"The story of Wilson's second marriage, and of the large events on which its shadow was cast, is darker and more devious, and more astonishing, than previously recorded."
-- from the Preface

Constructing a thrilling, tightly contained narrative around a trove of previously undisclosed documents, medical diagnoses, White House memoranda, and internal documents, acclaimed journalist and historian Phyllis Lee Levin sheds new light on the central role of Edith Bolling Galt in Woodrow Wilson's administration.

Shortly after Ellen Wilson's death on the eve of World War I in 1914, President Wilson was swept off his feet by Edith Bolling Galt. They were married in December 1915, and, Levin shows, Edith Wilson set out immediately to consolidate her influence on him and tried to destroy his relationships with Colonel House, his closest friend and adviser, and with Joe Tumulty, his longtime secretary. Wilson resisted these efforts, but Edith was persistent and eventually succeeded.

With the quick ending of World War I following America's entry in 1918, Wilson left for the Paris Peace Conference, where he pushed for the establishment of the League of Nations. Congress, led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, resisted the idea of an international body that would require one country to go to the defense of another and blocked ratification. Defiant, Wilson set out on a cross-country tour to convince the American people to support him. It was during the middle of this tour, inthe fall of 1919, that he suffered a devastating stroke and was rushed back to Washington. Although there has always been controversy regarding Edith Wilson's role in the eighteen months remaining of Wilson's second term, it is clear now from newly released medical records that the stroke had totally incapacitated him. Citing this information and numerous specific memoranda, journals, and diaries, Levin makes a powerfully persuasive case that Mrs. Wilson all but singlehandedly ran the country during this time. Ten years in the making," Edith and Woodrow is a magnificent, dramatic, and deeply rewarding work of history.

Amazon.com Review
It's hard to say who comes off worse here: President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), depicted as arrogant, egotistical, and so poor at negotiation or compromise it's a wonder he ever got involved in politics; or his second wife, Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (1872-1961), portrayed as deceptive, unreflective, and encouraging of the president's worst qualities to an extent that had grave consequences for America and the world. Journalist Phyllis Lee Levin, author of a previous biography of Abigail Adams, scathingly assesses the Wilson marriage, which took place in 1915 only 16 months after the death of his beloved first wife. It was, she argues persuasively, the fatal union of a narcissistic, self-righteous man with an uncritically admiring woman who isolated her husband from other people even before his disabling stroke on October 2, 1919. At that critical juncture, with a host of serious international issues resulting from World War I facing the nation, Edith Wilson conspired with the president's doctor to cover up the gravity of his condition and forestall any talk of the vice president assuming command. (Levin's account of Wilson's impaired physical and mental state leaves little doubt that this would have been constitutionally justified.) She kept cabinet members away from him and took it upon herself to interpret his wishes for the rest of the government. The U.S. Senate's refusal to ratify the League of Nations was one result of the way Edith Wilson handled this crisis, hence she must bear some responsibility for the diplomatic failures that led to World War II. It's never entirely enjoyable to read a book in which the author's distaste for her subjects is so evident, but Levin's relentlessly detailed (though always readable) chronicle fascinates with its depiction of "the influence wielded over great decisions by a woman of narrow views and formidable determination." --Wendy Smith