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Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him

J >> Joseph P. Tumulty >> Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him




When the bitterness and rancour caused by this unfortunate incident had
happily passed away Colonel Watterson and I met at a delightful dinner at
Harvey's Restaurant in Washington and discussed the "old fight." The young
fellow who had inspired the story which so grievously distressed Marse
Henry and Colonel Harvey was present at this dinner. Marse Henry was in
fine spirits, and without showing the slightest trace of the old
bitterness, rehearsed the details of this now-famous incident in a witty,
sportsmanlike, and good-natured way, and at its conclusion he turned to my
newspaper friend and laughingly said: "You damn rascal, you are the
scoundrel who sent out the story that Harvey and I were trying to force
Wall Street money on Wilson. However, old man, it did the trick. If it had
not been for the clever use you made of this incident, Wilson never would
have been President."

In a beautiful letter addressed to the President by Marse Henry on
September 24, 1914, conveying his expressions of regret at the death of
the President's first wife, appears the following statement with reference
to the famous Harvey-Watterson controversy:

I hope that hereafter you and I will better understand one another; in
any event that the single disagreeable episode will vanish and never
be thought of more. In Paris last winter I went over the whole matter
with Mr. McCombs and we quite settled and blotted out our end of it. I
very much regret the use of any rude word--too much the characteristic
of our rough-and-tumble political combats--and can truly say that I
have not only earnestly wished the success of your administration but
have sought to find points of agreement, not of disagreement.

I am writing as an old man--old enough to be your father--who has the
claim upon your consideration that all his life he has pursued the
ends you yourself have aimed at, if at times too zealously and
exactingly, yet without self-seeking or rancor.

Your friend,
HENRY WATTERSON.

The President's acknowledgment of this letter is as follows:

September 28, 1914.

MY DEAR COLONEL WATTERSON:

Your kind letter has gratified me very deeply. You may be sure that
any feeling I may have had has long since disappeared and that I feel
only gratified that you should again and again have come to my support
in the columns of the _Courier-Journal_. The whole thing was a great
misunderstanding.

Sincerely yours,
WOODROW WILSON.

While the Harvey-Watterson episode ended as above related, there is no
doubt that Woodrow Wilson deeply regretted the whole matter, and, so far
as he was concerned, there was no feeling on his part of unfriendliness or
bitterness toward Colonel Harvey. Indeed, he felt that Colonel Harvey had
unselfishly devoted himself to his cause in the early and trying days of
his candidacy, and that Harvey's support of him was untouched by selfish
interests of any kind. In every way he tried to soften the unfortunate
impression that had been made on the country by what many thought was an
abrupt, ungracious way of treating a friend. An incident in connection
with this matter is worth relating:

One day at the conclusion of the regular Tuesday cabinet meeting the
President and I lingered at the table, as was our custom, and gossiped
about the affairs of the Administration and the country. These discussions
were intimate and frank in every way.

A note in the social column of one of the leading papers of Washington
carried the story that Colonel Harvey's daughter, Miss Dorothy Harvey, was
in town and was a guest at the home of Mrs. Champ Clark. I took occasion
to mention this to the President, suggesting that it would be a gracious
thing on his part and on the part of Mrs. Wilson to invite Miss Harvey to
the Sayre-Wilson wedding which was scheduled to take place a few days
later, hoping that in this way an opening might be made for the resumption
of the old relationship between the Colonel and Mr. Wilson. The President
appeared greatly interested in the suggestion, saying that he would take
it up with Mrs. Wilson at once, assuring me that it could be arranged.
When I saw how readily he acted upon this suggestion, I felt that this was
an opening for a full, frank discussion of his relations with Colonel
Harvey. I approached the subject in this way: "For a long time I have
wanted to discuss Colonel Harvey with you. There is no doubt, Governor,
that this unfortunate episode did not sit well on the stomachs of the
American people. Whether you believe it or not, the country resented your
attitude toward your old friend, and out of this incident an impression
has grown which is becoming stronger with each day, that you pay little
regard to friendship and the obligations that grow out of it. I have been
hoping that in some way the old relationship could be resumed and that you
would feel free at some time in a public way to attest your real feeling
for Colonel Harvey, at least by way of reciprocation for the genuine way
he stood by you in the old days in New Jersey." The President looked at me
in the most serious way, apparently weighing every word I had uttered, and
said: "You are right, Tumulty; unfortunate impressions have been created.
What can I do for Colonel Harvey to attest in some public way my
appreciation of what he did for me in the old days?" I asked why, inasmuch
as McCombs had declined the French Ambassadorship, this post might not be
offered to Colonel Harvey, adding that I believed he coveted and would
appreciate such an appointment. The President said that this was an
admirable suggestion and authorized me to get in touch with Colonel Harvey
at once and make him the offer of the French post.

