Universiteit Leiden
The Hague, Netherlands
Who Runs the Free World?
By Anna-Lena Hathaway
S1767909
Crisis & Security Management Master’s Thesis
Advisor: Dr. Constant Hijzen
Second Reader: Dr. Jelle van Buuren
January 11, 2017
Table of Contents
Introduction ... 4
Theoretical Framework ... 9
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson ... 22
Introduction ... 23
Historical Context 1913-1921 ... 23
Road to the White House ... 25
Security Issues ... 26
Reflection ... 33
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ... 37
Introduction ... 38
Historical Context 1933-1945 ... 38
Road to the White House ... 40
Security Issues ... 42
Reflection ... 48
Nancy Davis Reagan ... 53
Introduction ... 54
Historical Context 1980-1989 ... 54
Road to the White House ... 55
Security Issues ... 56
Reflection ... 62
Analysis ... 66
Conclusion ... 73
Acknowledgements
I would first like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Constant Hijzen of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. Dr. Hijzen was always available whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research or writing. He consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction whenever he thought I needed it.
I would also like to thank the research librarians at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library and the Library of Congress, who steered me through boxes and microfilm rolls of primary data. Without their passionate participation and input, I would not have found the necessary resources for this project.
I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Jelle van Buuren of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University as the second reader of this thesis, and I am gratefully indebted to him for his very valuable comments on this thesis.
I would like to thank my study partner, Anne Peterscheck, and my friend, Cameron Douglas, for their unwavering support and editing input. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents, Mark and Beate Hathaway, for providing me with unfailing support, continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis, and providing me with lots of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you.
Introduction
On July 26, 2016, for the first time in United States history a woman, a former First Lady, won the nomination to run for President under a major political party. The term “First Lady” is a relatively new concept. The term was first applied to Lucy Webb Hayes during the inauguration of her husband, President Rutherford Hayes in 1877. However, the term did not come into popular use until 1911, when the play “First Lady of the Land” about Dolly Madison popularized the designation for the president’s wife.1 FLOTUS the acronym for First Lady of the United States originated as the United States Secret Service code name for Nancy Reagan.2 The First Lady occupies a unique position as she is not an elected official, receives no salary, is not mentioned in the United States Constitution, and has no written description of her duties.3 Furthermore, she had no official governmental standing in Washington, D.C. The
Congressional Directory, a guide that lists the names of all officials working in the capital, did
not mention the First Lady until the March 1965 edition.4 In fact, the first time a member of the First Lady’s staff was mentioned was in 1952, when Mary Jane McCaffree, was listed in the directory as “Acting Secretary to the Wife of the President,” twelve years prior to when the First Lady was first mentioned.5 The role of the First Lady is traditionally filled by the wife of the president, though not always the case.6 There are two instances of when the wife of the president did not perform the traditional duties of the First Lady: Betty Taylor, daughter of President Zachary Taylor, and Harriet Lane, niece of President James Buchanan.7
From the beginning of the republic, the First Lady was viewed as the White House hostess, but her role has changed over time as women’s standing in the workplace developed and several unique First Ladies elevated the position from a mere hostessing and secretarial role to one that adopts platforms and champions causes. A historical development came with the national dialogue about the movement to grant women additional rights, including the right to vote, which began in the 1840s.8 A few states and localities allowed women to vote on a limited basis.9 Then the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on August 26, 1920, nationally granting women the right to vote, or suffrage,10 and gave them more political power as they could voice their opinion by casting a ballot. The First Lady gained a political voice and therefore could embrace a cause or project, campaign for her husband, or meet with the press to express her opinions on matters. The First Lady’s options were expanded by the Nineteenth Amendment because women could have a role in politics and public life.11 She gained a newfound liberty that permitted the First Lady a degree of freedom in her role
and allowed her to break from the traditional hostess role predecessors customarily played prior to the Nineteenth Amendment.
One problem with studying the First Ladies is that there is a lack of a standard methodology for studying these women. Lewis L. Gould, Professor Emeritus in American History at Yale University, argued that “to study all of the First Ladies is to study all of American history.”12 Books about the First Ladies are generally “kiss-and-tell” stories illuminating life inside the White House or biographical studies of the women who filled this office. Notable exceptions include The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth
Century by Myra G. Gutin, Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History by Kati Marton, or Rating the First Ladies: The Women Who Influenced the Presidency
by John B. Roberts II, which delve into the subject of the “hidden power” presidential wives possess. These books focus primarily on the presidential marriages and partnership between spouses. Gutin evaluates twelve First Ladies since the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to demonstrate how they have assumed one of three stances as public communicators.13 Marton studies the effect of eleven presidential marriages on presidential history.14 Roberts utilizes the ranking of the First Ladies by the Siena College Research Institute, based on the opinions of academic experts, to analyze the power or influence of all the of First Ladies up to Laura Bush.15 How the arguments found in these books will be utilized as secondary sources will be discussed in a later chapter.
This thesis contends that there is more to the role of the First Lady than gossip about White House life, by systematically analyzing three women who served as the First Lady: Edith Bolling Wilson, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nancy Davis Reagan. These three women were chosen out of personal interest of the author, availability of both primary and secondary resources of these women, and most significantly because these three women have been previously accused of being too involved in policy issues while in the White House. This thesis differs from existing analyses into the lives of the First Ladies by specifically exploring their role in through a security perspective. The central research question is: how did the First Ladies of the United States of America Edith Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nancy Reagan influence the country’s security issues?
This thesis seeks to further explore the “hidden power” or influence of the First Lady specifically on security issues, rather than her fashion or her choice of White House china.
There has been prior research conducted into the security and agenda-setting process in the United States government, including Presidential Power by Richard Neustadt, Agendas,
Alternatives, and Public Policies by John Kingdon, and Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis by Graham Allison. These significant studies thoroughly analyzed the decision-making process of official governmental actors in the executive office, but did not investigate the First Ladies’ role within the agenda-setting realm of the United States government which leads to the question, are the First Ladies relevant security actors? This thesis believes that this is an important question to address as these women are not elected officials and are not held democratically accountable, and yet they reside in the most powerful house in the country. It is important to understand the role of the First Lady in security studies (in terms of putting topics on the agenda, framing, and supporting policies) simply because she is married to the most politically powerful man in the United States. By residing in the White House, she is privy to discussions, policies, and decisions that occur within its walls. She has no official job description or list of responsibilities which grants her the freedom to fulfill the role as she pleases. There is a knowledge gap among these previous studies into the influence of the First Ladies and in previous research in security studies. Only by researching all the potential relevant security actors can we understand the governance of security. These previous studies and the knowledge gap will be discussed in greater detail in a later chapter. Furthermore, security is a relevant and interesting topic to focus on when discussing the First Ladies and their roles, because she is not deemed a traditional security actor. The First Lady does not immediately come to mind when thinking of security actors in the United States government, yet she is a very public figure and has shown influence in other issues per the studies conducted by Roberts, Marton, and Gutin. Security issues tend to be viewed as the most serious and studying the First Lady’s impact on security is a good proxy for how involved she is in serious policy as a whole.
