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A Tale of Two Presidents: Woodrow Wilson & Donald Trump

Presidents sit at the pinnacle of public offices that can be held in the United States Government, and often reflect or embody the ideals of the Federal Government at the time of their service. During the outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Americans saw Donald Trump downplay the pandemic as it cropped up in China, eventually spreading ever-closer to U.S. soil. During the early days of the pandemic, even as cases of Covid began to spring up in the United States, Trump was observed to not be social distancing, not limiting travel and not taking mask wearing seriously.[1] In October of 2020, Trump himself would test positive for Covid-19 tweeting out just before 2am that “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”[2] This came as no surprise for many Americans as the president often did not adhere to CDC guidelines of social distancing, which resulted in his own case of Covid-19 as well as numerous Whitehouse staffers and first lady Melania Trump with “Some secret Service Agents hav[ing] expressed concern about the lackadaisical attitude toward masks and social distancing inside the White House.”[3] Trump received treatment for Covid-19 at the Walter Reed Medical Center and returned three days later despite the protests of his doctors. Afterward, Trump arrived at the White House and removed his mask despite being Covid positive[4], while Trump never got Covid again (as far as anyone knows currently) it seems that Trump’s rhetoric after his diagnoses showed that he hadn’t learned any long-lasting lessons about Covid-19 as he began to spread misinformation about the disease once again.[5]

Watching Trump’s own personal response and dealings with Covid-19 during the 2020 global Pandemic made me wonder what Woodrow Wilson’s response and personal dealings were to the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919. Cary T. Grayson was the personal physician of Woodrow Wilson during the pandemic of 1918-1919 and his letters give a unique insight to the Wilson’s personal life intersecting with Spanish Influenza.

In a letter to his wife on September 26^th, 1918 Grayson tells his wife that “The influenza is here, but I think it is all right for you & Gordon to return. Be sure to gargle your throat and mop your nose every day once or twice. This is a good precaution against contagion.”[6] While Grayson doesn’t specifically mention his location in the letter, this passage demonstrates how Wilson’s own personal physician felt that despite there being influenza at his current location, he felt his wife could safely return, and that she should gargle her throat and wipe her nose to prevent getting Spanish Influenza. This demonstrates how Grayson, presumably being a top medical practitioner at the time, did not know how to properly combat the spread of Spanish Influenza.

Wilson’s own family wasn’t spared of suffering from Spanish Influenza in the October outbreak of Spanish Influenza in 1918. Jessie Dyer was the niece of Woodrow Wilson and wrote to the President on October 17^th, 1918 that:

I am sorry to say Chicot Co. is away behind her quota in the Fourth Liberty Loan. Influenza has been the main cause, I think, for our work had barely started when everything was quarantined & public gatherings forbidden. All three of my little folks have had influenza in a light form. Harry & Josephine are still in bed but are much better.[7]

This letter demonstrates a few important things: Wilson was aware that public gatherings were being implemented as a measure to prevent the spread of Spanish Influenza and that his own family had been stricken by it. However, 13 days later Wilson’s preacher, Reverend James Taylor wrote to the President that: “We plan to hold regular services next Sunday morning as the epidemic of influenza has to some extent abated.”[8] While it isn’t known if Wilson attended the service or not, it shows that those in Wilson’s personal circle were planning and attending public gatherings in late October and early November of 1918.

However, Wilson’s own battle with Spanish Influenza did not begin until April of 1919 while he was overseas in Paris. In a letter dated April 10^th, 1919 Grayson wrote:

The President was taken violently sick last Thursday. The attack was very sudden … at six he was seized with violent paroxysms of coughing, which were so severe and frequent that it interfered with his breathing. He had a fever of over 103 and a profuse diarrhoea. [sic] I was at first suspicious that his food had been tampered with, but it turned out to be the beginning of an attack of influenza … I was able to control the spasms of coughing but his condition looked very serious … This disease is so treacherous … I am perhaps over-anxious for a fear of a flare-back- and a flare-back in a case of this kind often results in pneumonia.[9]

From this letter we can see that Wilson had been struck by an acute form of influenza, whether it was Spanish Influenza is left to speculation as we can never know for certainty. However, Wilson catching an acute form of influenza that affected his breathing by severe coughing fits, a 103-degree fever, and his physician worrying about pneumonia after this serious bout of influenza all point as symptoms and signs of Spanish Influenza. Taylor wrote in his diary on April 5^th 1919 that: “This morning the President’s temperature was 101 … His bronchial tubes were filled up with mucus, and he could notice a wheezing sound while breathings”[10], these symptoms also sound like the symptoms of Spanish Influenza, especially mucus filling his bronchial tubes.