While my relations with Colonel Harvey were at no time strained, and, in
fact, up to this day our friendship has been uninterrupted, I thought it
would be more tactful if I should approach him through the junior senator
from New York, James O'Gorman. Immediately upon leaving the President I
went to the Army and Navy Club, where Senator O'Gorman was living, and
told him of my conversation with the President in reference to Colonel
Harvey. He was enthusiastic and immediately got in touch with Colonel
Harvey at his home at Deal, New Jersey, told him of the President's offer,
and asked for a conference. Then a thing happened which completely
destroyed these plans for a reconciliation. The following Sunday an
interview signed by Colonel Harvey, bitterly assailing the President,
appeared in the New York _Times_. The fat was in the fire. Senator
O'Gorman and I were silenced. When I approached the President on Monday
morning to discuss further the matter with him, he said: "I greatly regret
this interview of Colonel Harvey. How can I now with propriety offer him
any post? Knowing Harvey as I do, he would be reluctant to take it, for
the country might be of the opinion that he had yielded in his criticism
of me by the offer of this appointment, and I could not in honour make the
appointment now, for it might appear to the country that by this method I
was trying to purchase the silence of the Colonel. I am very sorry,
indeed, that the plan we discussed has fallen to the ground."

And thus the efforts of Mr. Wilson to bring about a reconciliation with
his old friend ended in dismal failure.




CHAPTER XIII

THE "COCKED-HAT" INCIDENT


While Governor Wilson came out of this controversy with the two Colonels,
Harvey and Watterson, with flying colours, he was by no means beyond the
danger line. His enemies both within and without the party hotly contested
his leadership, and the bitterness of the opposition grew in proportion as
his candidacy gained daily advantages. Everything possible was done to
block his progress and to make more difficult his road to the Presidency.
Everything he had ever said or written, especially his "History of the
American People," was carefully examined in the hope of finding some way
to discredit him. All the guns of the opposition were turned upon him, but
nothing seemed sufficient to block his progress. All the charges,
intimations, insinuations, and slanders that were industriously circulated
by his enemies were without effect, and the trained political minds in his
own camp were apprehensive lest his candidacy had reached its climax too
long before the convention. How to maintain the present advantage was the
problem that perplexed them. They were hopefully looking forward to the
benefits that would accrue to their candidate in the round-up of
candidates at the famous Jackson Day dinner, scheduled for early January,
1912. This dinner was an annual affair and was eagerly looked forward to.
It was expected that the leading lights of the Democratic party would
attend this dinner, including Colonel W. J. Bryan, Champ Clark, Oscar
Underwood, ex-Governor Folk of Missouri, Roger Sullivan of Illinois, and
the New Jersey Governor's friends were confident that because of his
ability as a public speaker he would make a strong and favourable
impression. They were not disappointed.

We were awaiting the Jackson Day dinner with great expectations, and
congratulating ourselves that we were now safely "out of the woods," and
that things would move smoothly for our candidate, when like a bolt from,
the blue came the publication of the famous Joline "cocked-hat" letter,
which caused another panic in the ranks of the too-optimistic Wilson
forces.

This letter was written by Mr. Wilson to Mr. Adrian Joline, a Princeton
alumnus and prominent New York lawyer at the time of the split in the
Democratic party over the silver question. The letter is as follows:

Princeton, New Jersey,
April 29, 1907.

MY DEAR MR. JOLINE:

Thank you very much for sending me your address at Parsons, Kan.,
before the board of directors of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway
Company. I have read it with relish and entire agreement. Would that
we could do something, at once dignified and effective, to knock Mr.
Bryan once for all into a cocked hat!

Cordially and sincerely yours,
WOODROW WILSON.

The publication of this letter came at a most inopportune time for the
Wilson candidacy, and how to meet it was one of the most difficult
problems that the Wilson forces had to face. Our enemies were jubilant.
They felt that at last they had broken our lines and that we would not be
able to "come back."

