presidential blunders

Imagine a president suffering a stroke while in office and being almost entirely incapacitated by an illness for more than a year. Now imagine that his illness is kept secret from his vice president, cabinet and the nation. While you're at it, imagine his wife serving as acting president. Unimaginable today. But it happened. Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke in September 1919. For the remaining year and a half of his presidency, his wife, Edith Bolling Wilson, was, by all accounts, the shadow president. She took over the day-to-day operations of the White House to such an extent that she is often referred to as the first woman president. The seriousness of Wilson's illness was kept secret until after his death. Certainly, Wilson should have resigned the presidency, but the First Lady was against the ascendancy of Vice President Thomas Riley Marshall--unthinkable by today's standards and, we think, a misguided and unfair blunder. Wilson's illness, incapacitation and subsequent secrecy helped lead to the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on presidential succession. Learn more at The Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Foundation.