By investigating this topic, this thesis seeks to apply prior studies of security agenda-setting within the executive office of the United States government to the First Ladies through an in-depth analysis of primary and secondary sources. An analysis of all the First Ladies up to Michelle Obama would be too comprehensive for this thesis. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the three women mentioned above and analyzes their effect on the security agenda through three security issues each. By analyzing speeches, letters, newspaper and magazine articles, press conferences, radio and television broadcasts authored by the First Ladies, and historical commentary, one can understand the affect these women had on the security issues.
This thesis relied on primary source materials located in the National Archives and accessed by visiting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley California, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and electronically accessing the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York. These libraries were visited because they house the papers of the First Ladies researched for this thesis. At each corresponding library, the papers of the First Lady and the papers of the president were accessed. These papers include letters, speeches, newspaper clippings, memos, reports, and notes, either authored by the First Lady or sent to her. It was necessary to access these primary sources because these women are being studied through a security lens, which differs from previous research done on the First Ladies. One limitation of these resources is that they are not always organized chronologically or by topic, which could lead to the potential failure of missing a document. Another limitation of these resources is that often the handwriting in the letters or marginal notes was entirely illegible or have faded away with time. Despite these limitations, the papers accessed at these three libraries were essential to the research conducted for this thesis.
The next several chapters will discuss these theories and arguments briefly mentioned in this introduction. The theoretical framework will illustrate the arguments on presidential decision-making and historiography on the First Ladies, provide an outline of the research design, definitions of security. Then chapters dedicated to each of the First Ladies studied will follow. These chapters are all structured in the same manner, which includes historical context, a brief biography leading up to their time in the White House, a discussion of security issues they affected, and will conclude with a reflection. After theses chapters, there will be an analysis chapter comparing Edith Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nancy Reagan and their security issues, and a presentation of findings, followed by a conclusion. Each of the chapters ends with endnote citations that correspond to that chapter.
Notes:
1 Stanley R. Pillsbury, “The First Lady of the Land,” in Dictionary of American History Volume III, eds. Harold
W. Chase, Thomas C. Cochran, Jacob E. Cooke, Robert W. Daly, Wendell, and Robert P. Multhauf (New York: Schribner, 1976), 26.
2 “FLOTUS, n.” OED Online. December 2016. Oxford University Press.
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/247142?redirectedFrom=flotus (accessed January 09, 2017).
3 Myra G. Gutin, The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century, (Westport, CT, 1989), 2. 4 The Congressional Directory (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1965), 635. 5 Ibid., 352.
6 Gutin, The President’s Partner, 3.
7Margaret Brown Klapthor, and Allida Mae Black, The First Ladies, (Government Printing Office, 2002), 32,
38.
8 “Women in the Progressive Era.” Women in the Progressive Era. Accessed January 04, 2017.
https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/suffrage.html.
9 Ibid.
10Klapthor, and Black, The First Ladies, 32, 38. 11 Ibid., 4.
12 Lewis L. Gould as cited by Gutin, The President’s Partner, 2. 13 Gutin, The President’s Partner, 2.
14 Kati Marton, Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History, (New York, 2001), 4. 15Ibid., xix-xx.
Theoretical Framework
What is security? How do issues make it onto the security agenda? Who decides what issues are security concerns? The security agenda is a complex concept, which includes the discussion of several theories. Security itself is an academic term that lacks an agreed-upon definition. There are many factors that affect the security agenda and the process of agenda-setting, but it is essentially context dependent. At present, there is a missing discussion about the role of the First Ladies of the United States in the security policy arena and how she affects security issues. Despite having no official duties, First Ladies have held a highly visible position in the United States government, and their role has evolved over the centuries from picking out White House china to also being an active participant in policy.1 As such, they are not traditionally viewed as official security actors, but this thesis seeks to determine their influence on security issues and their role in the security agenda-setting process. It is important to understand the role of the First Lady in security studies because she is married to the President of the United States, she resides in the White House, has daily conversations with him. There is a knowledge gap in both previous studies into security issues and agenda-setting of the United States government, and the historiography of the First Ladies. These women have yet to be analyzed through their influence on security issues, which tend to be some of the most consequential matters any government faces because they are often quite literally matters of life and death. Because of the importance and weight of these issues, the First Lady’s involvement in security is an interesting proxy by which we can learn how much the First Lady is involved in serious “hard” policy as opposed to more “soft” cultural issues.
With the national discussion prior to receiving the right to vote and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, the First Ladies were granted more power by gaining the right to a political voice. As certain women like Edith Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nancy Reagan played a more active role in policy, American people began to wonder about and fear the “hidden power” of the First Lady as she is not elected and therefore not democratically held accountable.2 This curiosity led to the selection of this topic, and as President Harry S. Truman once stated: “I hope someday somebody will take time to evaluate the true role of wife of a President and to assess the many burdens she has to bear and the contributions she makes.”3
In particular, this thesis will analyze the roles of Edith Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nancy Reagan during their time as First Ladies in the White House, as these women are not
part of the traditional democratic process outlined in the United States Constitution, yet are privy to swaths of information and often serve as their husband’s closest advisor. These three First Ladies were selected for further study because of the availability and accessibility of both primary and secondary resources of these women, and all three have been accused of being too involved in policy issues during their time in the White House. Edith Wilson was said to have assumed presidential duties while her husband was recovering from an incapacitating stroke,4 Eleanor Roosevelt was a reluctant First Lady as she wanted to pursue her own career,5 and Nancy Reagan was reprimanded by reporters for meddling in staffing appointments and policy issues.6 This chapter will discuss existing historiography on the First Ladies, theories on agenda-setting and presidential decision-making, definitions of security, and a research design.
