Ms. Swain this is the Woodrow Wilson house in washington d. C. , the home of our 28th president and former first Lady Edith Wilson after they left the white house in 1921. Youll be seeing more of it over the next two hours as we tell the story of the two Wilson Administration first ladies, ellen and edith. Ellen and woodrow met in their 20s and their love for each other was reflected in passionate letters. An accomplished artist as well as his intellectual companion, she helped guide his career from academia to politics. In adopting causes, she set an example for future first ladies. Ellen wilson died in the white house just a year and a half into the president s term. The grieving president soon met washington businesswoman edith galt through a mutual friend. They married after a secret courtship and edith wilson served as first lady for more than five years. Her unprecedented role in managing the president s affairs after he suffered a stroke remains one of the most controversial efforts of any first lady. Good evening and welcome to cspans continuing series, first ladies influence and image. Tonight the story of the Wilson Administrations two first ladies ellen and edith and we have two terrific guests here to tell you about this two interesting women and the times in which they lived. Kristie miller is a biographer of the two first ladies. Her book is ellen and edith Woodrow Wilsons first ladies. John Milton Cooper is Woodrow Wilsons biographer. Mr. Cooper, thanks for being with us. Mr. Cooper glad to ms. Swain well, were going to break precedent a little bit. Weve been telling these stories chronologically but Everybody Knows about edith wilson managing the white house as its described after her husband suffers a stroke. And we thought we would tell that story first because so many people really want to know what happened. So, john cooper, let me start with you, when in the president S Administration did he suffer the stroke . Mr. Cooper more than halfway through the second term. It was in october 1919. He had just returned from a whirlwind speaking tour. He was trying to sell the country on ratifying the peace treaty and going into the league of nations and hed really worn himself out on that. And his doctors had actually aborted the tour and got him back to the white house and he after about five days back in the white house he suffered this massive stroke. Ms. Swain the story of the stroke night itself is really very dramatic. Could you tell us briefly about what happened in the white house that night . Ms. Miller there are some conflicting reports about what happened but i think that the most accurate portrayal is that he got up in the morning, edith had been going in to check on him during the night and she found him slumped to the floor and he couldnt move his left side. She went out into the corridor to use a telephone that did not go through the switchboard. She did not want to have this universally known. And she asked the chief usher to call the doctor from this other phone. And the doctor came in they helped him into bed but he was paralyzed on his left side. Ms. Swain well, a character thats going to be a big part of this story is cary grayson. Who was he . Mr. Cooper cary grayson was a navy doctor. He had made that his career after he finished med school and hed been assigned to the white house first under the taft administration. And then shortly, well, taft introduced him introduced him to his successor wilson and then pretty soon after the inauguration was and it was wilsons ms. Miller that was during the inauguration. Mr. Cooper ok. It was wilsons sister fell down ms. Swain right. Mr. Cooper and grayson treated her and did a good job and also he was a very charming man and a virginian, too, which helped, you know, with the wilsons. Yes. Ms. Swain and his role with the president s medical condition after the stroke was what . Mr. Cooper he was the white house physician. I mean, he is the one who treats him. That was his id say that was just everything he did was that. They called in various consultant specialists but grayson is the one thats really treating wilson. Ms. Swain now, you told us that the president was paralyzed but what was the extent of the of his condition . How badly had the stroke affected him . Ms. Miller he had a blockage in an artery leading to his brain. And this is usually not a fatal stroke but it did immobilize him for a while. He probably would have recovered fairly rapidly had he not about 10 days later suffered a second medical condition. Ms. Miller he had prostate trouble and he had a urinary tract infection with a very high fever. Of course, they didnt have antibiotics at that time. They debated whether to operate but the specialist felt that to operate on a 62yearold man with high Blood Pressure and a stroke would have been very unwise. So, they just tried to let nature take its course and eventually he recovered but it really sapped his vitality. And this kind of onetwo punch really did him in for about a month. Mr. Cooper it was i think kristie is free to agree or disagree but i think the worst effect of the stroke on wilson was really on his emotional balance and his judgment. His intellect wasnt impaired. His speech wasnt impaired so that yes, he could function that way but, you know, so much more goes into being a leader, being a president than just being smart and just being able to do these things. And another thing is partly because of that other illness that you just talked about, kristie, they isolated him and that was what when youre supposed to keep them away from any stress or whatever and now the neurologists say that is exactly the wrong thing to do. What you want to do with a person whos had a stroke is get them back into social interaction and everything as soon as you can. So, they would, with the best of intentions they were doing exactly the wrong thing. Ms. Swain dr. Cary graysons letters are part of the collections at the Woodrow Wilson president ial library which is in staunton, virginia about two hours away from washington. And we visited there. In the course of putting this program together were going to learn a