At this time I was at the State House at Trenton and I received a telegram
from the Governor, requesting that I come at once to Washington, where he
was conferring with the leaders of his forces in an effort to find some
way to neutralize the bad effects of the Joline cocked-hat story in
advance of the Jackson Day banquet, at which Mr. Bryan would be present.
On my arrival in Washington I went to the Willard Hotel and found the
Governor hi a conference with William F. McCombs, Tom Pence, Senator
O'Gorman, and Dudley Field Malone. We discussed the situation fully and
the character of reply the Governor should make by way of explanation of
the Joline letter. Mr. Josephus Daniels, a friend and associate of Mr.
Bryan, was sent to confer with Mr. Bryan in order that Mr. Wilson might
have a close friend at hand who could interpret the motives which lay back
of the Joline letter and impress upon Mr. Bryan the present favourable
attitude of Mr. Wilson toward him. Mr. McCombs suggested that the Governor
address an open letter to Mr. Bryan, voicing his regret over the
publication of this letter and assuring him of his present kindly feelings
toward him. I vigorously opposed Mr. McCombs' suggestion, arguing that no
explanation of the Joline letter could be made to Mr. Bryan that would
wear the appearance of sincerity, or be convincing, and that the letter
having been written there was nothing to do to extenuate it in any way and
that the wise thing was to make a virtue of necessity. I suggested that on
the following night, when the Governor was to deliver his address at the
Jackson Day dinner, he could, in the most generous and kindly way, pay a
handsome tribute to Mr. Bryan for his unselfish service to the Democratic
party throughout the dark years he had been its leader; that I felt that
he would appreciate a tribute of this kind and that he would resent any
explanation of this incident which would appear to be truckling or
apologetic in character. This plan was finally agreed upon. In the very
beginning of his speech, in the most tactful way, Governor Wilson paid a
tribute to the Great Commoner by saying, as he turned to Mr. Bryan: "When
others were faint-hearted, Colonel Bryan carried the Democratic standard.
He kept the 'fires burning' which have heartened and encouraged the
democracy of the country."

The speech at the Jackson Day dinner was a triumph for Woodrow Wilson.
While it was a tempestuous voyage for him, with many dangerous eddies to
be avoided, he emerged from the experience with his prestige enhanced and
with his candidacy throughout the country strengthened. The Bryan-Joline
crisis was safely passed. In the presence of the newspaper men at the
banquet, Mr. Bryan put his arm around Mr. Wilson's shoulders in an
affectionate way, and thus happily concluded the incident which for a time
threatened to wreck a great enterprise.

On his return from Washington to Trenton, Governor Wilson told me that Mr.
Bryan had bidden him not to worry about the publication of the Joline
letter, saying: "I, of course, knew that you were not with me in my
position on the currency," and Woodrow Wilson replied: "All I can say, Mr.
Bryan, is that you are a great, big man."




CHAPTER XIV

WILSON AND THE OLD GUARD


Old line politicians, like Roger Sullivan of Illinois and Tom Taggart of
Indiana, were turned to the Princetonian by his notable speech at the
Jackson Day dinner and now gave sympathetic ear to the New Jersey
Governor's claims for the nomination. An incident which happened at the
conclusion of the banquet, as the Governor was on his way to make his
train for New Jersey, illustrates the character of the victory he had won
over difficulties which at the time seemed insurmountable. The old
Illinois leader, Roger Sullivan, greeted the candidate in the most
friendly way as he left the banquet hall, saying to him as he grasped his
hand: "That was a great speech, Governor," and then, drawing closer to
him, added: "I cannot say to you now just what the Illinois delegation
will do, but you may rely upon it, I will be there when you need me," This
remark did not seem of importance at the time, but when we discussed the
incident the next day at the Capitol at Trenton we both felt that, at a
critical moment of the convention Roger Sullivan could be relied upon to
support us and to throw the vote of Illinois our way. Sullivan kept his
promise in real, generous fashion. When it seemed as if the Baltimore
Convention was at the point of deadlock, and after the Illinois delegation
had voted many times for Champ Clark, Sullivan threw the full support of
Illinois to the New Jersey Governor, and thus the tide was quickly turned
in favour of Mr. Wilson's candidacy for the Presidency.

I had often wondered what influence beyond this Jackson Day banquet speech
had induced this grizzly old political warrior to support Woodrow Wilson.
Afterward I learned the real cause of it from men who kept in close touch
with the Illinois delegation during the trying days of the Baltimore
Convention.

Everyone who knew Roger Sullivan knew the great influence which both his
fine wife and devoted son wielded over him. His son, Boetius, a Harvard
graduate, had early become a Wilson devotee and supporter, and the
correspondence between father, mother, and son, contained a spirited
discussion of the availability of the New Jersey man for the Democratic
nomination. The interest of Mrs. Sullivan and her son continued throughout
the days of the Convention, which they both attended, and at the most
critical moment in the proceedings of the Convention when a point was
arrived at when the Illinois vote was decisive, the Illinois leader left a
conference where he was being strongly urged by Mr. Wilson's friends to
support the New Jersey Governor, to have a final conference with Mrs.
Sullivan and their son before he would finally agree to throw his support
to Wilson.

