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Madam President Chosen as Editors Pick Foreword Magazine
Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson is an Editors Pick in Foreword Magazine.
Reviewed by Meg Nola
November 1, 2016
Women have assumed presidential power before, as this compelling portrait of Edith Wilson shows.
Has America already had a woman president? William Hazelgrove’s Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson makes a compelling case to that effect, detailing how First Lady Edith Wilson assumed many of her husband’s responsibilities after Woodrow Wilson suffered a crippling stroke.
Pairing historical facts with a lively, engaging narrative, Hazelgrove sets the scene leading to the President’s health crisis. Wilson came to office with preexisting hypertension and arteriosclerosis. World War I and the unsuccessful fight to join the League of Nations took a further toll on his well-being. Following the October 1919 stroke, Wilson was left partially paralyzed and blind in one eye. He was also physically weak, psychologically overwhelmed, and hardly fit to serve.
Hazelgrove’s portrait of Edith reveals a capable, devoted woman, unexpectedly forced to play a major part in governing the United States. The pressure placed upon Mrs. Wilson was intense. The President’s post-stroke condition had to be kept confidential so as not to alarm an already anxious nation.
Wilson’s political rivals needed to be subdued as well, particularly “venomous serpent” Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, as Edith called him, and the pugnacious Theodore Roosevelt, both men portrayed vividly by Hazelgrove. Despite his health issues, Wilson did not concede to Vice President Thomas Marshall. Therefore, until the end of Wilson’s term in 1921, Edith quietly handled a triage of Oval Office matters while acting as her husband’s confidante and caretaker.
Gesturing to Edith Wilson as “Madam President” is shown to be deserved, though her role was never officially acknowledged. For a woman who had little formal education or prior political experience, Edith Wilson’s efforts to keep the White House afloat are shown to have been extraordinary.
Madam President brings Edith Wilson’s so-called petticoat government to its rightful light, and offers a poignant look at Woodrow Wilson, as a lover, a husband, and a leader.
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The author provided free copies of his/her book to have his/her book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the author for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
Madam President Picked by The Literary Guild
Literary Guild Selection Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson
Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson was chosen by The Literary Guild. The Literary Guild chooses from thousands of books and selects the best in each genre for it’s members.
The Pen Used by the President to Declare World War I at the Woodrow Wilson House DC
Order Your Copy of Madam President
Foreword Magazine Review of Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson
Madame President Coming 2016
William Hazelgrove
Regnery History (Oct 17, 2016)
Hardcover $29.99 (352pp)
978-1-62157-475-0
Women have assumed presidential power before, as this compelling portrait of Edith Wilson shows.
Has America already had a woman president? William Hazelgrove’s Madam President: The Secret
Presidency of Edith Wilson makes a compelling case to that effect, detailing how First Lady Edith Wilson assumed
many of her husband’s responsibilities after Woodrow Wilson suffered a crippling stroke.
Pairing historical facts with a lively, engaging narrative, Hazelgrove sets the scene leading to the President’s
health crisis. Wilson came to office with preexisting hypertension and arteriosclerosis. World War I and the
unsuccessful fight to join the League of Nations took a further toll on his well-being. Following the October 1919
stroke, Wilson was left partially paralyzed and blind in one eye. He was also physically weak, psychologically
overwhelmed, and hardly fit to serve.
Hazelgrove’s portrait of Edith reveals a capable, devoted woman, unexpectedly forced to play a major part in
governing the United States. The pressure placed upon Mrs. Wilson was intense. The President’s post-stroke
condition had to be kept confidential so as not to alarm an already anxious nation.
Wilson’s political rivals needed to be subdued as well, particularly “venomous serpent” Senator Henry Cabot
Lodge, as Edith called him, and the pugnacious Theodore Roosevelt, both men portrayed vividly by Hazelgrove.
Despite his health issues, Wilson did not concede to Vice President Thomas Marshall. Therefore, until the end of
Wilson’s term in 1921, Edith quietly handled a triage of Oval Office matters while acting as her husband’s confidante
and caretaker.
Gesturing to Edith Wilson as “Madam President” is shown to be deserved, though her role was never officially
acknowledged. For a woman who had little formal education or prior political experience, Edith Wilson’s efforts to keep
the White House afloat are shown to have been extraordinary.
Madam President brings Edith Wilson’s so-called petticoat government to its rightful light, and offers a poignant look at Woodrow Wilson, as a lover, a husband, and a leader.
MEG NOLA
William Hazelgrove is the National Bestselling author of ten novels and three nonfiction titles. Ripples, Tobacco Sticks Mica Highways Rocket Man, The Pitcher, Real Santa, Jackpine, The Bad Author, My Best Year, The Pitcher 2, and Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson, Forging A President How the Wild West Created Teddy Roosevelt and Al Capone and the Worlds Fair of 1933. His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly and Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editors Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections Literary Guild Selections, and sold to the movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today and other publications and has been featured on NPR All Things Considered. The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today have all covered his books with features. He runs a cultural blog, The View From Hemingway’s Attic. He lives in Chicago.
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