to
assure Senate ratification of the treaty.
He started on a national speaking tour.
Despite Edith’s concern
about his health, Wilson insisted on
continuing the tour in the summer of 1919.
Then three weeks into the trip, the
President developed severe headaches and
when they became he was convinced to return
immediately to Washington. Four days after
they returned to the White House he
collapsed with what seemed to be a massive
stroke, paralyzing one side of his body.
However, Wilson’s mind
remained clear, as did his intense belief in
the peace treaty. Yet he knew that if the
public realized how seriously he had been
stricken, it might jeopardize the passage of
the treaty. Because of this, he insisted his
condition had to remain confidential.
However, because of the lack of public
information soon there was speculation and
rumors about the President’s condition. In
fact, many believed Wilson had become
mentally ineffectual and that Edith had
assumed total control.
Actually though
Wilson’s mind was entirely clear, he wasn’t
able to concentrate for long periods. There
some thought Wilson should resign, but the
consensus among the advisors was that he
should remain in office since even in his
weakened condition the presidency was in
better in his hands. In addition, if he
resigned it might also jeopardize his
recovery since he would feel he had failed
to have the treaty ratified.
Edith later wrote about
the advice of the President’s doctors: “But
recovery could not be hoped for, they said,
unless the President was released from every
disturbing problem during these days of
Nature’s effort to repair the damage done.”
So with only concern for Wilson in mind and
with the doctors advising her, she decided
what matters would be presented to him, what
would be withheld and what would be deferred
to others. As she put it: “So began my
stewardship. I studied every paper, sent
from the different Secretaries or Senators,
and tried to digest and present in tabloid
form the things that, despite my diligence,
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.”
However, despite his
hopes, in March 1920 the Senate defeated the
treaty. The president’s health began to
improve; he regained some strength and even
presided over some cabinet meetings. As
Wilson’s term ended, they built a new home
in Washington, and there they moved from the
White House in March, 1921.
The former President
had plans to write another book or even to
practice law, but he proved too weak to
accomplish his plans. The Wilsons lived a
very quiet life until he died in February,
1924.
As she continued to
live in Washington and receive distinguished
visitors, Edith retained the honor and
special status of a former First Lady. She
visited the White House regularly during the
Democratic administrations of Franklin
Roosevelt and Harry Truman, and then rode in
the Kennedy inaugural parade in 1961. She
died later that year in December, at age
90.
Though she was only in
the public eye for a few years, Mrs.
Wilson’s contribution to American history
was both personal and unique. Still, for
that brief time she filled an important role
– perhaps inspired by what Wilson had told
her when he proposed: “Time is not measured
by weeks, or months, or years, but by deep
human experience.”
~*~
A native of Kansas City, Missouri , Anne
grew up in northwestern Ohio , and holds
degrees in history: a BA from Wilmington
College, Wilmington , Ohio (1967), and a MA
from Central Missouri State University ,
Warrensburg , Missouri (1968).
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