Everyone at Baltimore knows the result of this conference and how the
inner councils of the Sullivan family prevailed. Illinois swung to Wilson
and he was soon nominated. It was said, after the New Jersey man's
nomination and election, that he showed base ingratitude to Roger
Sullivan, the man who more than any other single individual in the
Convention had brought about his nomination. Mr. Sullivan's devoted
friends in Illinois were particularly bitter at the apparent coldness of
Mr. Wilson toward their friend and idol. The President, as a matter of
fact, was never unmindful of his obligation to Sullivan for the personally
loyal way he had stood by him at Baltimore, and in every way while he was
President he let those associated with him know that Sullivan and his
friends, wherever it was possible, should be preferred in the matter of
the distribution of patronage in Illinois.

The thing, however, which irritated Sullivan's friends and made many of
them irreconcilable foes of Woodrow Wilson was his apparent unwillingness
to say a good word for Sullivan when he announced his candidacy for the
United States senatorship of Illinois. This presented an opportunity for
President Wilson to pay the old debt and "even up" things with Roger.
Realizing the delicacy of the situation and how deeply the progressive
element in the Democratic party throughout the country might misunderstand
and even resent his putting his "okeh" on the candidacy of the Illinois
leader for the senatorship, nevertheless, upon considering the matter, he
decided to do so and prepared a generous and wholehearted letter of
endorsement of Sullivan. He felt that as a good sportsman he was bound in
honour to do this for the man whose influence and support, thrown to him
at the right moment of the Convention, had brought about his nomination
for the Presidency. But there were other and deeper reasons urging him on
to endorse his old friend. He knew how eagerly and earnestly Sullivan had
fought for him at Baltimore and how in doing so he had won the enmity of
the eastern wing of the Democratic party. The old bosses in the party,
like Smith and Murphy, had often twitted Sullivan on his support of Wilson
and threatened reprisals. Sullivan, however, stood like adamant against
these influences and showed an allegiance to the New Jerseyman which
earned the admiration and affection of every Wilsonite in the country. The
President felt confident that should Roger Sullivan be elected to the
Senate, he could count upon him to stand by and loyally support him and
the Administration. At this very time the President was beginning to
realize in the keenest way the necessity for real, loyal backing in the
Senate. Many of the men whom he had personally supported for the Senate in
the various senatorial fights throughout the country, especially those who
were known as progressive senators, like Hardwick and Smith of Georgia,
O'Gorman of New York, and Martine of New Jersey, had grown indifferent and
were reluctant to follow his leadership in anything. The so-called Old
Guard in the Senate, made up of men like Mark Smith of Arizona, Senators
Martin and Swanson of Virginia, Ollie James of Kentucky, John Sharp
Williams of Mississippi, Joe Robinson of Arkansas, Billy Hughes of New
Jersey, Senator Culberson of Texas, Senator Simmons of North Carolina, and
Senator Smith of Maryland, contrary to every prophecy and prediction made
by their enemies, stood with the President through every fight in the
finest and handsomest way, never deserting his leadership for a moment.
Often he would say to me when we were discussing the senatorial situation:
"My head is with the progressives in the Democratic party, but my heart,
because of the way they stood by me, is with the so-called Old Guard in
the Senate. They stand without hitching." He knew that, while Roger
Sullivan was a conservative, he could be relied upon in every emergency to
back him up even to the point of sacrifice. What President Wilson wanted
more than anything else, as he often said, was a team that would work with
him. Sullivan was just this type of man, and beyond everything else his
loyalty had been tested and could be relied upon in every emergency.

In the light of these circumstances, the President decided finally to
throw his hat in the ring in favour of the boss of Illinois for the United
States senatorship. The letter advocating Sullivan's election was dictated
and signed by the President, and is as follows:

THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
October 12, 1914.

MY DEAR MR. RANEY:

I have read with the greatest interest the account you were kind
enough to send me of the Illinois Democratic State Convention. It is
full of fine promise for the party; for it shows all the elements of
the party heartily drawing together for a successful campaign; and
with this union success is sure to come.

You call my attention to the fact that some Democrats are urging
voters to cast their ballots for the Progressive candidate for the
Senate of the United States rather than for the nominee of the
Democratic primaries. You ask me if I approve of this. I do not. I
have held myself very strictly to the principle that as a party man I
am bound by the free choice of the people at the polls. I have always
stood by the result of the primaries; I shall always do so; and I
think it the duty of every Democrat to do so who cares for the
success and sincerity of his party. Mr. Sullivan has been selected in
a fair primary, and therefore he is entitled to the support of his
party.

