Ellen and Edith: Woodrow Wilson's First Ladies

6. The Mainstay

c h a p t e r s i x 208 } { No further efforts on Edith Wilson’s part could have made any difference . The window of opportunity was already closing. Republican hard-liners, hearing of the bipartisan meeting on January 22, protested against any compromise on Article X. One of their leaders , Senator William Borah of Idaho, denounced the negotiations as “a cowardly and pusillanimous enterprise.” Afraid that the Republicans would remove him as majority leader, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge quickly backed down. The chance for compromise, if it had ever existed, was gone.1 Although Ray Stannard Baker was disappointed with the impasse , he still wanted to help. He suggested to Edith that he write an article “for immediate publication in all newspapers,” explaining that Woodrow Wilson was defending “the spirit of the League” by trying to block changes that would interfere with the basic premise that member nations must cooperate to prevent future wars. This would, Baker believed, “throw all the blame for delay”on the Senate. Although Baker’s hopes for the article never materialized, Edith at the time encouraged him, perhaps thinking about Wilson’s legacy, focusing on how he would be perceived historically rather than looking for political advantage. “I am convinced that you have the right idea,” she wrote Baker. Woodrow wanted to talk to Baker, but Edith did not think it was necessary: “We all feel you are in such THE MAINSTAY close sympathy & touch with him that you need no further hint.”2 Baker had her blessing to do what he could to burnish Wilson’s reputation . The letter Wilson sent after he recovered from the flu did not enhance that reputation. Unlike Joseph Tumulty’s draft compromise letter of January 15, Wilson’s letter dated January 26 to Senator Gilbert Hitchcock was unyielding. Wilson dwelt at length on the “unfortunate ” aspects of the pending proposals. Even Wilson realized that his response was not what the Democrats were hoping for; Edith wrote a note to accompany the letter, saying it was Wilson’s opinion that “it would not set matters forward” to publish his letter “at this time.” Edith was dealing with an increasingly energetic and bitter husband. Wilson next asked her to write to the postmaster general Albert Burleson, in order to send him a list of senators Wilson believed had “hindered or did not assist the ratification of the Treaty.” He wanted confirmation that his list was “fair” and “complete.”3 It was an early example of an “enemies list.” Wilson fell ill again. Publicly, Dr. Cary Grayson minimized the extent of Wilson’s infirmity, but he was so concerned about the repeated breakdowns of the president’s health, he went so far as to urge Woodrow Wilson to resign. Apparently, Wilson seriously considered the idea. Grayson wrote a memo to himself: “Look up notes re President Wilson’s intention to go to the Senate in a wheeled chair for the purpose of resigning.”Wilson himself told Ray Baker that he “might have a message” for him. “There is something ‘on,’” Baker confided to his diary on February 4. But as Woodrow’s health and spirits improved, Edith encouraged him not to resign.4 If the first lady had supported Grayson, it is quite likely that the weakened and depressed president would have given up trying to cope with the demands of office. Vice President Thomas Marshall would have taken over and supported ratification of the Treaty with the Lodge reservations. Edith knew that Wilson would not have wanted that. She also continued to believe Woodrow’s best chance for recovery was to stay in office. While she thought that too many visitors and too much paperwork would slow his recovery, she suspected that leaving office would deprive him of the incentive to get well. What she wanted for him was a lightened load. While everyone around Wilson thought the country would be better off if Wilson The Mainstay 209 } { resigned, Edith’s first loyalty was to her husband. She had pledged herself to him, not to the government of the United States. She put his welfare first. And Wilson was beginning to recover; renewed health gave him renewed energy.5 In any case, another development soon drove all thoughts of resignation from Wilson’s mind. The spurned Lord Edward Grey, having returned to England, had published a letter in...