When the Cheering Stopped (43 page)

177
,
178
–Tumulty's meeting with the President: White,
Woodrow Wilson: The Man, His Times and His Task
, pp. 480–81, and Tumulty, pp. 506–07.

179
–Gave him a strong drink of whisky: Jaffray, p. 75.

179
–“My boys!” quoted by Hatch, p. 249.

180
–“Doesn't the new President look fine?… Poor President Wilson”: quoted by Starling, p. 163.

180
–Details on the elephant story are from Grayson, p. 122, and Clapper, p. 63. President Harding told the story to numerous people.

180
-
182
–Details on the last minutes of the President's term of
office are mainly from Lawrence, pp. 306–09, and from Mr. Lawrence to the author.

181
–Joe Tumulty thought the President was going to say something violent: Tumulty, p. 509.

182
–Tumulty counted under his breath:
ibid.
, p. 510.

182
–Scarf pin with the Seal of the President on it: Wilson, p. 83.

182
–Feeble cheer: Shackleton, pp. 362–63.

183
–Grayson wondered if he was thinking of the crowds and noise: Grayson, p. 123.

183
–As they drove to S Street, Mrs. Wilson, by her own account (p. 319) in a “fury,” spoke in “bitter” terms of the fact that President-elect Harding went up the steps of the Capitol alone, waving his hat, leaving the President to go alone to the elevator entrance. As it would have been impossible for the President to walk up with Harding, and as this very arrangement was previously agreed to, the author confesses he has not been able to comprehend Mrs. Wilson's wrath. Mrs. Wilson writes, “My husband laughed at my fury.”

183
–Margaret came up to Starling, weeping: Starling, p. 164.

184
–“Mr. President—” “Just Woodrow Wilson”: quoted in Wilson, p. 322.

From this point on, much material for this book has been taken from the correspondence file kept by John Randolph Bolling at S Street. It will be obvious to the reader that this is so; and therefore, unless there seems a special reason, the author will not cite each letter or telegram as being from the correspondence file.

CHAPTER TWELVE

187
–“Tell it to the Marines!”: quoted by Tumulty, p. 223.

187
–“Oh, darling, wasn't it wonderful?” … “Wait until they turn”: quoted by Cranston, p. 348.

188
,
189
–The routine at S Street: Wilson, pp. 324–25.

189
–Never had she seemed so beautiful: Baker,
American Chronicle
, p. 495.

190
–“You see how well I am cared for!”: quoted by Baker,
ibid.
, p. 495.

194
,
195
–The description of the ways of the Harding Administration is summed up from Adams.

194
–“They did not vote for anybody”: Thompson, p. 329.

195
–“Symbol of the exaltation that had turned sour”: Sullivan, Vol. VI, p. 110.

195
–“Aren't things different now?”: quoted in
Boudoir Mirrors of Washington
, p. 75.

196
–For the soldier: Grayson, p. 128.

196
–For the flag: Dr. E. P. Davis to R. S. Baker, Baker Papers.

198
–From that moment on nothing would be for him as it had been before: George Creel (p. 231) puts it, “Tears rolled down his wasted cheeks and washed away his loneliness for ever.” Seven weeks later Mrs. Wilson wrote Jessie, “I have not seen your father so well in months, or so willing to take part in things, and, of course, that
made
Christmas for all of us.”

200
–Looked at the lights of the old State, War and Navy Building: Wilson, p. 144.

200
–Senator Williams wrote the ex-President of what he saw and heard as he sat on the ground.

201
–“The Man They Cannot Forget” was published in
Collier's
, February 18, 1922.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Joe Tumulty's banishment from S Street is described at tiresome length in Mrs. Wilson's book. Anyone reading her book, it may be added, is unlikely to question the author's belief that she thought Tumulty a cheap political hack. In addition to Mrs. Wilson's detailing of the matter (pp. 332–39), Lawrence (pp. 344–45) and White
(Woodrow Wilson: The Man, His Times and His Task
, pp. 504–11) discuss the controversy. Both Mr. Lawrence and Joseph P. Tumulty, Jr., have spoken to the author in terms indicating that Tumulty, Sr., did in fact get an informal message from the ex-President. This would not be surprising as he sent many noncommittal messages of good will to varied Democratic Party functions.