It seems that after his battle with what was presumably Spanish Influenza, Wilson met with some visitors on April 16^th, 1919 where Grayson recalled that:

The visitors asked the President whether he had been able to go to the theatres or to any of the demonstrations while he was in Paris, to which he replied: “No, the Doctor does not like for me to go anywhere where there is a crowd, because he is afraid I might pick up some stray germ and contract some infection, although he will not say whether he means the influenza or something of that sort.”[11]

While this excerpt demonstrates that Wilson and his physician were both acutely aware of the dangers of Influenza, and that Wilson obeyed Grayson’s orders to avoid mass gatherings, Grayson then recalled an anecdote that Wilson was reminded of by his physician’s order:

The President then said this put him in mind of the story of the King who found that his male subjects were very unhappy, and the strength of his state was being endangered because the men were ruled entirely by their wives. The state of mind of the men finally became so serious that the King was compelled to order an inquiry, so he directed that all of his male subjects should appear at a ceratin place on a certain day. The King had a blue flag erected displayed on a staff on one side of the field, and another with a red flag on the other. Then he told the assembled subjects that all who were ruled by their wives should go to the side where the blue flag was displayed. A movement toward the blue flag started, and the King called out that those who were not ruled by their wives should go to the red flag. Only one man went to the latter place. He was a small, very skinny runt of a man, who took his place alone under the red flag. The King addressing him said: “My man, I am surprised that you alone are able to avoid being ruled by your wife. How is it that you are able to take such a strong and noble stand?” The man replied in a very weak voice: “It is not that, sir, but before I left home this morning my wife told me I must avoid crowds.”[12]

It seems that Woodrow Wilson, despite knowing that he should avoid mass gatherings after his battle with acute Influenza, was begrudgingly accepting the orders of his physician at the time and wished that he felt left out by having to follow these orders.

Overall, it seems that both Presidents did not take their respective pandemics seriously enough to take precautions within their own personal lives, and that they would both ultimately end up contracting the diseases that had reached pandemic level under their administrations.

[1] Wisconsin State Journal, “A long, hard week,” Comparative History: Spanish Influenza and COVID-19 in the U.S. , accessed May 6, 2021, https://ushistory1918flu2020covid.omeka.net/items/show/60.

[2] Donald Trump, “Trump's Covid-19 Diagnoses Tweet,” Comparative History: Spanish Influenza and COVID-19 in the U.S. , accessed May 6, 2021, https://ushistory1918flu2020covid.omeka.net/items/show/58.

[3] Victoria Advocate, “Trump declares 'I get it,' then briefly leaves hospital,” Comparative History: Spanish Influenza and COVID-19 in the U.S. , accessed May 6, 2021, https://ushistory1918flu2020covid.omeka.net/items/show/56.

[4] Anna Moneymaker, “Ailing Trump returns to White House,” Comparative History: Spanish Influenza and COVID-19 in the U.S. , accessed May 6, 2021, https://ushistory1918flu2020covid.omeka.net/items/show/59.

[5] Hope Yen, Calvin Woodward and Ellen Knickmeyer, “This week's twisted tales on virus and climate,” Comparative History: Spanish Influenza and COVID-19 in the U.S. , accessed May 6, 2021, https://ushistory1918flu2020covid.omeka.net/items/show/57        

[6] Cary Grayson, “Cary T. Grayson to Alice Gertrude Gordon Grayson · Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia,” September 26, 1918, http://presidentwilson.org/items/show/19820.

[7] Jessie Dyer, “Jessie K. Dyer to Woodrow Wilson · Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia,” October 17, 1918, http://presidentwilson.org/items/show/16378.

[8] James Taylor, “James H. Taylor to Woodrow Wilson · Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia,” October 30, 1918, http://presidentwilson.org/items/show/24346.

[9] Cary Grayson, “Cary T. Grayson to Joseph P. Tumulty · Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia,” April 10, 1919, http://presidentwilson.org/items/show/19890.

[10] Cary Grayson, “Cary T. Grayson Diary · Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia,” April 5, 1919, http://presidentwilson.org/items/show/18825.

[11] Cary Grayson, “Cary T. Grayson Diary · Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia,” April 16, 1919, http://presidentwilson.org/items/show/18836.

[12] Cary Grayson, “Cary T. Grayson Diary · Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia,” April 16, 1919, http://presidentwilson.org/items/show/18836.