A funny thing about Edith Wilson holding her husband's place is that everyone in DC suspected it and they were content to let it be, as it kept the Presidency weak. Wilson had done enough damage and the country didn't want his globalist League of Nations. All Edith had to do was keep a steady hand on the tiller.
Wilson was an odd duck. He had no close male friends. Edith had no interest in politics until Woodrow married her and talked her ear off. She was a fit substitute for him because she knew his mind better than anyone (including him post-stroke.)
They lucked out in that Wilson's Vice President, Thomas Marshall, did not want to become President and did not push the issue. Marshall belonged to that particular generation of Americans who experienced the shooting deaths of three Presidents: Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Marshall didn't like those odds and he was content to draw a good salary for an easy job.
A funny thing about Edith Wilson holding her husband's place is that everyone in DC suspected it and they were content to let it be, as it kept the Presidency weak. Wilson had done enough damage and the country didn't want his globalist League of Nations. All Edith had to do was keep a steady hand on the tiller.
Wilson was an odd duck. He had no close male friends. Edith had no interest in politics until Woodrow married her and talked her ear off. She was a fit substitute for him because she knew his mind better than anyone (including him post-stroke.)
They lucked out in that Wilson's Vice President, Thomas Marshall, did not want to become President and did not push the issue. Marshall belonged to that particular generation of Americans who experienced the shooting deaths of three Presidents: Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Marshall didn't like those odds and he was content to draw a good salary for an easy job.