First Lady Historiography
Most books about the First Ladies are either biographical in nature or exposés on White House life, however, there are some exceptions of authors who delve deeper into the function of the First Lady. Americans have often feared the influence of the First Lady, as discussed in books like The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century by Myra G. Gutin,
Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History by Kati Marton, and Rating the First Ladies: The Women Who Influenced the Presidency by John B. Roberts II.
These books explore the influence of the First Lady as a public communicator, the strength of the presidential marriage, and her success according to academic experts. They do not, however, investigate her influence on security issues, or the security agenda, and this thesis seeks to fill that knowledge gap by expanding upon these arguments with primary source materials.
The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century by Myra G. Gutin
In her book, The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century, Gutin investigates twelve First Ladies, following the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, from Florence Harding to Nancy Reagan, through their position as public communicators.7 . Gutin argues that the development of radio and television together with radical social and political changes have dramatically altered the role of the First Lady in the early 1900s. She focuses on the publication techniques of the presidential wives as she examines the public and private personas of twelve First Ladies have assumed one of three communication techniques: the “White Housekeepers,” the “Emerging Spokeswoman,” and the “Political Surrogates and
Independent Advocates.”8 Gutin differentiates the women who have remained within the limits of the more traditional roles and served in a more ceremonial capacity, and the women who utilized the media to promote projects they had an interest in by communicating directly with the public.9 She does not study Mrs. Wilson as she was the First Lady when the Nineteenth Amendment passed and begins her study with Florence Harding. Gutin categorizes Mrs. Roosevelt as a “Political Surrogate and Independent Advocate” for her active radio broadcasts, “My Day” column publications and responses to personal letters received by her office.10 She argues that Mrs. Roosevelt was a trendsetter in this manner who often used every available communication outlet to speak with the public about special projects and causes.11 Gutin considers Mrs. Reagan a “First Lady in Transition” as she shifted from a role limited to White House social functions and ceremonial duties to active participation as a political surrogate and independent advocate.12 As her research was published in 1989, while the Reagan administration was still in the White House which was not enough time elapsed to research and fully investigate Mrs. Reagan’s communication techniques.
Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History by Kati Marton Marton studies eleven presidential marriages, from Woodrow and Edith Wilson to George and Laura Bush, and how their intimate private lives and the publicity of their relationships form presidential history in her book Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That
Shaped Our Recent History.13 Her study of the effect of marriage on the presidency and the presidency on the marriage illuminates the inner lives of presidential couples. In reference to the First Ladies, Marton argues that “the quality of her relationship with her husband has been the key factor in determining the extent of her influence on the presidency.”14 She studies how the presidential marriages have affected the character, tone, and policies of these eleven administrations. Marton stipulates that Woodrow and Edith Wilson were the “greatest love story of the modern presidency” and were a true romance, that led Mrs. Wilson to run the country when her beloved husband suffered a stroke.15 Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt had a dysfunctional marriage that contained little intimacy but established a political partnership through the president’s reassuring spirit, and the First Lady’s humility, which guided the nation through the Great Depression and World War II and was deemed “the partnership that changed the world.”16 Ronald and Nancy Reagan were considered “virtually perfect” as Mrs. Reagan dutifully served the president, and was generally constructive, in spite of her frivolous reputation.17
Rating the First Ladies: The Women Who Influenced the Presidency by John B. Roberts II In Rating the First Ladies: The Women Who Influenced the Presidency, Roberts argues that the vast majority of First Ladies have been politically active during their husband’s careers and have used their influence to effect policy, champion causes, urge declarations of war, and hire and fire presidential advisers.18 He utilizes the ranking of the Siena College Research Institute published in 1982, 1993, and 2003 to analyze the successes and failures of thirty-seven the First Ladies.19 Siena College rates the First Ladies out of a 100 point scale, with a median score of 60.20 The First Lady who placed last at No. 37, Mary Lincoln, in the 1993 report was given a score of 52.62, while the First Lady who placed at No. 8, Barbara Bush, was given a score of 69.61.21 Roberts notes this significance because all the twenty-eight First Ladies who placed between last and the top ten were evaluated in only a fifteen-point difference, signifying that academic experts have a hard time distinguishing between the First Ladies.22 Roberts investigates how the presidential wives used their unelected power to shape their husband’s administrations and serve their country. He argues that Edith Wilson was publicly active in both policymaking and political campaigning and placed 7th in the 1982 rankings, 10th in the 1993 rankings, and 11th in the 2003 rankings.23 Eleanor Roosevelt was active in New Deal policymaking and hired her own social secretary and placed 1st in all three rankings, while Nancy Reagan helped the president achieve his policy objectives and was openly assertive in the political management of the White House, and placed 36th in the 1993 rankings, and 28th in the 2003 rankings.24 Roberts’ study may be the closest to analyzing the First Ladies in a security perspective as he studies the direct influence of these women, but that is not his focus as he writes on their success, importance, influence, and popularity based on the Siena College Research Institute ranking of the First Ladies.
Theories on Presidential Decision-Making and Agenda-Setting
This thesis seeks to understand the role of individuals, especially unelected officials, in the securitization process and their effect on security policy agenda-setting. This concept is discussed in Richard Neustadt’s Presidential Power (1960), John Kingdon’s Agendas,
Alternatives, and Public Policies (1984), and Graham Allison’s Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1999). The arguments found in these three books will provide the groundwork for comparative analysis between the Edith Wilson, Eleanor
Roosevelt, and Nancy Reagan. The arguments of each author are expanded below and their function will be discussed in the later research design section.
Presidential Power by Richard Neustadt
Richard Neustadt analyzed the structure of the executive branch of the United States government in his book Presidential Power, and argues that “the constitutional convention of 1787 is supposed to have created a government of ‘separated powers.’ It did nothing of the sort. Rather, it created a government of separated institutions sharing powers.”25 Neustadt maintains that “presidential power is to persuade,”26 which the president utilizes to achieve more than official authority allows him to do. The president is expected to accomplish more than Constitutional authority provides, which can be achieved through successful persuasion and bargaining. Neustadt’s point relates to the First Ladies as they have no official job, no Constitutional authority, but due to the recent trend of modern First Ladies, are expected to achieve much during the duration of their husbands’ time in office. Neustadt further contends:
Effective influence for the man in the White House stems from three related sources: first are the bargaining advantages inherent in his job with which to persuade other men that what he wants of them is what their own responsibilities require them to do. Second are the expectations of those other men regarding his ability and will to use the various advantages they think he has. Third are those men’s estimates of how his public views him and of how their publics may view them if they do what he wants. In short, his power is the product of his vantage points in government, together with his reputation in the Washington community and his prestige outside.27
Neustadt neglects to mention the First Ladies within this presidential power; however, this theory only evaluates the persuasive power of the president and not the persuasive power others may have over the president.
Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies by John Kingdon
John Kingdon conducted a thorough analysis of agenda-setting in the United States in his book Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (1984). In his book, Kingdon breaks agenda-setting into three main processes: problems, policies, and participants.28 He mentions actors within the government, like the president, the president’s cabinet members, and Congress.29 He also mentions actors outside of the government, like academics, media, and interest groups.30 Kingdon does not investigate the role of the First Ladies of the United States. The First Ladies sometimes mirror gender roles in the United States, but most often, these
women are trendsetters. It has become customary that the First Lady creates her own agenda and set of initiatives that she would like to accomplish during her time in the White House. These women are unique because they are in the public eye, a concept unknown to most of the other spouses of political leaders around the world. Often, they help boost the popularity of their own husbands; ergo, these women should be included as participants within Kingdon’s study.
Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis by Graham Allison
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a thirteen-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union regarding ballistic missiles in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy once said in a speech, “The essence of ultimate decision remains impenetrable to the observer – often, indeed, to the decider himself.”31 Graham Allison, a political scientist, used the Cuban Missile Crisis as a case study for further research in governmental decision-making in his book,
Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1999). Allison constructed three
lenses through which analysts can examine governmental decisions in response to events: the “Rational Actor” model, the “Organizational Behavior” model, and the “Governmental Politics” model.32 The “Rational Actor” model is based on the notion that the government is treated as the principle actor, and that the government evaluates all possible options and selects the most favorable one.33 The “Organizational Behavior” model proposes that government leaders break down a crisis and assign it to a pre-established organizational line, that due to time and resource constraints leaders choose the first option that sufficiently addresses the problem or “satisficing,” and essentially limits government leaders to preexisting plans.34 Allison states that within the “Governmental Politics” model, politics and negotiations direct a nation’s actions.35 He argues that if a leader holds absolute power, like the President of the United States, their decisions are based on the people surrounding him. Final decisions will differ between an entourage of “yes men” versus an entourage of people who will voice their disagreement.36 Allison does not include the First Ladies in the president’s entourage of decision-makers, and this thesis intends to fill in that gap.
Additional Resources
This thesis seeks to add to the historiography of the First Ladies and fill in the knowledge gap of security agenda-setting and presidential decision-making discussed above by exploiting biographies, autobiographies, and archival and primary documents. These
biographies include, Eleanor Roosevelt: Transformative First Lady by Maurine Hoffman
Beasley, First Ladies by Betty Boyd Caroli, “The Modern First Lady and Public Policy: From Edith Wilson through Hillary Rodham Clinton” by Allida Mae Black, Edith Bolling Wilson: First Lady Extraordinary by Alden Hatch, The First Ladies by Margaret Brown Klapthor and
Allida Mae Black, Edith and Woodrow: The Wilson White House by Phyllis Lee Levin, and
First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan
Swain. These biographies were selected because they were authored by reputable First Lady historians, and were cited many times by other works and authors. These resources provide biographical information on the lives of Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Mrs. Reagan and provided secondary documentation to support the argument found in this thesis.
The autobiographies referred to for this thesis consist of My Memoir by Edith Wilson,
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt by Eleanor Roosevelt, and My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan by Nancy Reagan. These autobiographies are used as primary source materials
as they were authored by the First Ladies and will provide support for their influence on security issues and presidential decision-making. Archival and primary documents were found at the National Archives and accessed by personally visiting the Library of Congress located in Washington, D.C., and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library located in Simi Valley, California, and accessing digitized documents at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park and the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress houses all the Edith Wilson Papers as they have not yet been moved to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Staunton, Virginia. These papers were filed in boxes or copied onto microfilm, which were accessed by registering for a reader card. The Nancy Reagan Papers are located at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which were also accessed by registering for a reader card.1 Finally, the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers were accessed
electronically through the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library and the George Washington University. Other resources found in the bibliography provided historical context to set the scene of the time in which each of the First Ladies served the role.
The Concept of Security
The absence of an agreed upon definition of security has given rise to several academic theories that attempt to provide a framework for the study of security. One author, David
Baldwin, attempts to address this issue through a series of questions to help specify the concept of security in different contexts. In his article, “Concept of Security,” he argues that without a concept it is extremely difficult to discuss, analyze, or investigate security.37 His questions are: “Security for whom?...Security for which values?...How much security?...From what threats?... By what means?...At what cost?...And in what time period?”38 By answering these questions,
researchers can create a concept of security allowing them to more adequately analyze context-driven security.
Author Ken Booth provides a definition of security that addresses the complex context-driven concept of security in his article, “Security and Emancipation.” Booth borrowed the idea that “‘security’ means the absence of threats” from Barry Buzan’s People, States and Fear. Booth expanded on this idea by arguing
Emancipation is the freeing of people (as individuals and groups) from those physical and human constraints which stop them carrying out what they would freely choose to do. War and the threat of war is one of those constraints, together with poverty, poor education, political oppression and so on. Security and emancipation are two sides of the same coin. Emancipation, not power or order, produces true security. Emancipation, theoretically, is security.39
Security is an academic term and a contextual concept that can only be analyzed when understood within its historical setting and societal values. The later research design section will elaborate on how this thesis will utilize Baldwin’s questions to inform what a security issue is and rely on Booth’s definition of security as emancipation in conjunction with theories on presidential decision-making and agenda-setting as it analyzes the First Ladies.
In this thesis, security issues will include economic, political, foreign policy, or social issues. In this manner, the selection criteria for security issues will remain constant as the historical contexts in which Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Mrs. Reagan served as First Lady changes. Even though the specific issues will vary for each First Lady, they will fall within the criteria framework outlined in the research design below.
Research Design
This section will illustrate the framework of analysis for this thesis. It will explain how the arguments and theories introduced above will be utilized and operationalized to apply to Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Mrs. Reagan.
