Untold Power

The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson

By: Rebecca Boggs Roberts

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

A nuanced portrait of the first acting woman president, written with fresh and cinematic verve by a leading historian on women’s suffrage and power

While this nation has yet to elect its first woman president—and though history has downplayed her role—just over a century ago a woman became the nation’s first acting president. In fact, she was born in 1872, and her name was Edith Bolling Galt Wilson. She climbed her way out of Appalachian poverty and into the highest echelons of American power and in 1919 effectively acted as the first woman president of the U.S. (before women could even vote nationwide) when her husband, Woodrow Wilson, was incapacitated. Beautiful, brilliant, charismatic, catty, and calculating, she was a complicated figure whose personal quest for influence reshaped the position of First Lady into one of political prominence forever. And still nobody truly understands who she was.

For the first time, we have a biography that takes an unflinching look at the woman whose ascent mirrors that of many powerful American women before and since, one full of the compromises and complicities women have undertaken throughout time in order to find security for themselves and make their mark on history. She was a shape-shifter who was obsessed with crafting her own reputation, at once deeply invested in exercising her own power while also opposing women’s suffrage. With narrative verve and fresh eyes, Untold Power is a richly overdue examination of one of American history’s most influential, complicated women as well as the surprising and often absurd realities of American politics.

©2023 Rebecca Boggs Roberts (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Quite simply a compelling yarn… Roberts’s storytelling soars as she leads the reader through Edith’s machinations to hide her husband’s disabilities while maintaining his White House’s functions.” —Washington Post

"[A] fast-moving, sure-footed biography...“Untold Power” is a delightful read" —Wall Street Journal

"Untold Power is not a hagiography of Edith Wilson...[Roberts] uses Wilson’s story not as an easy sell for the Women’s History Month marketplace, but as a way to examine...entrenched power systems and to shade in a chapter of US history that set in motion the feminist cause" —The Guardian

Daughter of Cokie and Steve knocks it outta the park

I learned so much about yet another First Lady Rebecca’s mom wrote another book about First Ladies I am so thrilled to add this to my bank of presidential knowledge yeah Rebecca following her vaunted family legacy.

An intimate story worth telling

An excellent book revealing the love Edith had for Woodrow for her entire life, her inter strength, and her defining role in history. The narration is excellent.

Well done!

I love First Lady stories and this one did not disappoint! It’s so well written and well narrated. I did not know anything about Edith Wilson or the dichotomy of the person she was. Highly recommend!

Intimate view of a president and his wife

This book held all the intricacies of a relationship of one of our past Presidents with his wife. Some was good and some was not. The story does not hold back on telling an honest yet respectful story and painting a clear picture of this early twentieth century power couple. Warts and all. Wilson was president during WWI and during the Spanish flu epidemic, before radio! This is a real inside glimpse into his life and that of his fiercely devoted wife, Edith. Narration completely appropriate and did not detract from the story.

Excellent!

I did not know anything about this first lady and she was basically president while her husband was sick and she was amazing!

great audible’. As I listened to this audible unfold I felt like I was present within historic event taking place,

The audible untold power is a must listen in this day age to show people hat woman can do the impossible when when the chips are down; and Edith Galt, Stood and did her duty as the wife
Of he sick husband President Wilson, when he suffered a massive stroke during his presidency, This brave First Lady, stood by her husband, and helped her incapacitated and ill husband to run the county, until his term of office was done.

Glad I read it

I didn’t really resonate with Mrs Wilson’s life or ideas, but I thought that Boggs Roberts work as a historian was superb. Some of the press about this book and the character of Mrs Wilson was quite misleading. In the end, I found her main attributes were her controlling and petty nature ( not a drive to engage in policy, diplomacy, or influence international affairs as you might have expected after hearing the author interviewed on NPR).

I wish more time was spend on WWI. I also wish there had been some acknowledgement of the Spanish flu and then later how Edith was affected by the Great Depression. Perhaps the historical record didn’t give the author much to go on here.

Nonetheless it was a fascinating portrait of a powerful woman in an era quite different than our own.

Readers voice lacked Edith’s strength

The reader was too soft and had a near whisper in her voice that made Edith Wilson’s story of a strong minded and devoted wife seem delicate and submissive. It was hard to feel the strength Edith must have had to carry on as caregiver and advisor with this readers soft and breathy voice.

President Wilson’s racism

His wife was the acting president for a long time. I like how the author was able to show in historical context that his racism was common at that time. She discusses his most appalling behavior of demoting black government executives to janitors and bathrooms in the basement. She makes only one political jab at the next president. I would have liked a discussion on why she thought the absurdly progressive income tax was initiated during World War I and prolonged after the war versus more money borrowing for the war.

Interesting

Interesting - I didn't know much about Edith Wilson so what was included in this book was interesting to me. It seemed well researched & written. Narrator did a good job for a non-fiction title.