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For the first eight years of the 21st century it was Dick Cheney running America. Bush Jr.’s excuse was … he’s stupid? Not sure. Woodrow Wilson wasn’t running things during the final 17 months of his second term; his wife was. But Wilson had a good excuse.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: October 2, 1919--
Wilson was the only American president with a PhD, focused on history and government. He was elected president in 1912, receiving a whopping 435 electoral college votes because his running mates split the opposing vote. A member of the Democratic party, he was known as a progressive candidate in some ways, but he also reversed hard-fought for desegregation in government. He also praised both the Confederacy and the motherfucking KKK. Many historians refer to him as racist as fuck. Paraphrased.
He narrowly won re-election in 1916 on a hey I kept us out of that big war in Europe platform, and then less than a year later he got America into that war. Then he worked his ass off to negotiate the Treaty of Fuck You Germany You Started It Versailles, plus trying to get the League of Nations going. Then there was a big flu that killed close to a hundred million people, killing over 10% of those who caught it—and Wilson fucking caught it in the spring of 1919—and I guess that was too much for old Woody and he stroked out on October 2, 1919. Well, not “out” out. But he had a big-ass stroke and it fucked his shit up real good.
He’d been on a speaking tour trying to get American support for the treaty and the league and was getting more frail by the day. The Republicans were being total dicks and he often got heckled for his efforts at diplomacy during his speeches. He ignored his health and worked tirelessly to wage peace and join the league. The warning signs of an impending stroke were there, but he kept on going until his body said fuck you enough of this.
The 25th Amendment for saying what to do when a president is incapacitated was half a century away, so Wilson’s wife Edith took over, becoming de facto President of the Motherfucking United States. She never took public command; it was all done in secret. And no major policy decisions were made. She basically protected her husband so he could finish his term. And he kept deteriorating, getting a urinary tract infection followed by a second bout of the fucking flu.
Edith later proclaimed she wasn’t making decisions, but that was likely to avert criticism. She said she studied everything that was sent to the president and only showed him what she deemed critically important for his analysis and decision in order to save him from overwork. At the very least, she decided what got his attention and what got ignored, which is no small thing. Historians proclaim Edith Wilson was in fact the nation’s chief executive until the end of her husband’s second term in March of 1921. Woodrow died three years later. The last word he spoke was “Edith.”
Thanks, Michelle, for the suggestion of today’s topic.
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