202
–“Sob stuff”: Wilson, p. 337. Mrs. Wilson brutally remarks that this is a phrase Tumulty used when discussing “emotional displays” in other people.

204
–Joe Tumulty never saw Woodrow Wilson again: Blum, p. 264. It is interesting that Mrs. Wilson in her book (p. 339) remarks that Tumulty never came to the house again until
ten
months later, “on the day before Mr. Wilson died.” She misplaced the entire year of 1923; in
actuality it was twenty-two months before Tumulty was able to get into the house. His failure was not for lack of trying.

204
,
205
–“Day after day … A sublime position on the part of your husband”: quoted by Wilson, p. 328.

205
–A point Mrs. Wilson neglects to mention in her book is that the banished Joe Tumulty gave up his own office and took over the lease and furniture of Wilson & Colby. His son, Joseph P. Tumulty, Jr., is still in the office.

206
–Cardinals sang in the garden: Baker,
American Chronicle
, p. 492.

207
–Her jokes and her whistling:
ibid.
, p. 495. Baker remarks she whistled “like a boy.”

207
–“She is simply great”: Glass is quoted by Smith and Longman, p. 218.

208
–Skin the color of yellowed parchment: Baker,
American Chronicle
, p. 492.

208
–“I'm going to get some scalps!”: quoted by Allen, p. 39.

208
,
209
–Daniels' description of his visit and his rendition of the story of the long-nosed Congressman is found in the Baker Papers.

209
,
210
–Sandy, Donald and Maggie: Rice, an officer of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, wrote an account of his meetings with the ex-President; it will be found in the Baker Papers.

210
,
212
–The visit of the three students: Henry P. Thomas to the author.

213
–“Let them know why I can't express myself”: quoted in Wilson, p. 342.

214
–“Quite a card party today”: quoted by Grayson, p. 134.

214
–“Passing it and not meaning it!”:
ibid.
, pp. 134–35.

215
–“We love you dearly”: quoted by Grayson, p. 25.

215
–“If it turn out well”: The ex-President wrote this to many people.

215
–“I would rather fail”: quoted by Lawrence, p. 357.

215
–“I am confident”: quoted by Walworth, Vol. II, p. 412.

216
–Margaret Wilson's discussion with her father: Reid, pp. 235–36.

216
–“It will come”: quoted by Creel, p. 231.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

216
–He could read only through a magnifying glass: Wilson, p. 347.

217
–And the mysteries: The ones named are among those which the correspondence file indicates were borrowed from the Library of Congress. Mrs. Wilson writes (p. 346), “I read so many detective stories that one day I told Woodrow in a state of alarm that I had suddenly found myself thinking in terms of crime. This amused him very much, and he said that he thought for his own safety we had better turn to something else.”

217
–“I wish I could hear her voice”: quoted by Eleanor Wilson McAdoo, p. 300.

217
–“As it is coming now”: the ex-President said this to Dr. Howard Chandler Robbins, then Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Quoted in Wilson, p. 344.

217
–
219
–The details on the writing of the essay are found in Wilson, pp. 347–48, and Hatch, pp. 259–60.

217
,
218
–Mrs. Wilson's description of George Creel's activities is, to be charitable, not completely frank. Her attitude is understandable; it was painful to discover her husband's work not up to what it had been in the past. Rather than admit that in her book, she instead had it that Creel “begged” for a chance to sell the essay and was “insistent” about being given the opportunity. Alden Hatch has told the author that Mrs. Wilson came in later years to believe that “The Road Away from Revolution” was one of the great writings of all time. Perhaps this attitude also affected her recital of the manner in which it was sold.

218
,
219
–The account of the auto ride and Mrs. Wilson's talk with Stockton Axson, and Axson's with the ex-President, was given by Axson to R. S. Baker, Baker Papers.

219
–Details on the death of President Harding: Adams, pp. 366–89.

219
–“Fool”: from a letter to Cleveland Dodge, August 15, 1922: “It is heartbreaking to be so near as we are to a fool of a President … He is often ridiculous.”

