Madam President (Documentary)

[Music] stories from the pages of time stories of triumph and tragedy adventure and achievement as we go in search of history [Applause] if the President of the United States is suddenly incapacitated who decides whether or not he should be replaced as of now I am in control here in the White House today the 25th amendment to the Constitution prescribes the procedures for replacing the president but in October of 1919 the rules were not so clear in a White House shrouded in secrecy with a president too sick to hold office one woman assumed power and became known to history as Madam President [Music] while most government officials had fled the summer heat of 1914 President Woodrow Wilson had remained in Washington Ellen Wilson his wife of 29 years and the mother of their three daughters was dying from kidney disease as he sat by her bed the 28th President of the United States couldn't believe that she wouldn't survive throughout Wilson's career first as president of Princeton University then as governor of New Jersey and now as president of the United States Ellen had been his closest confidante now she was dying dr. Grayson the White House physician recounted her passing in his diary the president sat by her bedside quiet controlled but his face drawn when the end came he walked to the window and broke down sobbing like a child I don't suppose there's ever a good time for a first lady to die as far as the country is concerned but it was August of 1914 when war was breaking out in Europe when the President of the United States needed to be facing many problems and instead he was just absolutely overtaken by grief at his wife's death [Music] God has stricken me almost beyond what I can bear I do not care a fig for anything that affects me if I hadn't gone into politics she would probably be alive now [Music] fifteen months earlier Woodrow Wilson had swept into the White House on a platform of voter reform better working conditions and an assault on powerful monopolies many of his progressive policies were enacted and his future looked promising but with Ellen's death and the advent of a war in Europe Wilson fell into a deep depression throughout his life his health had been delicate no it would figure prominently in his presidency starting as a young college student Wilson experienced severe headaches later as a university professor he suffered from hypertension and carotid artery disease resulting in a series of small strokes the strokes may have affected his behavior for on occasion Wilson appeared paranoid or irrational the threat of a more serious stroke continued to hang over his life and now his presidency upon gaining the White House Wilson had come under the care of navy dr. Carrie Grayson who would become his close friend Grayson put the president on a steady diet of exercise fresh air and a cuisine more soothing to his digestion Wilson's health improved but after Ellen's death Grayson could do nothing to alleviate the president's loneliness then by accident Wilson would have said Providence he met a woman who might fill the void then in March of 1915 in walks Edith bowling gold and people said for the first time in months they heard him laugh Edith bowling Galt was a 42 year old Washington Widow whose late husband had left her a comfortable inheritance she was a well known figure in Washington thanks to the electric car she drove one of the few women to own one like Wilson Edith had grown up in the south and had experienced hardships after the loss of her family's plantation as a child she had waited on her sick grandmother as an adult on her first husband Edith Wilson had very strict ideas about women's roles and I think that probably came from her southern background she and Woodrow did share a certain view of women as being supportive nurturing figures but I don't think they saw them as political leaders sterling bowling jr. was just a child when he would visit his Aunt Edith at her Washington DC home preserved today as a museum my aunt Edith was a strong individual that as first lady sensed what her position should do and she did it and she perceived her duty and she was not one too shall we say worry about the small stuff Edith's dismissal of the details would become a serious problem for Wilson's presidency on the other hand it would also save his life in 1915 even though she was living in Washington Edith bolding Galt had little interest in politics or in the man who was president that all changed one day in March when she visited the White House as the guest of her friend Helen bones Woodrow Wilson's cousin in her memoirs edith records the moment she unexpectedly met the president the president and dr. Grayson just returned from golf with boots as muddy as all around in the turn of the hall we met face to face and all laughed this was the accidental meeting which carried out the old adage of turn a corner and meet your fate seven months had passed since Wilson's wife Ellen had died and he was still feeling the loss with dr. Grayson he joined Edith and Helen 40 at age 59 Wilson was 16 years older than Edith but everyone noted that he seemed pleased by her company Woodrow Wilson liked women who supported him he liked women who laughed at his jokes he liked women who were Lively and he liked southern women several nights later Edith was invited back to the White House for a family dinner where she and Wilson spent the evening in a long conversation about their shared Southern roots the evening and it all too soon for twas the first time I had felt the warm personality of Woodrow Wilson a boy like simplicity dwelt in the background of an official life which had to be content with the husks of formal contacts when starving for the bread of human companionship thereafter I never thought of him as the President of the United States but as a real friend throughout the spring of 1915 Edith joined the president and Helen bones on drives into the country