As the presidential train traveled across the Midwest and into the Great Plains states, Wilson's physical symptoms began to worsen. He became thinner and paler, he lost his appetite, his asthma worsened, and he complained of constant migraines. Unfortunately, despite his body telling him to stop, Wilson continued to give speeches and on the evening of Sept. 25, 1919, Wilson suffered a "mini-stroke." Dr. Grayson, his physician, noted that the facial muscles on the left side of his mouth were beginning to drag and loosen, indicating that Wilson was in danger of suffering from a full-fledged stroke. Wilson's condition only continued to deteriorate, and on Sept. 26, his secretary announced that the rest of the speaking tour would be cancelled due to Wilson suffering from "a nervous reaction in his digestive organs." He was quickly rushed back to the White House, where he would be forced to rest and be examined by doctors.
On Oct. 2, 1919, the president suffered a stroke. The stroke left Wilson severely paralyzed on his left side and partially blind in his right eye, along with other psychological disabilities that accompany a stroke. A few weeks later he suffered a urinary tract infection that nearly killed him, but his body was strong enough to survive the infection. Edith Wilson, Woodrow Wilson's wife, realized that her husband was in no condition to run the country and decided to take matters into her own hands. She shielded Woodrow's condition from the public and was essentially the country's chief executive until the end of his term. However she was never able to convince Congress to allow the country to join the League of Nations, which was Woodrow's main objective at the time, and Wilson's dream of a new democratic world order would not come to fruition for many years past his lifetime.
Source:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/woodrow-wilson-stroke
It's iron how ultimately, Wilson's downfall was his unwillingness to listen to his body on a trip to get the people to listen to his plea to join the League of Nations. Furthermore, the American public was extremely mislead during this period, believing that Wilson just needed bed rest and did not understand the gravity of the situation. This lead to Edith Wilson taking over her husband while withholding information about the presidents stroke, out of mistrust of the vice president and because she realized that it would depress Wilson. During this time, she would sign documents and essentially acted as the president for the time period. It's interesting to think about what a weird situation the country was put into due to Wilson's health.
ReplyDeleteSource : https://www.biography.com/news/edith-wilson-first-president-biography-facts
Cody - I thought your post gave us information about Wilson and his ultimate "downfall" to show that not all of us are invincible. Edith shielding Wilson's health from the American public demonstrates how sensitive the nation was. Wilson himself must have been feeling especially demoralized during this time because of his determination towards the League of Nations and establishing a strong democracy worldwide. I think that we should really give kudos to Edith and her devotion towards her husband and her active involvement. I think she exemplified what it meant to be a strong first lady because of how determined she was and how she refused to be submissive, especially during this harsh time. I wonder how different America or for that matter, the world would have been had Wilson not going on the speaking tour. Would his health still have equally been a period of decline? Would he not have been motivated enough? Was sacrificing his health for the good of nation truly worth it (this relates to the psychological test of sacrificing a family member for one hundred people). His stroke almost plays into Mao Zedong's sympathy for Wilson after discussing how the European powers were "cheating" him during the League of Nations. Wilson's life must have felt as though it was going down and this stroke exemplified how not even the most powerful can defeat natural occurrences.
ReplyDeleteI found it fascinating that Wilson's downfall was initiated by the influenza, while a dangerous disease I never knew that it had the capability of eventually driving a body to stroke. Furthermore, the piece of information regarding the mini-stroke and how it is indicative of risk of a full-fledged stroke was quite interesting. I am curious as to how many officials in the White House were aware of the President's condition aside from his wife and physician. I wonder if more people, such as the vice president, had been privy to this information if Edith Wilson would have had to take on the responsibilities that she did? Overall, this post does a very nice job of summarizing Wilson's condition during his fight over the League of Nations and what went on behind the curtain that allowed the government to still appear to be functioning as normal.
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