Any truth to the rumor that Mrs. Wilson signed documents for Woodrow Wilson after his stroke?

After Woodrow Wilson experienced a stroke, Mrs. Wilson held him practically incommunicado. One reason was she didn't want anyone to see the extent to which he was incapacitated, thus possibly precipitating having him removed as president. 

Also, there were rumors she was actually signing documents for him because his fine motor skills had been impacted. Again, she didn't want anyone to suspect that her husband wasn't capable of running the country.

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Permalink Reply by eddy on September 5, 2023 at 7:27am

There's an excellent recent biography about Edith Wilson titled UNTOLD POWER which goes into all of this that you are describing.  This is from a review of the book from THE WASHINGTON POST:

".....Roberts’s storytelling soars as she leads the reader through Edith’s machinations to hide her husband’s disabilities while maintaining his White House’s functions. She manipulated the Cabinet, Vice President Thomas Marshall and members of Congress to disguise the worst of the president’s symptoms, while making it appear that he maintained control over his faculties and public policy. She literally became his left hand, holding down documents as he signed them with his dominant and unaffected right hand."

Permalink Reply by Garrett Meadows on September 6, 2023 at 6:43pm

Ah, that answers my questions. So, those weren't rumors. 

I've heard Mrs. Wilson referred as "the first female president."

thanks for the info. Good stuff.

Permalink Reply by eddy on September 6, 2023 at 8:55pm

You're welcome!  I actually decided to get the Kindle version of this new biography.  Sounds like a great read.  I've always been fascinated by her and what she did for the President.

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