and at White House dinners on April 14th she sat with Wilson at the opening game of the 1915 baseball season there was never any mention of deeper feelings between them until the evening of May 4th when he escorted her onto the South portico of the White House and drew a chair close to hers they had known each other for less than two months to eat it's complete surprise Wilson said he loved her and proposed marriage it came to me it's almost shock I said the first thing that came to my mind without thinking it would hurt him oh you can't love me fee don't really know me and it is less than a year since your wife died Wilson persisted adding that since his wife's death he had lived a lifetime of loneliness and heartache I told him if it had to be yes or no at once it would have to be no finally we agreed that we were entitled to continue the friendship until I should decide one way or the other [Music] undaunted by Edith's reluctance Wilson started writing to her in hopes of igniting her heart dear dear friend here stands your friend a longing man in the midst of world affairs a world that knows nothing of the heart he has shown you will you come to him sometime without reserve and make his strength complete Wilson's ardor was duly noted by many in the White House including Secret Service agent Edmund Starling who wrote he's hooked hard and fast and acts like a schoolboy in his first love experience but world events would not wait for a president in love on May 7th 1915 the British liner Lusitania with many Americans on board was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off the Irish coast [Music] Wilson urged calm but sent a strong note of protest to the German government he prayed America could stay out of the war that was slaughtering Europeans by the millions [Music] even as tensions mounted between Germany and America he and Edith saw and wrote to each other nearly every day oh I have needed you tonight my sweet Edith what a touch of your hand and a look into your eyes would have meant to me as I made the final decision as to what I should say to Germany I cannot go to sleep until I tell you how completely you have been with me all day and what fun it's been to hear everyone talking of you though growing closer Edith still hesitated in her commitment to Wilson resulting in an argument with him in late May the precise cause of the fight is unknown but in a letter to him the next day she hints that the problem lay with her I'm gonna try once and forever to let you look straight into the depths of me and then never again refer to this more than painful subject if this can be changed it will be because you are master of my heart and life but you must concur Wilson's passionate nature was colliding with Edith's more cautious one and even he was doubting the relationship for God's sake try to find out if you really love me or not on one occasion when Edith did not write Wilson became so distraught that he cancelled a cabinet meeting and secluded himself in his bedroom he emerged only after a letter arrived from her I have thought of you so tenderly these last hours since I knew you were in pain I longed to talk to you and I longed to know that you are happier and better today [Music] in June of 1915 Edith agreed to join Wilson at his summer retreat in Cornish New Hampshire from the beginning of their relationship Wilson had sought to protect Edith from the press and keep the affair secret the country was told she was a friend of Helen bones and while some suspected a presidential romance the general public remained in the dark the lazy New England days worked their magic and in late June Edith gave Wilson a note I promise with all my heart absolutely to trust and accept my loving Lord and unite my life with his without doubts or misgivings later that summer Edith accepted Wilson's proposal of marriage and when the public was informed on October 6 1916 she became the most talked-about woman in America I think there were many people in America who thought it was a little unseemly for a president in his late 50s to be courting this young attractive Widow when there were the problems of the world on his shoulder and so there were comments about that bridegroom in the White House or they nicknamed the White House bowling alley showing that she had taken over the American people are notoriously fickle about first ladies they wanted to be well educated but they don't want her to be pretentious they want her to be able to communicate with heads of state but they want to wanted to be able to be humble enough to talk to the average person on the street on December 18th 1915 Edith bowling Galt and the president were married in a simple ceremony ed Edith's home escaping reporters they boarded a presidential train for hot springs Virginia the next morning Secret Service agent Edmund Starling entered the president's car and heard whistling I saw a figure standing in a top hat tail coat and gray morning trousers standing with his back to me as I watched him he clicked his heels in the air and from whistling the tune he changed into singing the words oh you beautiful doll here great big beautiful doll [Music] Edith and Woodrow Wilson's honeymoon in Hot Springs Virginia was to have lasted through early January 1916 but world events cut it short [Music] five days after Christmas a German submarine sank of British steamship killing two American passengers the newlyweds returned to Washington he to deal with the crisis she to assume her new role as first lady my first public appearance as the wife of the president was at a reception to the diplomatic corps there were three thousand three hundred and twenty eight guests as a woman who only one year earlier had no interest in politics Edith Wilson had to learn fast breakfast at 8 o'clock then we both went to the study to put signatures on Commission's or other routine papers these I always place before my husband and blotted and remove them as fast as