What if Woodrow Wilson did not remarry

[King Nazar]

What if Wilson had not remarried after the death of his first wife? What happens if Wilson suffers the same stroke as OTL?

 

[Don Lardo]

Without Edith running interference and passing along decisions Wilson has "made", we've a certain constitutional crisis. Even in the OTL it was a close run thing with power structure preferring to not to push the matter because, by the time they learned the full extent of the stroke, Wilson had recovered somewhat and the election was nearing.

When Wilson collapses after the speech in September, there's no Edith to bundle him up and get him back to Washington while deflecting inquiries about his health. Questions about Wilson's health will begin immediately along with suggestions he begin delegating his powers while convalescing. Wilson being Wilson, all of those questions and suggestions will just anger him further and not help his cerebral-vascular health one bit.

Then, early October when the big stroke occurs, there's no Edith to really hide things. A White House butler will report Wilson's condition to his boss and the news that Wilson is now a potted plant will be all over Washington about a nanosecond later. All that day cabinet members and congressmen will troop through Wilson's bedroom to confirm the news with their own eyes. Marshall will become the de facto President that day because, while there's no official mechanism for removing Wilson, there's no question of a blind and paralyzed Wilson keeping the job. Certain members of the Cabinet, Senate, and House will begin conferring on what to do too.

And Versailles still fails ratification.

Some ad hoc system devised to remove Wilson from office as quickly and as gracefully as possible, allowing Marshall to legally assume the office he's been holding since the day of the stroke and, given the fact that the Progressives haven't been shown up by Prohibition yet and toying with the Constitution still somewhat in vogue, an amendment similar to the 25th will be rapidly drafted and passed.

About the only lasting change I see is an earlier 25th. However, the speed at which this 25th is passed might mean it contains interesting omissions and loopholes.

 

[ColeMercury]

What about the 1920 election? If Marshall's a sitting president, might he end up becoming the Democratic candidate? Could he win? (He was a candidate at the DNC in OTL, so I'd guess he would be willing to serve a full term.)

 

[1940LaSalle]

By 1919, Marshall wouldn't be much more than a caretaker, and he'd have ll of the WIlson administration baggage to haul behind him: therefore, I don't see him getting any real shot at the 1920 nomination.

Backing up: the widowed Wilson suffers that same stroke during the barnstorming tour to pump up the League as he did in OTL. He's hustled aboard the trains, which makes haste to Washington, where rumors are already swirling. SecState Lansing, Senator Gilbert Hitchcok of NE, McAdoo, Baker and others huddle to gain a consensus on Wilson's status and what should be done next. For the time being, the public is fed the story that Wilson is suffering from "exhaustion" from his speaking tour, and needs total rest, as prescribed by his doctor.

The provisions of the Constitution at the time make it evident that in the case of presidential inability insofar as duties go, those same duties and powers devolve upon the vice president, but the same passage is silent as to who is entitled to make that determination. Baker recommends that the cabinet as a whole draft a letter to the vice president (deliberately excluding Marshall from the decision) saying that it is the sense of the cabinet that the president is unable to discharge his duties, and that as such, he, Marshall, is called upon to declare the presidency vacant by inability, and to assume the office. Lansing vetoes the suggestion, pointing out that in his opinion, that smacks of a coup d'etat, and could provide an unpleasant future precedent if a rift developed in an administration. Finally, a compromise is worked out that doesn't explicitly violate the Constitution, doesn't really please anyone, and doesn't fail to work: the nation is told that Wilson has suffered a stroke that has left him temporarily incapacitated, and that according to the Constitution, Vice President Marshall will act as president. He will not take the oath of office, but will sign any and all documents as "Vice President, acting for the President" with countersignatures by the Secretary of State and the Attorney General.

American government drifts through the balance of 1919 and 1920. Without any real champions on Capitol Hill, the League of Nations treaty is defeated. At the 1920 convention, vice president Marshall gets barely a nod, while in a supreme case of irony, William McAdoo becomes the Democrats' nominee, tapping James Cox of Ohio as his running mate. Meanwhile, the Republicans nominate Frank Lowden of Illinois for president, with William Sproul of Pennsylvania as his running mate. The Republicans campaign on a premise of replacing the "broken, drifting Wilson administration" with a firmer, stronger hand to guide America "through these post-war shoals, free from the snares of foreign entanglements". Lowden defeats McAdoo handily.

Wilson is quietly and gently moved from the White House to a suite at the Soldiers' Home in the District. He passes away in early 1922.

 

[Don Lardo]

By 1919, Marshall wouldn't be much more than a caretaker, and he'd have ll of the WIlson administration baggage to haul behind him: therefore, I don't see him getting any real shot at the 1920 nomination.

Agreed. Marshall won't be the nominee.

Backing up: the widowed Wilson suffers that same stroke during the barnstorming tour...

That's an interesting take, but we need to remember how different the two strokes were and how close together they were too. I remembered them being close but when using Wiki to check I shocked again at how close together they were.

The first occurred on September 25th in Pueblo, Colorado and second occurred only seven days later on October 2nd back in Washington. During the first stroke, he "merely" collapsed and seemingly recovered quickly. He traveled back to the White House by train with little opportunity for Edith sequester him and even those close around him bought into the "exhaustion" excuse.

Just a week later, the second stroke left him paralyzed and blind. This time there was no hiding the effects so Edith and Wilson's doctor had to hide Wilson instead.

The process you describe with the Cabinet drafting a letter, Marshall stepping into a caretaking role, and all the rest would most certainly occur, but only after the second stroke. The first stroke simply wasn't debilitating enough and, because it apparently didn't effect him outwardly to any extent, seven days isn't enough time for any rumors to reach a point where the pressure forces the Cabinet would act.

Putting it another way, Edith wasn't needed after the first stroke and was needed after the second.