Why read on Fable?
Publisher Description
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.
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.
26 Reviews
3.5
Dr. Hall
Created 5 months agoShare
Report
Li C.
Created 6 months agoShare
Report
Abigail
Created 8 months agoShare
Report
“4.5 rounded up
She is not a hero. She is also not a villain. Very few people in American history are either. And I believe that our collective insistence for picking one category or the other for all of our most influential people has left us, at best, confused about how, and through whom our history is made.
I didn't know much about Edith Wilson before reading this, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but if I am to believe the author that her work is unique in its nuanced portrayal of Mrs. Wilson, then I say she did an excellent job at that. Roberts described the world in which Edith lived quite well, giving all of her actions, both commendable and abhorrent, historical context so as to make them more understandable. Edith was a conservative white woman from a slave-holding Southern family, which influenced her worldviews for her entire life. Still, she was revolutionary in her own way, influencing and even acting for a president to a degree that no other first lady before her had.
I found this book quite interesting, and appreciated that it never strayed away from sharing the less-than-savorable aspects of Edith's personality.”
Addie
Created 8 months agoShare
Report
Katie Plywaczewski
Created 9 months agoShare
Report
“I love a good book about a niche figure in a niche time period of the early twentieth century- this book was both of those things! To be honest, this wasn't a stand out read for me necessarily, the biography about Edith Wilson was SUPER interesting but I think that the author could have done more to spice the writing up just a bit. Again, that's just me, but if you're into niche non-fiction, I'd recommend this one!”
About Rebecca Boggs Roberts
Rebecca Boggs Roberts is an award-winning educator, author, and speaker, and is a leading historian of American women’s suffrage and civic participation. Her books include the award-winning The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World; Suffragists in Washington, D.C.: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote; and Historic Congressional Cemetery. She is currently deputy director of events at the Library of Congress, and has previously worked as a journalist, producer, tour guide, forensic anthropologist, event planner, political consultant, jazz singer, and radio talk show host. Roberts serves on the board of the National Archives Foundation, on the Council of Advisors of the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation, and on the Editorial Advisory Committee of the White House Historical Association. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, their three sons, and a long-eared hound dog.
Other books by Rebecca Boggs Roberts
Start a Book Club
Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!FAQ
Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?
Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?
How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?
Do you sell physical books too?
Are book clubs free to join on Fable?
How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?
Similar Books
Save to a list
0
/30
0
/100
Private List