Operationalization
The key to analyzing the influence of these three First Ladies on the security agenda lies within the operationalization scheme. This section will outline the method in which the historiography of the First Ladies, theories on agenda-setting and decision-making, and definition of security will be applied to the biographical sources, archival research, and primary documents. The research question of this thesis is, how did the First Ladies of the United States of America, Edith Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nancy Reagan, influence the country’s security issues?
To effectively answer the research question, the abstract concept of influence must be converted in order to be observed empirically. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines influence as “the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways.”40 For the purposes of this thesis, influence will be measured through the written word or actions by the First Lady which were followed by action. Another term that must be defined is effect: “a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.”41 These terms will be critically applied to primary archival resources such as speech drafts, letters, and newspaper articles, to determine if the First Lady in question influenced the security issue. This will be demonstrated by evidence of her participation in the events leading up to policy introduction or implementation found in the primary source documentation, First Lady historiography, biographies, and autobiographies.
For the purpose of this thesis, security matters will count as economic issues, political issues, foreign policy issues, or social issues. An economic issue includes anything having to do with money, finance, or trade. For instance, any disturbance in the economy could lead to the radicalization of the populace due to extended unemployment on a massive scale, the devaluation of the currency, and loss of opportunity. A political issue has to do with who is given the authority of domestic governance or how a nation is run as a whole, or the personnel granted the authority to advise or make security decisions. A foreign policy issue includes the use of military or diplomatic action abroad, any missteps in the foreign arena could have severe diplomatic or military consequences. Lastly, a social issue is a problem that influences a significant number of individuals within a society that if unaddressed could lead to turmoil or damage to the fabric of society and is thus a security issue. With these selection criteria, each of the First Ladies have effected three security issues that fall within these categories, which will be discussed in greater detail in the following chapters.
The First Lady historiography material will serve as a starting point for this thesis. The authors discussed above argued the active participation of the First Ladies by use of communication media, influential marriages, and popularity. This innovative thesis will add to these arguments by studying the First Ladies in a security context based on the evidence found in primary and secondary resources. Analyzing the words and actions of Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Mrs. Reagan in a security perspective and subsequent governmental response will demonstrate that these women are more than active communicators, but serious security policy influencers. The primary documents hold the key to understanding the First Lady’s influence on security issues because they contain letters, diaries, notes, state papers and speech drafts which detail daily activities, conversations, and actions. This will be proven by reviewing these archival resources for the mention of security issues, as separated into four categories (political, economic, social, or foreign policy). This method is descriptive in nature and can be open to potential author bias and interpretation which is eliminated by providing the direct quotations found in these resources to support the arguments found in this thesis.
The three authors who discuss decision-making leave a knowledge gap that will be filled by this thesis. Neustadt, Kingdon, and Allison argue different aspects of decision-making in the executive office, but none of them mention a key actor: the First Lady of the United States. These women have yet to be considered security actors as there is no prior research into their influence in security studies. This thesis seeks to apply Neustadt’s theory in the reverse and analyzes the persuasive power these women hold over the president’s decisions by means of primary documentation. The archival research will be used to demonstrate the persuasive power the First Ladies have over their husbands, who have been granted the authority to govern the nation. Second, this thesis will utilize Allison’s “Governmental Politics” lens to analyze the extent the First Ladies are included in the president’s entourage and how they affect the security agenda. Again, the primary documents will be used to demonstrate the president’s reliance on his First Lady, and the president’s advisors the recognition of the First Lady’s inclusion in the president’s entourage. Third, this thesis will use Kingdon’s theory of participants in agenda-setting to prove their place as actors within the process. As Kingdon argues, the agenda-setting is the result of a confluence of events and decisions determined by actors in the United States government. By presenting primary documents, this thesis seeks to prove that the First Ladies are influential governmental actors and should be included in Kingdon’s theory of agenda-setting participants.
Justification of Resource Materials
The methodology of this paper relies on empirical research conducted through an evaluation of academic papers, primary sources, and secondary sources. An analysis of autobiographies and biographies about the First Ladies of the United States will provide contextual background about their lives and their time spent in the White House. This examination of biographies aided in selecting the First Ladies for the study of this paper. Edith Wilson was a trend setter and changed the role of First Lady during her tenure during Woodrow Wilson’s second term. She serves as the starting point, and then the First Ladies were selected in a historical context: Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nancy Reagan. These biographies will also offer insight into their time in the White House, which cannot be located on official documents, letters, or speeches found in the National Archives. One thing to be wary of is potential bias from biography authors. However, through a combined analysis of biographies, autobiographies, and primary source materials, will circumvent any bias from the authors.
This thesis most heavily relies upon primary source material, such as notes, letters and speeches authored by the First Ladies, and those closest to them. One benefit of this method is that there is plenty of primary materials for analysis. However, this is also an issue with archival materials because each of the First Ladies Papers all used different organizational methods. This also shows an overwhelming number of documents as most of the First Lady’s Papers consisted of at least seventy boxes containing files of letters, notes, speech drafts, etc. In addition to the President’s Papers that were considered. It is impossible to search through all documents in any time period shorter than a year for each library. Also, often handwritten notes or letters were illegible or faded away with time, making them very difficult to read. Another limitation is that they do not tell the full story of the First Lady’s influence, as many decisions and advisements were made in person, rather than written in the margin of state papers or speech drafts. Despite these shortcomings of the primary documents, it was necessary to personally access the documents located at these libraries to conduct the research for this thesis. These faults do not diminish the utility and necessity of these resources to gain greater insight into the influence of the First Lady on security issues.
In a broader discussion, there are theories about women in the public sphere and the security field. Based on the biographies, the First Ladies are often given the power to handle “softer” security issues like public health and education.42 This thesis stipulates that the First Ladies affect real issues on the security agenda without
The First Lady is not recognized as a primary security actor, yet is privy to a wealth of information by living in the White House. Often, the First Lady is associated with “soft” issues, like health, education, and beautification, as evidenced by the vast number of letters received by the Office of the First Lady, these concerns have a greater impact on the daily lives of the American people.43 She serves as a conduit to the President of the United States because she is
typically more relatable to the American people.44 Furthermore, the perception of the First Lady as advising on “soft” security issues is incorrect; they often advise on hard issues like war, treaties, economic depression, civil rights, and the drug epidemic. These issues will be discussed in detail in the following chapters.
Notes:
1Allida M. Black, “The Modern First Lady and Public Policy: From Edith Wilson Through Hillary Rodham
Clinton.” 10; Betty Boyd Caroli. First Ladies, (Oxford University Press, USA, 2003), 5; Margaret Brown Klapthor, and Allida Mae Black, The First Ladies, (Government Printing Office, 2002), 7.
