Woodrow Wilson
President Woodrow Wilson’s health began to suffer in 1918, while the U.S. still fought in World War I. He underwent an operation at that time, perhaps for nasal polyps. The operation was kept quiet, with only a very few people knowing of it. Around the same time, Wilson suffered two relatively minor strokes, impeding his ability to write with his right hand.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke while in office in October, 1919. This was one of three stroked suffered by Wilson, and the most severe of the three. He was paralyzed in his left side following the stroke, and partially blind. Following this stroke, Wilson spent the remainder of his presidency in near-total seclusion.
Wilson’s seclusion, and his secret, was protected by his wife, Edith Wilson. Already a widow, Edith Galt was introduced to Wilson in the month’s following the death of his wife Ellen. The two were married when Wilson completed a year of mourning for his first wife. While Edith Wilson was a strong and effective first lady during her husband’s wartime presidency, she took on an executive role after his stroke in October 1919.
Edith Wilson carefully read and reviewed every document that came across her husband’s desk during the remaining year and a half of his presidency. According to Edith, she condensed and presented material to her husband, and made no decisions in her own right, calling herself his steward. Wilson’s illness led to the passage of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, which created a clear rule of succession should the president be alive, but unable to complete his duties.
Woodrow Wilson completed his term, and was nursed for the three years following by Edith Wilson. Edith Wilson lived to accompany Franklin D. Roosevelt when he asked for a declaration of war in World War II, and to see the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961.