One man in whom I
so much believed the
proponent of the League of
Nations is dead.
Woodrow Wilson
I have certainly so much
to write in my diary but
I am prevented from doing
so because of inconvenience,
This week I am removing to
my own lone humble little
home where I will have the
opportunity to make my
entries regularly.
———————-
Wilson was in office when Papa first arrived in New York, and I’m sure the headlines about his administration made Papa feel good about his adopted country — Wilson was a trust-buster, a friend of labor, a proponent of suffrage, and believed in aggressively promoting democracy around the world. If I were a psychologist, I might even say that Papa, displaced, longing for home and politically liberal himself, would have found a sort of father figure in Wilson and grown especially attached to him. (Wilson’s support of the Balfour declaration and of Zionism in general was real, but muted; I’m sure Papa would rathe have described him as “an enthusiastic Zionist” than a “proponent of The League of Nations.”) In any event, having lived through the less progressive Harding and early Coolidge years, Papa probably took Wilson’s death especially hard.