Edith Wilson was the second wife of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. She served as the First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921. After the President suffered a severe stroke in 1919, Edith is credited with effectively running the Executive Branch for the remainder of Wilson’s second term.
Early Life
Edith Bolling Galt was born to a large Southern family on October 15, 1872 in Virginia. After being raised and educated near her home town of Wytheville, Edith met a Washington, D.C. businessman named Norman Galt, and they were married 1896. After 12 years of marriage, Galt died unexpectedly, leaving Edith to manage his jewelry company.
Edith met President Wilson through mutual friends in March 1915. While the President was still mourning his first wife, he took an immediate liking to Edith, and they married nine months later. In proposing to her, Wilson poignantly stated: “In this place, time is not measured by weeks, or months, or years, but by deep human experiences…”
First Lady
Edith Wilson’s time as First Lady was largely overshadowed by World War I, though she played a pivotal role in helping the President deal with the strain of war. She also led by example in supporting rationing efforts, observing gas-less Sundays, meat-less Mondays, and wheat-less Wednesdays. She also brought sheep in to feed on the Whitehouse lawn, rather than use gas to operate a lawnmower.
Later Career
In 1919, President Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke while traveling the country to bolster support for the Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations Covenant. The level of President Wilson’s incapacity and his wife’s involvement in his executive duties is still up for debate. According to Edith, she prescreened all issues brought to the President and assigned them to various members of his cabinet, but did not decide state matters. Nonetheless, Edith’s significant role in her husband’s administration earned her the title as the “first woman to run the government.”