possible for there were so many every day that it was a comfort to try to keep abreast to them and permit no accumulation people who worked in the White House for decades would single out the first years of Edith Wilson's time as the happiest and most fun times that they'd ever spent there she was evidently an excellent hostess the two of them were delighted to be together the president first lady they would sit together and decode messages and he would take his little Underwood typewriter up to sit near her and and write his speeches throughout 1916 Edith joined her husband as he campaigned for reelection when he won his second term it was on a promise to keep America out of the war in Europe it was a promise he couldn't keep on April 2nd 1917 as Germany's threats against America mounted Wilson went to Congress and asked for a declaration of war sitting in the gallery Edith witnessed the historic event I could hear people breathin so still was the great throng when my husband came in and all rose to their feet my very heart seemed to stop its beating Wilson said the war would make the world safe for democracy and Congress rally behind him as he and Edith left the Capitol people cheered but had brought him no pleasure my message today was a message of death for our young men how strange it seems to applaud that practically overnight the nation geared up for war edith volunteered with a Red Cross unit that fed soldiers passing through the capital one of the men came up to me and said that's not the wife of the president and I went towards him and said oh you don't think I look the part I certainly do not was his honest reply this made us all laugh what a splendid lot of youngsters they all were never a complaint always a smile with war declared Edith rearranged life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to encourage rationing she set an example by ordering many White House meals to be served without meat or bread she organized friends and cabinet wives to sew pajamas for the Red Cross and used her own sewing machine in the White House but it was directly outside the executive mansion that Edith's efforts drew the most attention she arranged for a herd of sheep to graze on the White House lawn and then auctioned their wool to the highest bidder the White House wool earned over $50,000 for charity in Europe America waged war against the Germans for 18 months 2 million Americans fought alongside the Allies and 50,000 of them died it was only a fraction of the nine million European soldiers who had perished [Music] when Germany accepted the armistice on November 11th 1918 America climbed from the trenches as the strongest nation on earth leading that nation was Woodrow Wilson well I think at the end of World War one there was the feeling this was the war to end all wars it had been a costly long deadly war but I think many people did see America's role as central and there was a kind of a new age dawning the world turned to the president of the United States to lead the devastated nations toward a new beginning Wilson accepted the challenge and on December 14th 1918 he and Edith arrived in Paris for the peace negotiations to their surprise they were greeted by crowds unmatched in the city's history [Music] Paris was wild with celebration every inch was covered with cheering shouting humanity roofs were filled windows overflowed until one whew giddy trying to greet the bursts of welcome that came like the surging of untamed waters [Music] Wilson preached a new world order founded on the cooperation of a League of Nations dedicated to peace and human rights Wilson saw the league as mankind's last best hope and pinned the future of his presidency to his success it would be his undoing when he and Edith returned to America six months later he presented to the Senate a League of Nations treaty signed by the warring parties Senate Republicans led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge rejected it they feared such a league could usurped congressional authority and place American peacekeeping troops under league control on September 2nd 1919 Wilson took his case directly to the American people when he launched a cross-country campaign [Music] worried about his health which had suffered during the six months in Paris Edith pleaded with her husband not to go but he was determined [Music] I promised our soldiers when I asked them to take up arms that it was a war to end Wars and if I do not do all in my power to put the treaty into effect I will be a slacker and never be able to look those boys in the eye I must go [Music] the tour had not progressed far when serious headaches began to afflict my husband he paid little attention to them though I could see that each day each meeting each appearance was calling more and more on his depleted reserve of nervous energy 20 years of hypertension and minor strokes were fast overtaking Woodrow Wilson three weeks into the tour and Wilson collapsed exhausted he turned to his secretary Joe to multi help me to the chair I don't seem to realize it but I seem to have gone to pieces in a rare show of defiance Edith insisted that her husband canceled the trip and returned to Washington 1,700 miles of tracks were cleared and the press informed that the president was ill people gathered at every station to see the train roll through the cause seemed like a funeral cortege on Sunday morning September 28th 1919 the train rolled into Washington's Union Station and Wilson willed himself to walk to his car four days later in the White House he suffered a more serious stroke Oh the attack left him semi-conscious and paralyzed on his left side Woodrow eateth rushed to her husband's aid unaware that she was starting down the road that would earn her the title the first woman president Woodrow Wilson had suffered a life-threatening stroke while trying to gather support for the League of Nations it had left him lying on his bathroom floor until Edith and