Edith Wilson: The Woman Who Ran the United States

I was watching an episode from the third season of "The West Wing" where Leo McGarry is appearing before a House Committee investigating the whole bit about President Bartlett hiding the fact that he had M.S., and a Republican Congressman brings up the name of Edith Wilson. Bartlett turns to whoever is in the room and says his wife is about to be attacked (she gave him secret injections). I understand that Abby Bartlett was going to be a target during that third season, but the idea that what she did constitutes any sort of parallel to Edith Wilson is absurd. Once young readers who are fans of "The West Wing" read this Women of Our Time volume on "Edith Wilson: The Woman Who Ran the United States," they will understand this as well.Edith Bolling Galt Wilson was President Woodrow Wilson's second wife. As James Cross Giblin makes clear in this juvenile biography, before she even met Wilson she had already faced the deaths of her son and first husband and had also run a business. Young readers who have been led to believe that the "modern" First Lady was created by Eleanor Roosevelt will be surprised to see how Wilson involved Edith in his work throughout their courtship and marriage. When Wilson had a stroke in 1919, while traveling around the country trying in a doomed effort to whip up support for the United States joining the League of Nations, the newspapers began calling her "America's First Woman President," because no one met the President without seeing her first. Political opponents accused her of being power hungry and called her "The Iron Queen" and "The Presidentress." In this brief volume Giblin explores the equestion of whether Edith Wilson really was running the country, using quotes from her memoir and courtship letters for insights.Giblin covers Edith's early life and how she came to meet and marry the president of the United States, but most of book is devoted to Wilson's stroke and the aftermath. Giblin makes it clear that Dr. Dercum, one of the experts called in to examine the president, inisted that in order for Wilson to recover he would have to be shielded from dealing with problems. Edith actually suggested that her husband should resign, but the doctor thought it would be bad for the country, as well as for Wilson's recovery, if he resigned.Giblin offers nothing to support the idea that Edith Wilson was running the United States. This book shows her as functioning as both her husband's personal secretary and chief of staff to serve as a buffer between the president and the rest of the government. However, Giblin points out that no one will know for sure since the only records of their conversations were the notes Edith took. This juvenile biography of Edith Wilson follows the rest of her life after her husband's death, emphasizing her dedication to her husband's memories and the idea that the League of Nations Wilson supported would have prevented World War II. Giblin makes it clear that the 25th Amendment (w