219
–“Lightweight”: from a letter to Charles Dana Gibson, November 28, 1922: “Lightweight that he is, Harding will certainly sink whenever he tries to swim.” This letter, like numerous other rather harshly worded ones, was typed up by Bolling, given to the ex-President for signing—and then, at Mrs. Wilson's direction put into the files with NS for Not Sent written upon it. The above letter to Cleveland Dodge was allowed to go out, probably because Dodge was too old a friend to allow
it any publicity.

220
–Details of Harding's funeral and the incident with the cavalry officer are from Hatch, p. 259, and Grayson, pp. 136–37.

220
,
221
–She was ready for a breakdown: Wilson, p. 351.

221
–So they might not see how Scott had to lift their host to his feet: Hamlin diary, Hamlin Papers.

221
–“Don't tell Mrs. Wilson I asked”: quoted by Mrs. Harriman to the author. When the ex-President was just about to fall into his final illness, Mrs. Harriman relates, Mrs. Wilson came for cards. For years thereafter, Mrs. Wilson reproached herself for having been away from the house that night, and told of how when she returned she found her husband refusing to take some medicine. “Won't you take it, for me?” she said, and he did as she asked. But Mrs. Wilson told Mrs. Harriman she would always be sorry that she had been out at such a time.

As indicative of another facet of Mrs. Wilson's ability to remember things, she never failed to sniff and look displeased whenever her eyes fell upon Mrs. Harriman's inscribed portrait of Colonel House, which Mrs. Harriman kept in her home along with pictures signed by many other prominent persons; i.e., Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, McAdoo, Pershing, Woodrow Wilson, etc.

221
–A row with “old Lodge” … the Senate didn't mean a “damn”: quoted by Kerney, p. 469. During this talk about running for the Senate, the ex-President remarked that Tumulty would make a good candidate. He later wrote Kerney to that effect. Shortly after the ex-President died, Kerney incorporated the letter about Tumulty in an article scheduled for publication in
The Saturday Evening Post.
Mrs. Wilson thereupon availed herself of her widow's privilege to ban publication of her late husband's letters, and Kerney was forced to amend his article so that the letter praising Tumulty did not appear.

223
–An opinion on Calvin Coolidge: Lloyd George told Nicholas Murray Butler of his meeting with the ex-President: Butler, Vol. 1, p. 338. Lloyd George was so taken with the limerick, he wrote saying he had forgotten it and might it be written down and sent to him. S Street complied with his request.

223
–Always disliked the radio: Wilson, p. 346.

225
–Not the elite of Washington or the government: White,
Woodrow Wilson: The Man, His Times and His Task
, p. 406.

228
,
229
–The Christmas Eve visit of Keith's: Olsen (of Olsen and Johnson), quoted by Hatch, pp. 255–56.

230
,
231
–Fosdick gave a copy of his notes on the conversation to R. S. Baker, Baker Papers.

231
-
239
–At Mrs. Wilson's request, John Randolph Bolling wrote a long description of the final illness; it is in the Wilson Papers.

231
–“I always feel badly now, little girl”: quoted by Wilson, p. 359.

231
–“It won't be very much longer”:
ibid.
, p. 359.

233
–“Too many cooks”: quoted by Grayson, p. 110.

233
–Last jest:
ibid.
, p. 110.

233
–“I am ready”:
ibid.
, p. 139.

235
–“He smiled when I told him”: quoted by Smith and Longman, p. 229.

236
–“Maybe just pat his forehead before he goes”: quoted by White,
Woodrow Wilson: The Man, His Times and His Task
, p. 482.

237
–
“Edith!”:
Grayson to R. S. Baker, Baker Papers.

238
–He opened his eyes: The death scene is described by R. S. Baker in his Papers.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

241
–Mrs. Peck felt a sudden knowledge: Hulbert, pp. 278–79.

246
–Mrs. Wilson's anger at the girls: Hamlin diary, Hamlin Papers.

247
–The question of where the burial should be: Grayson, p. 140. Also Mrs. J. Borden Harriman to the author.