dr. Grayson helped into his bed the same one that had belonged to Abraham Lincoln Wilson lay close to death he couldn't read or write or feed himself and his mind drifted in and out of clarity the stroke had also rendered his left side paralyzed Edith attended to him day and night consulting only with dr. Grayson and a team of specialists so the question was well is he able really to run the government of the United States and the answer is he was not anxious to protect her husband Edith barred all visitors from seeing the president the only news of Wilson's condition came from a few brief statements released by dr. Grayson the president is a very sick man absolute rest is essential throughout the autumn of 1919 the cabinet the public and even the vice president remained in the dark good afternoon I think after Woodrow Wilson stroke in my over of 1919 though the White House was kind of a fortress against all outsiders the silence from the White House inspired a thousand rumors some said the president was dead or had gone insane on Monday morning October 6th four days after the president's stroke Secretary of State Robert Lansing convened a meeting of the cabinet he was worried that no one was running the country he brought along a copy of the Constitution and read from article 2 section 1 in case of the removal of the president from office or of his death resignation or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office the same shall devolve on the Vice President in 1919 the Constitution was clear on the order of succession what it did not address was who could pass judgment on the president's capacity it was this point Lansing hope to clarify Edith however refused to discuss Wilson's resignation fearing such a move would depress and further weaken her husband dr. Grayson and the president's loyal secretary Joe to multi-sided with her as did most of the cabinet Lansing's challenge was defeated I think she was able to gain a measure of control there's always a degree of should we say distance or respect or fear on the part of the president's staff toward the president's wife immediately Edith's move to protect her husband from the burdens of the presidency and began to sort through the piles of papers gathering on his desk whether she realized it or not the first lady was taking unprecedented control over the presidency and the country so began my stewardship I studied every paper 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 these letters would come back from Edith saying we'll think about that next week or we can't get to that I guess it's never a good time to be without a president but the winter of 1919 1920 was a terrible winter to be without a president one crisis after another faced the nation labor unrest race riots the Attorney General in what became known as the Palmer Raids was arresting suspected radicals and deporting them women wanted the vote and picketed the White House thousands of returning War veterans needed jobs and the cost of living was skyrocketing but from The Oval Office there was only silence when cabinet secretaries arrived wanting to see the president they were turned away by a fiercely protective first lady I am not interested in the President of the United States I am interested in my husband and his health in the Senate Republican Albert fall protested that the country had a petticoat government with mrs. Wilson as the president I talked to her numerous times about this I said mrs. Wilson has been said that you for the first woman president and she laughed and said well dr. link that's really quite a joke that I knew nothing about being president I have no interest in politics all I did was to serve as his secretary in Edith Wilson's mind serving as her husband's secretary included ostracizing officials she disliked first to feel the snub was the president's longtime secretary Joseph Tumulty she had never warmed to his rough-and-tumble Irish manner and took Wilson's illness as an opportunity to block his reports to the president the same was true for the president's friend and advisor Colonels house who had crossed Edith when he told the president to delay his marriage until after the election even the British ambassador Lord gray was barred from the White House because Edith disapproved of a member of his staff Madam President was becoming madam dictator Edith Wilson is very loyal to people she liked and as a she was a fighter really to the end you couldn't have a better supporter than Edith Wilson on the other hand if she took a dislike to you you should run as fast as possible on December 6th 1920 two months after Wilson's stroke and seclusion from public view senator Albert fall arrived at the White House at the order of the Senate he was instructed to gauge the president's competency and file a report if Edith or the president refused the visit the Senate could launch impeachment proceedings fall was shown into the president's bedroom where Edith greeted him coldly I had taken the precaution to carry a pad and pencil so I would not have to shake hands with him I sat on the other side of the bed and carefully wrote down every word that passed between them Edith and dr. Grayson had prepared the stricken president for the visit and had covered his paralyzed left arm Wilson marshaled all his strength and greeted the senator with a firm handshake though Wilson's body was half paralyzed he still had his wit when senator Falls said that he had been praying for the President Wilson shot back which way senator unnerved by the remark the senator left outside he told waiting reporters that the president seemed fit and alert inside Edith and dr. Grayson breathed a sigh of relief they knew how lucky they had been Falls report to Congress would grant Woodrow Wilson the remaining 15 months of his term in that time he vowed a return to health and another fight for the League of Nations by Christmas 1919 Edith Wilson was still managing the White House though