Dwayne Yancey’s recent article titled “2 Virginians helped cover up how incapacitated the president was. This wasn’t Biden, though” draws a comparison between President Joe Biden’s health decline on a modern stage based upon the recent book “Original Sin” by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson to the intrigue surrounding the stroke of President Woodrow Wilson more than 100 years previously. Yancey explains that after President Wilson suffers a massive stroke in 1919 that paralyzed him for several months, his wife, Edith Bolling Wilson, began what she termed her “stewardship” helping the president perform his duties. This comparison calls into question a very relevant question of what to do when a president is no longer able to perform the duties of his office.
Today, the 25th Amendment (ratified in 1967) provides a clear constitutional path for transferring presidential power if a president becomes incapacitated. However, no such provision existed in 1919. Vice President Thomas Marshall was considered as a successor but declined the offer to step up as president. Plus, Wilson’s doctors believed that to force Wilson to resign would cause too much stress on the president and he could potentially expire. Therefore, as an unprecedented situation and as controversial as it may appear, first lady Edith Bolling Wilson stepped into an informal yet vital role. As intermediary and gatekeeper for the president, she bore public scrutiny and personal criticism while safeguarding her husband’s recovery.
Yancey’s portrayal suggests a conspiracy between first lady Edith Wilson and Dr. Cary Grayson hiding the president’s condition from the American public for nefarious reasons. However, what may have been overlooked is Edith Wilson’s commitment not only to her husband’s health but to the preservation of her husband’s image and legacy. She did not want the American public to see her husband as weak or inferior. Did her love and loyalty lead her to overstepping her boundaries by serving as “steward” instead of another elected official assuming power? Possibly — and especially since the president’s stroke happened after the failure of the League of Nations.
Yet, after her husband’s death in 1924, Edith Wilson spent the next 37 years of her life dedicated to promoting her husband’s legacy and vision for world peace. She did this by preserving her husband’s Staunton, Virginia, birthplace, which now serves as his presidential library. She attended every event honoring her husband and even wrote an autobiography, “My Memoir” (1939), which speaks more to Wilson’s character than her own autobiographical journey. And upon her death, she willed the home where she and Woodrow lived after leaving the White House to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The home is now the President Woodrow Wilson House Museum.
The Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Museum located in Wytheville, Virginia, strives to preserve and share the legacy of first lady Edith Wilson and her place in American history. Edith Wilson was not a perfect person, but she was a strong and determined woman who did what many devoted wives would do in a crisis: She protected her husband. As a woman of detail and focus, she knew that if her husband was perceived as too weak and incompetent to perform his duties, he would forever be seen as less of a leader.
Therefore, was the Biden administration hiding his condition from the American public? Maybe, but we all must stop to consider that perhaps those closest to President Biden are motivated by a desire to preserve his dignity free from the public ridicule. In times such as this, the line between transparency and compassion is not always clear.
We thank Dwayne Yancey for writing about this often-complicated period in American history. We invite him and all readers to visit the Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Museum and tour the Bolling Home located in the heart of Downtown Wytheville, Virginia. Though in need of stabilization, the Bolling Home retains original architectural features such as floors, fireplaces, mantel, wallpaper, paint and more. We are actively fundraising to restore this historic site and ensure that Edith Bolling Wilson’s story continues to be told.
For more information, visit the museum’s website at www.edithbollingwilson.org or call 276-223-3484.
Adam Manuel is administrative assistant at the Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Museum in Wytheville.
