the way of her destiny to become First Lady. She was confident she’d cured him of his serial infidelities, just as she’d cured the press of their irrational distaste for her. She particularly enjoyed the favorable coverage she was now receiving from many Washington journalists, whom she’d worked assiduously to charm since becoming First Lady while accompanying her husband on nearly all of his official trips. Noting her influence, the Louisville Courier-Journal wrote that “[o]mnipotence might be her middle name.”
She could live with that.
United States Congress
Washington, D.C.
April 6, 1917
The discovery of a German plot to encourage Mexico to go to war with the United States left the president with no other choice. Addressing both sessions of Congress, Wilson announced that a state of war now existed between America and Germany.
When he signed the war declaration, Edith handed him the same gold pen he had given her as a gift.
“Use this,” she said.
Washington, D.C.
July 14, 1917
Edith looked on with disgust. From the window, she could see the crowds of women swarming Lafayette Park across from the White House and making their way to the front gates. The National Woman’s Party was commemorating Bastille Day by demanding the right to vote. They carried outrageous banners with the French Revolution slogan, “Liberty. Equality. Fraternity.” But to make such a vulgar display with the country at war? It made her sick.
Privately, she and the president had long bemoaned the suffragistmovement, finding it to be a deplorable embarrassment. “Universal suffrage,” Wilson had once declared, “is at the foundation of every evil in this country.” During his reelection campaign, Wilson had differed sharply with Republican Charles Evans Hughes, who supported a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.
The group continued their display on her front lawn, until finally they were arrested for unlawful assembly. The president had counseled leniency toward the women—but Edith, thinking him too benevolent and forgiving, was adamant that they all be arrested.
United States Congress
Washington, D.C.
January 8, 1918
Wilson had a mission. With an overriding belief in his own abilities, he thought it might not even be too much to say that it was a mission from God. The Great War was proving to be one of the bloodiest conflicts in history. So much senseless violence. So much that might have been prevented had nations simply reasoned together.
Encouraged by a plea for peace from Pope Benedict XV the previous September, President Wilson had assembled a brain trust to help craft a plan. The participants were pulled from top Ivy League universities and met in New York, under the direction of Colonel House, to devise a plan that would end all future wars.
Now, addressing both chambers of Congress, Wilson declared his Fourteen Points for peace. The last, and most important, of these called for the formation of an association of nations guaranteeing “the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and the right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak.”
Wilson’s League of Nations proposal, as he first envisioned it, would ban “unethical” behavior, such as espionage or dishonesty, by member states. These rules would be enforced by a global governing body that could punish offenders by cutting off trade and imposing blockades.An international tribune would administer justice, just like a court might do in the United States.
Wilson put forth this plan before the war ended, hoping to terminate hostilities without a surrender on either side. It was an effort to create “peace without victory.” Other Allies did not seem so keen to surrender their sovereignty to an international body, but Wilson knew that he could persuade them.
The speech received triumphal reviews from the only voices that really mattered to him: Edith and the
She could live with that.
United States Congress
Washington, D.C.
April 6, 1917
The discovery of a German plot to encourage Mexico to go to war with the United States left the president with no other choice. Addressing both sessions of Congress, Wilson announced that a state of war now existed between America and Germany.
When he signed the war declaration, Edith handed him the same gold pen he had given her as a gift.
“Use this,” she said.
Washington, D.C.
July 14, 1917
Edith looked on with disgust. From the window, she could see the crowds of women swarming Lafayette Park across from the White House and making their way to the front gates. The National Woman’s Party was commemorating Bastille Day by demanding the right to vote. They carried outrageous banners with the French Revolution slogan, “Liberty. Equality. Fraternity.” But to make such a vulgar display with the country at war? It made her sick.
Privately, she and the president had long bemoaned the suffragistmovement, finding it to be a deplorable embarrassment. “Universal suffrage,” Wilson had once declared, “is at the foundation of every evil in this country.” During his reelection campaign, Wilson had differed sharply with Republican Charles Evans Hughes, who supported a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.
The group continued their display on her front lawn, until finally they were arrested for unlawful assembly. The president had counseled leniency toward the women—but Edith, thinking him too benevolent and forgiving, was adamant that they all be arrested.
United States Congress
Washington, D.C.
January 8, 1918
Wilson had a mission. With an overriding belief in his own abilities, he thought it might not even be too much to say that it was a mission from God. The Great War was proving to be one of the bloodiest conflicts in history. So much senseless violence. So much that might have been prevented had nations simply reasoned together.
Encouraged by a plea for peace from Pope Benedict XV the previous September, President Wilson had assembled a brain trust to help craft a plan. The participants were pulled from top Ivy League universities and met in New York, under the direction of Colonel House, to devise a plan that would end all future wars.
Now, addressing both chambers of Congress, Wilson declared his Fourteen Points for peace. The last, and most important, of these called for the formation of an association of nations guaranteeing “the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and the right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak.”
Wilson’s League of Nations proposal, as he first envisioned it, would ban “unethical” behavior, such as espionage or dishonesty, by member states. These rules would be enforced by a global governing body that could punish offenders by cutting off trade and imposing blockades.An international tribune would administer justice, just like a court might do in the United States.
Wilson put forth this plan before the war ended, hoping to terminate hostilities without a surrender on either side. It was an effort to create “peace without victory.” Other Allies did not seem so keen to surrender their sovereignty to an international body, but Wilson knew that he could persuade them.
The speech received triumphal reviews from the only voices that really mattered to him: Edith and the
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