A new biography of first lady Edith Wilson examines her political influence

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2023

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

Edith Wilson dated and then married Woodrow Wilson while he served as president of the United States in 1915. In her new biography, Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson, author Rebecca Boggs Roberts – daughter of the late NPR founding mother Cokie Roberts – explores Wilson's influential role in her husband's administration. But as Roberts tells NPR's Steve Inskeep, at a time when women didn't yet have the right to vote, Wilson often hid her political contributions from the spotlight.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Kia Miyaka-Nates. A wealthy widow and business owner meets an eligible suitor who also happens to be president of the United States. Romance and power ensues. No, this isn't a rom-com. This is the true story of Edith Wilson, first lady to
0:23.7	President Woodrow Wilson. Author Rebecca Roberts shares this unexpected history in her new book,
0:29.6	Untold Power, Edith Wilson. She chatted with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the first lady.
0:36.0	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from
0:39.8	daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show,
0:46.3	Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people
0:50.6	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
0:58.7	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:04.0	I'm Steve Inskeep with a recording of my mom.
1:10.0	Well, that's really nice, Steve. Where was she playing that?
1:17.8	Oh, well, thank you very much on her behalf. She was at this historic site, the home of Woodrow Wilson, where he lived after his presidency.
1:20.5	What? How did they allow her to touch the keys?
1:28.6	It's amazing because there's these do not touch signs all over the place, but they let people play the piano so Judith Innski did.
1:37.0	And I recalled that when I saw a new biography of Wilson's wife, they met and married while he was president. And then, when her husband suffered a stroke, Edith Wilson made presidential
1:42.3	decisions for him. The book is called Untold Power. And I thought,
1:47.8	let's meet the author, Rebecca Roberts, at the Wilson House. Hi there. Good morning. Good morning.
1:53.7	It's good to see you. And let's also invite over a musician who can play that piano, somebody who
2:00.2	knows music from the early 20th century.
2:04.2	Sadly, my mom had a schedule conflict, so we found Bill Edwards, who's an expert in songs of that time.
2:10.0	He sat at that grand piano as biographer Rebecca Roberts showed me around. A portrait of Edith Wilson
2:16.6	hangs over the dining room table.
2:19.1	How would you describe her expression as she looks at the painter here? Looks at us.
	...

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