2 Kati Marton, Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History, (New York, 2001), 4. 3 Ibid., 3.
4Roberts. Rating the First Ladies, 205.
5 Allida M. Black, Casting Her Own Shadow: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Shaping of Postwar Liberalism (New
York: Columbia University Press, 1996), 20-21; Lorena Hickok, Eleanor Roosevelt: Reluctant First Lady (New York: Dodd Mead, 1962), 3; Roberts. Rating the First Ladies, 242.
6Nancy Reagan, My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan. Random House, (2011), 60.
7 Myra G. Gutin, The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century, (Westport, CT, 1989), 2. 8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., 3-4. 10 Ibid., 87-92. 11 Ibid.
12 Ibid., 163-171.
13 Kati Marton, Hidden Power, 4. 14 Ibid., 5.
15 Marton, Hidden Power, 13-15. 16 Ibid., 45-47.
17 Ibid., 7-9, 244-246.
18John BB Roberts. Rating the First Ladies: The Women Who Influenced the Presidency. (Citadel Press, 2004),
xii. 19Ibid., xix-xx. 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid., xxiii-xxiv. 24 Ibid., xii, xxiii-xxiv.
25Richard E. Neustadt. Presidential Power. (New York: New American Library, 1960), 33. 26 Ibid., 11.
27 Ibid., 150.
28John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. (Boston: Little Brown, 1984), 16. 29 Ibid., 21, 25.
30 Ibid.
31Graham T. Allison. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, (1999), 8-9. 32 Ibid.
33 Ibid., 10-38. 34 Ibid., 67-100.
35 Ibid., 144-184. 36 Ibid.
37David A. Baldwin, “The Concept of Security,” Review of International Studies 23, no. 01 (1997): 5-7. 38Ibid., 13-17.
39Ken Booth. “Security and Emancipation.” Review of International studies 17, no. 04 (1991): 319. 40 Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 3rd ed., s.v. “influence.”
41 Ibid., “effect.”
42 Black, “The Modern First Lady and Public Policy,” OAH Magazine of History 15, no. 3 (2001): 15-20;
Caroli, First Ladies; Klapthor, The First Ladies, 7.
43Black, “The Modern First Lady and Public Policy,” 10; Caroli. First Ladies, 5; Klapthor, The First Ladies, 7;
Myra G. Gutin, The President's Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century. (Praeger Pub Text, 1989), 87.
1
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson
First Lady (1915-1921)
“I studied every paper, sent from the different Secretaries or Senators, and tried to digest and present in tabloid form the things that, despite my
Introduction
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson serves as the starting point for the historical analysis of the First Lady’s effect on the security agenda. Prior to Mrs. Wilson – with a few exceptions, such as Abigail Adams and Dolly Madison – the First Ladies were traditional wives or hostesses of the White House, they exclusively picked out White House china and hosted dinner parties. Mrs. Wilson set a precedent for the First Ladies to become involved in political affairs. This chapter will establish the historical setting in which the Wilson administration ran the executive office, and provide a brief biographical summary of Edith Wilson. It will discuss security issues that Mrs. Wilson had an influence on foreign policy issues, and political issues within the realm of security. This chapter will then conclude with a reflection on her effect on the security agenda within the realm of the theoretical framework set forth in the research design.
Historical Context 1913-1921
Woodrow Wilson served in the White House from 1913 to 1921 and though he did not marry Edith Bolling Galt until December 1915, the historical context of Wilson’s entire term in office is necessary to fully understand the significance of Mrs. Wilson’s actions as First Lady.
This time period was dominated by the First World War, which was one of the deadliest conflicts in history up to that point.3 World War I was a global war that began on July 28th, 1914, when the Austro-Hungarian empire declared war on the Serbians in retaliation for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip a month earlier.4 This set off a diplomatic crisis as international alliances, formed over decades, were invoked. Russia mobilized to support Serbia, while Germany invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, forcing the United Kingdom to declare war on Germany.5 Germany’s march on Paris was halted and became a war of attrition or trench warfare, known as the Western Front.6 Over months and years, as more powers were affected by the war, more powers joined the fight, creating two sides: the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire) and the Allied Powers (France, British Empire, Russia, United States).7
At the outset of World War I, the United States implemented a policy of non-intervention, avoiding conflict while trying to broker peace. On May 7, 1915, a German
U-Boat sank the British liner Lusitania, with one hundred twenty-eight Americans among the dead.8 President Wilson responded with condemnation of the attack and demanded that Germany end its attack on passenger ships, and Germany complied.9 In January 1917, Germany resumed its unrestricted warfare tactic and, realizing it would mean American entry into World War I, invited Mexico to join as an ally against the United States. The German Foreign Minister, Arthur Zimmermann, sent the invitation via telegram and promised Germany would finance Mexico’s war against the United States and would help it recover the territories of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas if it launched an attack on the United States.10 The Zimmermann Telegram was intercepted by the British Empire, who presented it to the United States, and President Wilson released it to the American public. President Wilson stated that the United States needed to respond to the telegram and the sinking of several American merchant ships.11 President Wilson called World War I “the war to end all wars,” and stipulated that the United States needed to enter the war so that it could be present at the peace talks and eliminate militarism from the globe.12 On April 6, 1917, the United States Congress declared war on Germany.13
World War I ended in November of 1918 when both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German Empire agreed to an armistice resulting in a victory for the Allied Powers. This led to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, where the “Big Four” (Britain, France, the United States, and Italy) imposed their terms through a series of treaties, effectively ending the German Empire, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.14 The “League of Nations” was formed with the aim of preventing any future global conflicts.15 The League of Nations was based on the principles of the Fourteen Points, authored by President Wilson, such as freedom of navigation, and equality of trade.16
At the same time, in the United States, there was a growing trend of feminism, calling for gender equality. Women were making up about one-third of college students and one-third of professional workers but called for a political voice that they had previously lacked.17 On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified by the United States Congress, granting women the right to vote.18
