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Edith Bolling Galt Wison
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Edith Bolling Galt married the widowed Woodrow Wilson some sixteen months after his first wife's death. She was introduced to the still-grieving President by his cousin, Helen Bones. Mrs. Galt was the widow of Norman Galt. (He was a member of the illustrious family firm which had supplied the White House silver service to Thomas Jefferson. Edith's pedigree was no less interesting: she was said to be a direct descendant of Pocahontas and John Rolfe!) When Norman Galt died suddenly in 1908, Edith was left a rather well-to-do widow. After her marriage to Wilson in 1915, Edith became her husband's most trusted advisor. She took on the role of decoding the messages he received from U.S. emissaries abroad, as well as transcribing his messages. During World War I, she was actively engaged in conducting the household along the lines proscribed by the government: so-called wheatless days, meatless days, heatless days and gasless Sundays. She personally did tremendous amounts of work for the Red Cross both by sewing and by selling the wool of sheep which grazed on the White House lawn. When the President went to Europe for the peace conference, Edith went along. Women weren't permitted to attend the conference, but Wilson had his wife hidden in an anteroom so she could hear everything but remain unseen. Edith Wilson is best known for carrying on the activities of the Presidency when Wilson was felled by a serious stroke. She was criticized as "Mrs. President" or "Presidentress" but she did not fail her husband. Historians are divided over just how long Edith controlled the reins of her husband's Presidency. Some say it is likely that she was acting as President until the end of Wilson's term in 1921. Others believe that Wilson recovered enough to resume his duties after only four months. Interestingly, this woman who was arguably the powerful political woman the United States had ever known, opposed the women's suffrage movement. Edith Wilson died in 1961-- but it was not until 1967 that the 25th Amendment-- "presidential Disability and Succession" became law. |
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