little bit more about some of the history grayson captures in his letters. Ms. Dillard we have a letter in this box from Henry Morgenthau who was later writing his wanting to write a book about his experiences. And so hes asking grayson if he can use certain information. He wants to use in the book the information you gave me about president wilson and your having come to the conclusion that he should resign and how he was influenced by mrs. Wilson to give up this plan. So, mrs. Wilson was very concerned that her husband would not get better if he did not have something to engage his mind, that he would just deteriorate if he was forced out of the presidency. While president wilson was ill it has been speculated widely among historians that mrs. Wilson essentially became the president. We have one document here that sheds a little bit of light on that. It is a telegram from Henry Morgenthau who is the ambassador to turkey and hes writing to dr. Cary grayson asking if the president has any objections to a citizens meeting to protest against turks being left in control of constantinople. And morgenthau has been asked to speak at this meeting and so hes asking basically permission. He doesnt want to embarrass the president so hes asking for advice. And on the at the bottom of this telegram, there is a handwriting that is ediths handwriting. Were familiar enough with ediths handwriting to recognize it as such. And at the bottom she writes thinks it well to postpone speaking on such subjects. What we dont know is did edith take this telegram into wilson, ask his opinion and then write that or did she just come to that conclusion herself. The public was very interested and curious to know the condition of wilsons health. And so, you know, rumors were rampant in the papers even congressmen didnt know what was going on. They only knew what they read in the papers. After it was all over, cary grayson later wrote up a summary of what happened from the time of the stroke until wilson left the white house. And on the last page the decision was made to announce that wilson was suffering from nervous exhaustion. There were no other details given as to what was wrong with him, really nobody knew the extent of his illness, that he really was not capable of doing anything. Dr. Grayson, thought it wise to issue general statements only. Further, mrs. Wilson, the president s wife was absolutely opposed to any other course. She did not want it to be known that he was really suffering. Again, she was protecting her husband. She wanted him to be able to fulfill his duties as president. She was worried about his legacy. She ultimately, she was concerned about his health. And she felt that if he left the presidency, left the white house, he would just waste away and die. So, john cooper, the constitution we should say made no provisions for what would happen with an incapacitated president. So, what did washington do . How did they react . Mr. Cooper well, a couple of different ways. Robert lansing who was the secretary of state and would have been fired if wilson hadnt had the stroke because there had been a bad break and thats another story but lansing tried to get the cabinet in on it. And i think he even made some communications with the Vice President who stayed out of it completely. He just simply said no. I mean, the constitution this is before the 25th amendment which actually is not as much of a protection as we think in the cases of inabilities, they dont talk about disability but inability of the president to perform his duties and what does that mean. Well, usually that means the president is dead so the Vice President succeeds. But if you have a disabled president and this is the one time that we really have had a disabled president and how do you deal with it. And, edith, i have a lot of sympathy for her. You know, she was scared. You know, this is a very scary thing she was in and make it up as you go along. Ms. Swain on the Facebook Kristie miller, david welch says what part of personality or intellect thus prepared mrs. Edith wilson in a sense to take over for the president during his recovery. What skills did she bring to this responsibility she was taking on . Ms. Miller thats a very good question because shed had exactly two years of formal schooling in her whole entire life. But she comes from a numerous family and she had been chosen by her grandmother to take care of her, to be her caregiver. The grandmother was a very opinionated woman and taught edith basically that it was good to have opinions and t make decisions. Edith had been widowed relatively young and had inherited galt jewelers which was like the tiffanys of washington. And so, she kept the jewelry store. She had a manager who made a lot of the decisions but she was used to having everything her way. And so, she brought this very decided personality. In addition, woodrow had courted her by showing her a lot of secret papers. Henry kissinger used to say that power was the ultimate aphrodisiac and i think Woodrow Wilson would have agreed. Mr. Cooper oh, yeah. Ms. Miller and so, he was using this entree to these secret papers as part of his courting, courtship and she was susceptible to that. And so, he shared a great deal of what he was doing, really a great deal of what he was doing with her. So that, i think john said that she probably knew as well as anyone what he was doing and what he was thinking because he was a he was a real lone wolf when it came to being a president. He didnt have a lot of close advisers wouldnt you say. Mr. Cooper thats true. Yes, thats true. Ms. Swain i have a quote to show you both. Its from edith wilson herself. She published her memoirs. And in this big controversy about how much power she took upon herself. Heres what she said, 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. Ok. So, today, we know the gatekeeper to the president is really the most important job. Mr. Cooper he or she who controls access to the president to some extent is president. And as she said its not just who got to see him he was pretty well embargoed for well over a month. Nobody from the outside got to see him but also what