Road to the White House
Edith Bolling was born on October 15, 1872, in Wytheville, Virginia to circuit court judge William Bolling and Sarah Bolling.19 Ms. Bolling was the seventh of eleven children, two of whom died in infancy.20 Mrs. Bolling had very little formal education and was mostly taught skills by her grandmother, Anne Wiggington Bolling.21 She was later enrolled at Martha Washington College, a finishing school for girls, but she was miserable there and returned home after one semester.22 She then attended Powell’s School for Girls, which was closed at the end of the year.23 Her father was concerned about the cost of her education and refused to pay for any additional schooling, and decided to send her brothers to school instead.24 Kati Marton notes, “Edith, however, seemed content with the crumbs of education reserved for a Victorian woman. She wanted no part of the generation of college-educated women who were forming local suffrage associations and going door-to-door to enlist support.”25
Edith Bolling met Norman Galt, a prominent jeweler, while she was visiting her sister in Washington, D.C., and they married on April 30, 1896.26 In January 1908, Norman Galt died suddenly, Mrs. Galt became a widow and was left to manage her husband’s jewelry business.27 Ellen Axson Wilson, Woodrow Wilson’s first wife, suddenly died in 1914 during the second year of Wilson’s first term in office, which coincided with the outbreak of WWI.28 In 1915, Mrs. Galt was invited to tea at the White House by Helen Bones – a cousin of the president and acting White House hostess since the death of Wilson’s first wife Ellen in 1914 – where she met the president when she stepped off the elevator and ran into him.29 World events intensified their courtship: “during the very week Woodrow first proposed marriage, on May 7, 1915, German submarines torpedoed the great British liner Lusitania, killing 1,200 civilians, including 128 Americans.”30 Wilson also used his presidency as a powerful tool of courtship by making “Edith feel that she shared the burden of the office.”31 Mrs. Galt accepted President Wilson’s proposal after an official year of mourning the death of Ellen Wilson ended, and they were married on December 18, 1915.32
Unlike the women demanding gender equality, Mrs. Wilson was not a suffragette.33 Marton argues:
Edith willingly accepted the role her nineteenth-century southern upbringing assigned to her She embraced the Victorian feminine ideal of the virtuous, compliant and passive child/woman. She proudly proclaimed both her disapproval of women she called ‘devils in the workhouse; and her adherence
to women’s subservience to men. She called Woodrow Wilson ‘My Lord and Master’ and he called her ‘Little Girl’ – not for her nascent female solidarity movement. Yet no presidential wife ever wielded more real power than she did, the first lady who said she wished only to be a good wife.34
This seems ironic upon analysis of her service in the White House; however, Mrs. Wilson felt that she behaved as a dutiful wife assisting her husband in any capacity.
Security Issues
First Lady Edith Bolling Galt Wilson participated in activities that had a direct effect on three security issues: two foreign policy issues, decoding messages and war policy during World War I, and one political issue, serving as steward. Based on primary documentation and supported by previous analyses, these issues will be discussed in detail below, outlining Mrs. Wilson’s influence.
Foreign Policy Issue: Decoding Messages
Soon after they were married, President Wilson taught Mrs. Wilson to use the secret code with which he communicated with his emissaries abroad.35 She helped the president code and decode messages to and from his emissaries and from Colonel Edward Mandel House, President Wilson’s chief advisor on European politics and diplomacy during World War I.36 This is a foreign policy issue within security studies because it deals with the use of diplomatic action abroad. By decoding messages, Mrs. Wilson was privy to all messages between the president, foreign emissaries, and Colonel House. These messages varied in their content, but as they were written in a secret code, they were only intended for certain audiences, which did not include the First Lady. However, President Wilson confided in his wife and sought her insight and advice in this matter. Mrs. Wilson was brought in to code and decode secret messages both to and from foreign envoys, and the president’s chief advisor during World War I. Mrs. Wilson herself notes the exception made for her, as typically,
The president’s foreign communications were handled by the code room in the State Department but he and Colonel House had a private code known, so far as I am aware, only to them and to me. It was used in matters requiring the greatest secrecy, Colonel House, himself, coding and decoding messages at his end and I performing that service for my husband.37
She was not the intended recipient of the coded messages, as the code was given only to the president and top officials, but the president turned to Mrs. Wilson for assistance.38 She became his cipher clerk, but she also intimately knew the president’s policies.39 He trusted her
completely and entrusted top secret information to her. Only once does she disclose the details of a coded message: “Next day came a cable which took me three hours to decode. Colonel House said that the President’s Buffalo speech had made a good impression and had helped the spirits of the Allies. They needed help. Colonel House described the Italian situation as ‘desperate.’”40 Although she does not discuss the details of the coded messages, this example suggests that she affected foreign policy issues as First Lady. Decoding incoming messages and assisting the president in sending messages gave her inside access to details of the war and American diplomacy. This implies that she advised the president on how to engage in the war effort and how to act once the United States entered the war.
Mrs. Wilson later wrote about her involvement in coding and decoding messages: In this way, I followed day by day every phase of the mosaic which he was shaping into a pattern of statecraft, and we continued this partnership of thought and comradeship unbroken to the last day of his life. It was a rare privilege, and except for formal interviews with officials, I always ‘sat in’ when one or two people we knew came to discuss policies. In that way, I was never a stranger to any subject, and often able in small ways to be of help.41
In this statement, Mrs. Wilson mentions two different actions: decoding messages and sitting in on policy meetings. By learning the president’s secret code, she was able to learn “the mosaic” of the president’s statecraft. With few exceptions, she also sat in on all meetings when advisors visited to discuss policy with the president. These experiences would prove to be vital during her tenure as steward which will be discussed in a later section.
