
Edith Wilson, First Lady

by Science Source
Title
Edith Wilson, First Lady
Artist
Science Source
Medium
Painting - Photograph
Description
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (October 15, 1872 - December 28, 1961) was the second wife of Woodrow Wilson, and First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921. Through her father, Edith was a direct descendant of Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief of the Powhatan tribe of Native Americans and her husband John Rolfe. She met Norman Galt, a prosperous jeweler; they married in 1896. In 1903 she bore a son who only lived for a few days, and the difficult birth left her unable to have more. In 1908 her husband died unexpectedly. In March 1915, the widow Galt was introduced to President Wilson by Helen Bones, the president's cousin and White House hostess since the death of Ellen Wilson, the president's first wife. They married nine months later. As First Lady during World War I, Mrs. Wilson observed gas-ess Sundays, meatless Mondays, and wheat-less Wednesdays to set an example for the federal rationing effort. Similarly, she set sheep to graze on the White House lawn rather than waste manpower in mowing it and auctioned off their wool for the benefit of the American Red Cross. President Wilson suffered a severe stroke in October 1919. Edith Wilson began to screen all matters of state and decided which were important enough to bring to the bedridden president. In doing so, she functionally ran the Executive branch of the government for the remainder of the president's second term, until March 1921. She retired with the former president to their home, nursing him until his death three years later. She died of congestive heart failure at age 89 in 1961. Painting by Adolpho Muller-Ury.
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October 21st, 2016
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