Edith Bolling Galt Wilson

Edith Wilson was first lady during World War I, and did all that she could to set an example of wartime austerity and rationing. She observed “gasless Sundays”, “meatless Mondays”, and “wheatless Wednesdays”, and raised money for the Red Cross. However, as the United States formally entered the war much of the social aspect of the presidency was abandoned and Edith devoted all of her time to assisting Woodrow Wilson, including accompanying him to Europe to help negotiate peace.
In October of that year Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke and was bedridden and physically and mentally unwell for the rest of his life. For the remaining year and a half of his presidency, Edith Wilson controversially took over much of her husband’s presidential responsibilities, although she claimed contemporaneously that she only made decisions about what came before the president like a chief of staff might. However, Edith’s exclusive access to the president coupled with his reduced mental state has led scholars to speculate that Edith Wilson may have been among the most powerful first ladies ever, and that she came closest to being a female chief executive of the United States.