the president gets to see. And, you know, she would decide what was what was best for him to see and what not. One of the to me, one of the raps on edith in this was that she was putting her husbands health ahead of the good of the country and that somehow that her priorities were wrong there. Well, i dont think that was entirely why she did what she did. She knew what he wanted. And that if he couldnt express himself she knew he would not want to resign, that he would want to hang on to this. And she as kristie said, she knew his mind better than anybody else. So, if anybody is going to have to act as a substitute in this situation she was, i think, the best person to do it. Ms. Swain Tiffany Fannin on facebook, it says did anyone try to prevent the first lady from acting on behalf of the president you mentioned the secretary of state if so, what happened to them politically . Mr. Cooper well, the secretary of state got blocked by other cabinet members very quickly. They grayson and tumulty, wilsons secretary plus the loyalists like baker and daniels and the cabinet put a kibosh on that on that very quickly. And nobody knew how much he was doing. Ms. Miller well, there was the smelling committee socalled. There were two senators who were detailed to come in and assess the condition of wilson because it came out when lansing went up to capitol hill that he hadnt spoken to the president about a very volatile situation in mexico. So, they deputized one democrat and one republican and edith and dr. Grayson really stage managed that very, very well. Again, the accounts differs exactly what they did but whatever it was, it was enormously successful including senator fall, the republican who would have been most anxious to show that there was something wrong with wilson said to the press afterwards that the president grasped his hand with both of his. Well, that was manifestly impossible because woodrow couldnt move his left hand. But he was so taken with wilsons apparent animation, he made a lot of jokes because that part of his thinking came back very quickly. He loved to make puns and he loved to tell jokes and stories and that came back relatively quickly. Mr. Cooper yeah. Ms. Miller but as john said the judgment was really what took a hit. Ms. Swain and we have a bit of a timeline of the president s incapacitation as to the stroke as john cooper us was in september of 1919. It was not until december that the president took his first steps after the stroke. It was in march of 1920 when he left the house for the first time. And by the way, we have to talk about all of the political intrigue and important decisions going on in the aftermath world war i. His beloved league of nations was rejected by the senate in that time for the first time. In april of 1920, the president had his first Cabinet Meeting eight months not meeting with the cabinet. Its almost unthinkable. How did the government continue . Mr. Cooper by routine and also wilson was a great delegator except in Foreign Affairs. Other than that, he gave his cabinet secretaries lots of leeway so they were used to running things on their own. Or i think its just very lucky and they something of a tribute to that that government functioned as well as it did, not all that well but it kept going. Ms. Swain and since this is a story about edith, all during that time what really was her role . Ms. Miller well, i think one aspect to her role thats been overlooked is the extent to which she tried to make woodrow give way on some of this intransigence about the league of nations. Now, in her memoir which is fanciful in places she says that she asked him please to compromise with the republicans in congress to try to get the treaty passed with the league of nations. And he she said that he turned to her and said, little girl, dont you desert me to i loved it said he always called her little girl, she was about five foot nine and she says in her book that she never tried to change his mind again. But we found evidence that there were at least two other occasions on which she did try to change his mind. She and his what would now be called chief of staff, joe tumulty had discussed some of the places where they hoped woodrow could give a little ground and then where the republicans could give a little ground. They hoped to find some compromise. And she took some notes very hurried almost shorthand notes of whats obviously a speech that she was going to give to wilson that wound up saying, and for the sake of the country and the peace of the world please consider this. And it didnt work apparently because he didnt change. But she was not a woman to take notes on something and not do something about it. And then a little bit later she had some conversations with Ray Stannard Baker who was very close to wilson later became his official biographer and he gave edith some suggestions again some talking points to try to get wilson to change his mind. But he didnt and by the time he refused by that time the republicans were also hardening their line. Some of the hardliners were reeling in the republican leadership. Ms. Swain so, donald blaze on facebook asked specifically id like to ask if edith spoke out publicly on the league of nations and if she did, did she support it. Ms. Miller she didnt speak out on anything. This is again to correct the big misperception of edith. I do not think she was at all power hungry for herself. She wanted what her husband wanted. His agenda was her agenda. She used to say to people, i never make speeches. I think she made a few years after woodrow died but during the time he was in the white house she was asked to present, i dont know, something innocuous like a bouquet of flowers to the girl scouts and she just said id like to make a speech but i never have and i wont. She didnt even approve of voting for women, of women suffrage. Ms. Swain so we need to continue with our story and go back in time. But before we close up this section, the interviews will come back to this later on. But we thought youd all want to get this out because its such an interesting aspect and historically important. Whats the bottom of this peri