Historian discusses Wilson contributions to White House

By Bob Stuart

Published: May 9, 2008

STAUNTON — Staunton native and America’s 28th President Woodrow Wilson spent eight years in the White House, but he will not be remembered for the changes to the building while he was there, said noted White House historian William Seale.
“Wilson had less personal identification with the White House than any president,’’ said Seale, who spoke Friday during the third annual reunion of the Wilson/Woodrow/Bolling/Axson First Families at the Wilson Presidential Library.
Seale said the undistinguished President Millard Fillmore left more of a mark on the facility during his tenure than Wilson.
Wilson’s first wife, Ellen, did order the removal of stuffed animals from the State Dining Room installed by Teddy Roosevelt, and worked with noted designers on an improved White House Rose Garden.
The White House had been remodeled in 1902 when Roosevelt was president.
And the Wilsons were not known for their entertaining.
“All meals were in the State Dining Room in the southwest corner on a dropleaf table,’’ Seale said.
Social activity did increase some during the time Wilson’s second wife, Edith Bolling Wilson, lived at the White House from 1915 to 1921.
“She had proper ladies affairs in the White House,’’ Seale said.
And Seale said that Edith Wilson was considered possessive of her husband. A widow, her prospects were not so bright prior to their marriage.
“Being married to a president seemed like a dream,’’ she said.
The office Wilson used in the White House is now gone as is the bathroom where he suffered his stroke, Seale said.
If Wilson were alive today, he might only recognize the majestic columns of the presidential residence, Seale said.
Today, Wilson is remembered as a visionary president for the creation of the Federal Reserve System and his valiant effort to start the League of Nations.
Seale said “his tenure is remembered as tragic,’’ because of World War I and other crises he faced, including a disabling stroke he suffered in 1919.
Seale’s works include “The President’s House: A History of the White House”;  “The White House: The History of an American Idea,’’ and “The White House Garden.”