Sincerely yours,
WOODROW WILSON.

HON. HENRY T. RAINEY,
House of Representatives.

This letter and the contents of it will be a matter of news to Sullivan's
friends throughout the country. Many, doubtless, will inquire why it was
not published at the time. The reason it failed to reach the stage of
publication can in no way be attributed to Woodrow Wilson. He never
recalled it and the original is in my files. This may be surprising news
to the friends of the dead leader, Roger Sullivan, but it is only fair to
Mr. Wilson to say that he never hesitated in rushing to the defence of his
old friend in the most generous way. He wrote this letter with the full
realization of just how much it might personally injure him with the
progressive thought of the country. The letter, after being written and
signed by the President, was held in reserve by me until Sullivan's
friends in Chicago, those in close touch with his affairs there, felt free
to advise its publication. I was directed by them to release it, but the
order for its release was countermanded by one of the advisers close to
Sullivan, who telephoned me that it was thought inadvisable to have the
President come into the campaign in Sullivan's behalf, the reason being
that the publication of Wilson's letter might arouse the passionate
antagonism of Theodore Roosevelt, who was about to begin a tour of
Illinois in behalf of Sullivan's opponent. I was advised later that the
individual with whom I dealt in this matter and upon whose direction the
letter was withheld from publication had no authority to act for Sullivan
in the matter and that Sullivan and his friends were deeply disappointed
at Mr. Wilson's apparent unwillingness to take up the cudgel for his old
friend. Many times I tried to make clear to Sullivan's friends just what
the attitude of the President was, but whether I succeeded I do not know.
The President, secluded in the White House, away from the madding crowd,
never realized the basis of Sullivan's disappointment, for he felt that he
had "gone through" for his friend and had not forgotten for a moment
Sullivan's advocacy of him at Baltimore, When the news of Sullivan's death
was brought to him at a time when he, also, was seriously ill, his lips
quivered, great tears stood in his eyes, and turning to Mrs. Wilson, who
stood beside his bed, he said: "Roger Sullivan was a wonderful and devoted
friend at Baltimore," and then, turning to me, he said: "Tumulty, I
sincerely hope that you will personally go to Chicago and attend the
funeral and tell Mrs. Sullivan how deeply I grieve over the death of my
old friend."




CHAPTER XV

MR. BRYAN ISSUES A CHALLENGE


The contests for the delegates to the National Convention were on in full
swing throughout the various states. In the early contests, particularly
in the far western states, like Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, and
Montana, the Wilson candidacy, according to primary returns, began to take
on the appearance of a real, robust boom. As the critical days of the
Convention approached, evidences of a recession of the favourable tide to
Wilson began to manifest themselves, particularly in the states of
Massachusetts and Illinois, both of which swung to Clark, with New York in
the offing quietly favouring Champ Clark. It was clear to the campaign
managers of Wilson that from a psychological standpoint the pivotal states
were New Jersey and Ohio; New Jersey, because ex-Senator Smith had again
challenged the leadership of Wilson and had notified his friends
throughout the country that New Jersey could be relied upon to repudiate
its governor in an overwhelming fashion. Smith had made deals and
combinations with all the disgruntled elements of the state, and with
powerful financial backing from the so-called interests in New Jersey and
New York and the mighty support of the Hearst newspapers, he was pressing
the New Jersey man closely, until at times it seemed as if he might
succeed in at least splitting the delegation. The friends of the New
Jersey man, therefore, realizing the effect upon the democracy of the
country of an adverse verdict in his home state, concentrated all possible
forces at this critical point. In the meantime, and before the actual
determination of the issue in New Jersey, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania swung
into the Wilson column, and the Ohio primaries resulted in a split
delegation between Wilson and Harmon, in Harmon's home state. All eyes
were, therefore, intently watching New Jersey. A repudiation would be
disastrous, although the old-timers in the Wilson camp tried to encourage
us by saying that even though New Jersey might turn against its governor,
Grover Cleveland, under similar circumstances in 1892, despite the
opposition of his home state, had been nominated and elected President.
But, fortunately for us, New Jersey in the handsomest way stood by her
favourite son. The news of New Jersey's endorsement was flashed through
the country, and there was jubilation in every Wilson camp. The day
following the New Jersey primaries the New York _World_, the great
Democratic paper, carried a striking editorial under the caption of
"WOODROW WILSON FOR PRESIDENT." The New Jersey primaries and the Ohio
results were great feathers in the caps of the Wilson men, and with
enthusiasm and ardour they followed up this advantage.

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