Foreign Policy Issue: World War I and Peace
World War I and peace is a foreign policy security issue because World War I was the implemented both military and diplomatic action abroad. Her actions at home in the United States affected the war in Europe. President Wilson argued that the United States needed to enter World War I so that it could be a part of peace negotiations at the end of the war. As mentioned earlier, the United States finally entered World War I in response to Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare and the interception of the Zimmermann Telegram. The president continued his assurance to the American people that this war would be the “war to end all wars” and that it was the goal of the United States to ensure peace for future generations at the close of the war.42 The president argued for the League of Nations as an assurance against future militarism and to “make the world safe for democracy.”43 Mrs. Wilson recounts the
solemn ride home to the White House from the Capitol after the president declared war on Germany, “the step had been taken. We were both overwhelmed [...] the khaki of our Army and the blue of our Navy uniforms began to give color to the streets of Washington.”44
When World War I broke out, Mrs. Wilson rose to the occasion. She made appearances at Union Station, Washington D.C.’s central railroad station, greeting troops and mustering support for the war, while dressed in a Red Cross uniform.45 As this was the Great War, many available resources were directed to support the war and many American citizens made personal sacrifices as the Wilson administration instituted a voluntary ration of food, fuel, and commodities.46 Resources like copper and iron were needed for weapons production, and armaments, while leather and cotton were needed for uniforms.47 To garner support for the ration, Mrs. Wilson changed the White House menus to limit meat and wheat consumption, and implemented reduced energy days.48 She also inspired the public and motivated support for the war through other personal contributions. Mrs. Wilson brought a flock of twenty sheep to the White House lawn and raised over ninety thousand dollars as she auctioned their wool as a benefit for the Red Cross war drives.49 In her diary, she states:
The White House observed wheatless and meatless days and all the rest. The grounds supported a flock of sheep to its modicum to the wool production. On September 1st, a request from the Fuel Administrator to conserve gasoline brought a presidential plea for ‘gasless Sundays’ – no pleasure driving. This was on Saturday and the following day we set forth to Church in an ancient Victoria, fond in the White House stables and hastily polished up. But the Secret Service men were put to it to discover anything to carry them. Finally, an old-time surrey, with fringe around the top, was procured. The two smartly uniformed motorcycle policemen who since the declaration of war had been detailed to escort the President’s car were mounted on bicycles.
Mrs. Wilson also sewed pajamas and blankets for soldiers, inspiring other women to do the same, which augmented war costs with free labor, and inspired others, like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, to raise money for the war effort.50
The president also sought her input on proposed actions. In fact, he required her advice so much that “the president installed a direct phone line between her home and his office to circumvent the White House switchboard.”51 President Wilson also requested Mrs. Wilson’s advice on how to act in foreign policy matters in Europe and whether to engage in World War I, as their effect on domestic governance.52 For instance, when the president wrote to Mrs. Wilson about his apprehensions regarding his Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, who
objected against the president’s hard stance against Germany, Mrs. Wilson replied, “I think it will be a blessing to get rid of him [Bryan], and might as well frankly say I would like to be appointed in his place – then I should have to have daily conferences with you – and I faithfully promise not to interfere in any way with you continuing to do all the work!”53 At this time, they were only engaged, but she desired to be close to her soon to be husband and also alludes to her desire to be involved in policy matters. Secretary Bryan served from 1913 to 1915,54 when the First Lady was just starting to learn about matters of state, but her statement supports the claim that she believed she could take on the responsibilities of the position. Instead, Robert Lansing replaced Mr. Bryan as Secretary of State in 1915.55 Mrs. Wilson described one evening when Secretary Lansing visited the White House: “There had been disturbing news of another U-boat disaster. Mr. Lansing spent the night and he, my husband and I had a long, serious talk before going to bed.”56 She does not provide details of the discussion in her notes, nor was any further documentation found regarding this meeting in the archives. Her recollection is an example of her inclusion in meetings where her advice was sought and was privy to non-public, maybe even secret information.
When the war broke out, President Wilson was already looking towards the end of the war, and brokering a just peace deal which would eradicate future conflict. Mrs. Wilson and the president were drawn closer during the war, and worked together tirelessly for the end of the war. Mrs. Wilson collaborated with the president as he laid out his ideal peace treaty and created the Fourteen Points: “Edith and Woodrow, closer than ever, began the day at 5 a.m. and ended it at midnight.”57 When the war ended, the victorious countries discussed how they would manage the defeated Germany, which would be hammered out in detail at the Paris Peace Conference. She directly petitioned Georges Clemenceau, President of the Paris Peace Conference of France, if she could be admitted along with the delegates, and he granted her request.58 Mrs. Wilson traveled to Paris alongside her husband to attend the Peace Conference.59 As she was not an official delegate or member of the government, she was not permitted to participate in the discussion. Mr. Clemenceau allowed Mrs. Wilson to listen in on the treaty deliberations hidden behind a curtain, “At the far end, facing the clock and the Conference table, heavy red brocade curtains concealed a small alcove just large enough for two straight chairs, and seemingly made for eavesdroppers.”60 Unfortunately, the historiography does not mention Mrs. Wilson’s journey to the Paris Peace Conference, nor is there any further information regarding her actions or influence in Paris. But the fact that she was admitted to the conference is significant because it suggests that Mr. Clemenceau
understood her role in the administration. Inferring from Mrs. Wilson’s prior involvement and attendance at other policy meetings, she most likely discussed the proceeding of the meeting with her husband.
Political Issue: Stewardship
President Wilson had previously traveled to Paris to negotiate a peace treaty, had recently returned to the White House, following a national tour celebrating the victory in Europe and promoting President Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the League of Nations.61 President Wilson was under enormous pressure to negotiate a successful peace treaty, which would fail without the support of the United States government.62 During the tour, the president grew ill, and then suffered a minor stroke before returning to the White House. He suffered another, more damaging stroke upon his return, which paralyzed his entire left side.63 Mrs. Wilson writes the events of the night of the president’s second stroke:
This time I found him sitting on the side of the bed trying to reach a water bottle. As I handed it to him I noticed that his left hand hung loosely. ‘I have no feeling in that hand,’ he said. ‘Will you rub it? But first help me to the bathroom.’ He moved with great difficulty, and every move brought him spasms of pain; but with my help he gained the bathroom. This so alarmed me that I asked if I could leave him long enough to telephone the doctor. He said ‘yes’ and hurrying into my room I reached Dr. Grayson at his house. While at the phone I heard a slight noise, and rushing into my husband’s apartment found him on the bathroom floor unconscious. [...] We lifted the president into his bed. He had suffered a stroke, paralyzing the left side of his body. An arm and one leg were useless, but, thank God, the brain was clear and untouched. Such is the story of that tragic morning hour of October 2, 1919, as my memory presents it to me.64
Mrs. Wilson was concerned about the health of her husband, “I asked the Doctors to be frank with me; that I must know what the outcome would probably be, so as to be honest with the people. They all said that as the brain was as clear as ever, that with the progress made in the past few days, there was every reason to think recovery possible.”65 This comforted the First Lady until the doctors followed up to prevent false hope, Mrs. Wilson writes,
But recovery could not be hoped for, they said, unless the president were released from every disturbing problem during these days of nature’s effort to repair the damage done. ‘How can that be,’ I asked the Doctors ‘when everything that comes to the Executive is a problem? How can I protect him from them when the country looks to the president as a leader?’66
