Edith Bolling Wilson
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Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (October 15, 1872 - December 28, 1961) was the second wife of Woodrow Wilson. She acted as the First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921. Her husband had suffered a long illness. He was unable to attend to many matters. She helped him. Therefore, some people had labeled her "the Secret President" and "the first woman to run the government".
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[edit] Early life
Her birthplace is Wytheville, Virginia. Her parents were Sallie White and Judge William Holcombe Bolling. She was their seventh child, out of the total eleven children. Through her grandmother, she was a direct descendant of Pocahontas, Native Americans in the United States.
When she was 15 years old, she attended Martha Washington College to study music. She attended the second year at a smaller school in Richmond, Virginia.
Once when she was visiting her married sister in Washington, DC, Edith met Norman Galt. Norman Galt was a rich jeweler. She married him in 1896. For 12 years, she lived a good life in Washington D. C. But, she also faced some tragedies. In 1903, she gave birth to a son. The child could live only for a few days. The difficult birth made her unfit to bear any more children. In 1908, her husband died suddenly. Edith Galt selected a manager to run the family’s jewelry business. The business remained profitable.
[edit] Marriage and family
In 1915, President Wilson and Edith Galt met each other. President Wilson liked her and proposed to her. They married on 18th December 1915. While proposing to her, President Wilson had said like a poet: "in this place time is not measured by weeks, or months, or years, but by deep human experiences..."
Their love and romance also created a lot of talks in the social circle. Once a report appeared in a Washington newspaper about the Wilson couple. The report talked of the couple while they were seeing a play in a theater before their marriage. The report stated: "rather than paying attention to the play the President spent the evening entertaining Mrs. Galt." But, a printing error made the report read like this: "rather than paying attention to the play the President spent the evening entering Mrs. Galt." The publishers called back the newspapers with the printing error. Still few copies could not be called back. These copies are now prized items.
[edit] The First Lady
Mrs. Wilson had all the qualifications to act as the First Lady. She began her role as the First lady. In the meanwhile, the First World War broke out. This restricted the social activities at the White House. In 1917, the USA also joined the war. Mrs. Wilson started helping her husband who was under a lot of pressure due to war. She also went with him to Europe during the process of peace.
President Wilson returned from Europe. He engaged himself in obtaining Senate’s approval for the peace treaty. He was also trying to obtain approval for agreement to establish the League of Nations. In the meantime, his health was failing. In September 1919, he suffered a stroke. He became partially paralyzed. Edith Wilson always remained by her side. She took over many routine duties of the government and helped her husband in many official maters. At the same time, she sent many other official matters to the heads of departments or allowed them to remain them pending.
She also wrote a book. The name of the book is My Memoir. Its year of publication is 1939. In this book, she claimed that her husband’s doctors had requested her to take up many responsibilities of her husband. Many historians do not agree with her views. Phyllis Levin, a historian had described her as "a woman of narrow views and formidable determination". He blamed her for many failures of the policies of the USA after the First World War.
[edit] Later life
In 1921, the Wilson couple retired to live in Washington. After three years her husband, Woodrow Wilson, died. She continued to live in Washington. People liked her, and she became a respected figure in the high society of the capital. Some people say that she liked and admired younger men. She lived a long life and lived to see President John F. Kennedy's inaugural parade. She died on 28th December 1961, the 105th anniversary of her second husband's birth. At the time of her death, she was 89 years. This made her the third longest-lived first lady after Bess Truman and Lady Bird Johnson, respectively.
[edit] Reference
- Original text based on White House biography
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