the president was no longer confined to bed he was still an invalid barely able to walk he was often confused and his speech was sometimes slurred the stroke had also magnified his emotions and Edith found herself comforting him during sudden fits of crying when Wilson was strong enough Edith would go over presidential business with him but after an hour he would tire and the work would stop many mornings he and Edith would watch movies courtesy of a film projector given to them by actor Douglas Fairbanks [Music] one day a newsreel was shown highlighting their triumphant trip to Europe after the First World War the images were almost too much for Wilson and when the film ended he left the room without saying a word though his cross-country campaign for the League of Nations had nearly killed him Wilson wanted to continue the fight for its ratification in March of 1920 Senate Democrats tried one last time to pass the treaty led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Republican senators agreed to ratify the treaty but only if the Democrats accepted Republican sponsored amendments most people thought the change is reasonable but Wilson refused to compromise if I accept them these senators will merely offer new ones even more humiliating these evil men intend to destroy the league at the behest of the Democratic leadership Edith now went to her husband to urge his support for my sake I said won't you accept these amendments and get this awful thing settled little girl don't you desert me that I cannot stand better a thousand times to go down fighting than to dip your colors to dishonorable compromise what a tragedy because that is not the real Wilson Wilson had compromised it is no unyielding hardline hard-nosed person one of his great speeches in the 1890s he said the art of compromise is the art of government when the Senate vote came up on March 19th 1920 23 Democratic senators stayed loyal to the President and voted against the reservations without the reservations the Senate rejected the treaty America's entry into the League of Nations was doomed forever on Election Day 1920 voters chose Republican candidate warren g harding as the next president a return to normalcy was harding slogan it seemed to repudiate everything Wilson had striven for his presidency over he and Edith's retired to a house in Washington where they lived quietly we were both happy and felt a great burden had been lifted from our shoulders and that we could return to our own affairs in a home of peace and serenity Edith and Woodrow Wilson rarely ventured into public but when they did they were always warmly received Americans had not forgotten the lofty goals Wilson had set for the country and the world [Music] On February 3rd 1924 Woodrow Wilson died the news brought thousands of mourners to his home many felt he had become one more victim of the war the war that was to end all wars in his final hours Edith had been with him she had spent over half of their 8 years together taking care of him [Music] she laid his body atop the highest hill in Washington inside the country's National Cathedral shortly before the funeral she sent a note to Senator Henry Cabot Lodge who had been Wilson's bitter adversary during the League of Nations debate the brief message gave Edith one last chance to protect her husband dear sir as the funeral is private and not official and realizing that your presence would be embarrassing to you and unwelcome to me I write to request that you do not attend for the rest of her life Edith Wilson devoted herself to her husband's memory even traveling as far as Poland to dedicate a statue in his honor my aunt dedicated herself to maintaining his memory and his vision of a world of peace of course his his great hope that a League of Nations would be created and eventually became the United Nations which some would say is a better or not better thing in 1961 Edith Wilson paid one last visit to the White House as the guest of President Kennedy she died that same year on December 21st the anniversary of her husband's birth she was 89 as expected the obituaries referred to her as the first woman president the power that Edith Wilson held was the power not to reach the president and that's an important power but it's not running the country in the intersection of politics and personality Edith Wilson never sought the power of the presidency historians speculate that if she had been a more ambitious and headstrong woman she might have gotten her husband to compromise on the League of Nations treaty [Music] without the support of America's diplomatic and military might the league was hampered in its mission as a consequence it crumbled during the 1930s in the face of fascist aggression Edith Wilson has been criticized for ignoring the needs of a nation in an attempt to save her husband however her treatment worked but could such a thing happen again could a First Lady secretly manage the presidency the answer is both a yes and a no I think that the no part stems from the fact that you have a an ever inquiring agitated White House press corps that wants to know what time you brush your teeth in the morning I think on the other hand that first lady's today probably would be playing an increasing role of importance in terms of advising their husbands in nearly every administration the first lady exerts an influence that is unique for his advisors compete for the president's ear she alone is usually the first to see him in the morning the last at night as we journey in search of history the proper role for the president's spouse will continue to be debated whether as the first lady or someday the husband of the first elected madam president [Music] you [Music]

Channel: DocSpot

Views: 155,099

Rating: 4.6999998 out of 5

Keywords: President, Woodrow Wilson, Women, History, America, United States

Id: FDzz9Xc5WjM

Length: 42min 43sec (2563 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 24 2018