When the Cheering Stopped

by Smith, Gene;

  170–The purchase of 2340 S Street: Wilson, p. 312.

  170n.–Ten friends who contributed $10, 000 each: Jesse Jones, quoted by R. S. Baker, Baker Papers. Other contributors included Cleveland Dodge, Thomas D. Jones, C. H. McCormick, Charles Crane.

  170–The description of the house: Wilson, pp. 322–24, R. S. Baker in the Baker Papers, and the observations of the author when he visited the house in 1962.

  172, 173–The Pelmanism application can be found in the Wilson Papers.

  173–Houston’s visit to the White House: Houston, Vol. II, p. 141.

  173, 174–The President’s conversation with Colby: quoted by Wilson, p. 326.

  174–“Bainbridge has vamped Wilson”: quoted by Daniels, The Wilson Era, p. 528.

  174–Margaret practiced her singing in a room across from his: Baker, American Chronicle, p. 491.

  174–Each person got a U.S. Bond: I. H. Hoover, p. 322.

  174–Many given personal mementos: Parks, p. 158. Mrs. Parks’s mother was given two oil paintings and a $100 bond.

  174, 175–The final Cabinet meeting: Houston, pp. 147–49.

  175–Tumulty thought, There goes the real hope of the world: Tumulty’s thought was given by him to reporters who printed it in their newspapers.

  175–“The President finished strong”: quoted by Burleson to R. S. Baker, Baker Papers.

  175–Burleson said that George Washington also cried: Burleson to R. S. Baker, Baker Papers.

  176–The Cabinet members’ letter is in the Wilson Papers.

  176, 177–The telegrams are in the Wilson Papers.

  177–The visit of the Hardings: Wilson, p. 316.

  177–Secret Service man Jervis’ report is in the Wilson Papers.

  177–Not accede to pleas until after breakfast: Grayson, p. 121.

  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.

  249, 252–Tumulty and the funeral arrangements: As Tumulty described the situation, Grayson “promised and promised over and over to call me if there was any real danger before the end. But the end came, poor Joe was on the sidewalk with the rest. And the funeral—not a word.… And they call out the names for the carriages and I listen, and all the other names … are called out … at the very end of the list comes poor Tumulty! And I got in and followed the hearse.” Quoted by White, Woodrow Wilson: The Man, His Times and His Task, p. 482.

  249–“As if a distant sunrise had touched the features”: Davis is quoted by Daniels, The Life of Woodrow Wilson, p. 347.

  249n.–Advised McAdoo to have nothing to do with E. L. Doheny: Tumulty on November 20, 1919, wrote that he did not wish to be “impertinent” but McAdoo’s representing Doheny “is sure to come up and embarrass you.” McAdoo answered that “political enemies” might try to use his work for Doheny against him, but he was only doing a lawyer’s duty: McAdoo Papers.

  251–He missed the bonging of the White House’s many clocks: Alden Hatch to the author.

  251-257–Details of the funeral service are found in the Baker Papers.

  257–Something fell into her hand: Wilson, p. 277, and Hatch, p. 207.

  Index

  Abraham Lincoln (Drinkwater), 171

  Adams, John Quincy, 230

  Allen, Mary, see Peck, Mary Allen

  Amistead, Fairlie, 136

  Andrews, Mrs. Minnegerode, 238

  Arbuckle, Fatty, 148

  Atlantic Monthly,
219, 221

  Axson, Stockton, 162–163, 168, 174, 218–219, 241

  Baker, Newton D., 95, 98, 107, 158, 175, 181, 208, 252

  Baker, Ray Stannard, 44, 46, 49–50, 122, 138, 144, 149, 166–167, 174, 189–190

  Barker, Mr., 165

  Barkley, Mr. and Mrs. Alben W., 234

  Baruch, Belle, 223

  Baruch, Bernard, 117, 123, 170n., 208, 223, 231, 232, 235, 252

  Beach, Sylvester, 251

  Beatty, Admiral Lord, 193

  Benham, Edith, 34, 45, 51, 137

  Benedict XV, Pope, 41

  Berger, Victor, 65

  Berlin, New Hampshire, 176

  Billings, Montana, 67, 257

  Birkenhead, Lord, 192

  Bismarck, North Dakota, 66

  Bliss, Tasker, 252

  Bolitho, William, 38

  Bolling, Bertha, 17

  Bolling, John Randolph, 91, 189, 190, 191n., 192, 207, 210–213, 214, 218, 229, 231–232, 244, 252

  Bolling, Wilmer, 207, 232

  Bones, Helen Woodrow, 11–18, 21, 228, 229, 236, 241

  Bonsal, Stephen, 116

  Booth, Evangeline, 235

  Borah, William E., 53n., 68, 74, 100

  Brandeis, Louis, 22, 208

  Brooks, Arthur, 183

  Brown, Arthur J., 164

  Bryan, William Jennings, 100

  Bryn Mawr College, 25–26

  Bullitt, William C., 74

  Burleson, Albert, 121, 126, 138, 145, 150, 156, 158, 159, 162, 175, 181

  Byrnes, James F., 184

  Cabinet, 29, 95–101, 118, 139–140, 149–151, 164, 173, 174–176, 198, 252

  Campbell, Lawrence, Jr., 225

  Cannon, “Uncle Joe,” 179

  Capone, Al, 148

  Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 234

  Charlotte, North Carolina, 176

  Cheyenne, Wyoming, 79

  Chicago, Illinois, 68

  Clapper, Raymond, 141

  Clark, Champ, 179

  Clemenceau, Georges, 37, 38, 46, 48, 49, 244

  Colby, Bainbridge, 143–144, 153, 159–160, 166, 168, 173–174, 175, 181, 204, 205–206, 208, 235