Edith Wilson assists President Woodrow Wilson with his work, June 1920

This image of Edith Bolling Galt Wilson standing at her husband President Woodrow Wilson’s side while he works at his desk hints at an unusual work arrangement. It arose after the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, when the president suffered a debilitating stroke that left him partially paralyzed. Rather than reveal the extent of his illness to the public, Edith Wilson isolated him from even his cabinet members and only allowed his doctor to enter his bedchamber during his initial convalescence.

Rumors about the president’s condition abounded while the first lady acted as gatekeeper, carefully choosing which pieces of business to share with him. Edith Wilson soon incurred the suspicion of both his staff and his political opponents when she began to sift through matters of state in order to determine which business merited his personal attention.

Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.