Evening star., 1920-02-17
TEMPER MARKED
OTHER EP|SODES|N
LIFE Of PRESIDENT
Effect of Burdens Shown by
Loss of Self f-DiscipIine and
Sense of Humor.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Grover Cleveland and Woodrow
Wilson never got along we'll together.
and once in a tiff over academic mat
former said Of the latter that he was
man of violent prejudices and un-
governable temper"
Probably in moments of self-analy-
sis Mr.. Wilson has admitted an in
clination to get furious1y angry over
things that rubbed him the wrong
ly in the days when Europe was
taunting Mr.. Wilson with that too
proud to fight" phrase, when the
President Of the United States would
have welcomed the opportunity to
take On a scrap with anybody.
The public doesn't know Mr.. Wilson
as a man Of hot temper. He has dis
ciplined himself to conceal it. and
shrewd men about him have managed
to prevent him from giving vent to
Left to himself the President would
most surely have exhibited his temper
long before the Lansing episode.
That's why l regard 1t as not an un-
natural or abnormal manifestation Of
Mr.. Wilson's mind. but a perfectly
He used to get angry in Paris. On
one occasion he came away from a
meeting with Prime Minister Lloyd
George. Premier Clemenceau and the
never said a word for hours afterward
to any one in his household. He was
mad clean through.
Checked By Sense OF Honor.
In the fourteen years that I have
oil ttyy
in his lecture room at Princeton, then
as q correspondent when he was Gov
ernor of New Jersey and candidate for
! President, and later in writing about
his doings at the White House or his
travels across country, it has seemed
to me that from time to time Mr.. Will
son introduced sense Of humor into
his system and checked his temper.
Things that should have provoked him
were brushed aside, and it was only
rarely that he seemed to get out Of
sorts. But little by little. as the cares
gan to weigh heavily upon him. Mr..
Wilson allowed his passions to get
the better of him.
Frequently he showed to the corre-
spondents assembled before him GER
tain impatience and at times real
anger. He didn't like to be questioned
closely or catechised about matters
that were agitating the country.
Particularly did he seem to allow q
fierce gleam to enter his face as any
body suggested that perhaps there
might have been some inconsistency on
administration. He would tolerate no
criticism in the queries Of corre-
spondents.
His cabinet officers found the same
thing true. They didn't dare to tross
him. He didn't like it, Secretary Gar
rison tried to do it and soon found him.
self out of the cabinet
No. Mr.. Wilson's idea of government
by cabinet is that a cabinet officer is
merely general counsel or adviser
subject to the authority and instruction
of the President, and as such necessa-
mand.
Mr. Bryan's Resignatfon.
When Mr. Bryan resigned. the Pres
ident. who had been writing notes to
Germany and handling foreign affairs,
made no secret of the fact that he
wanted a counselor and not a Secre-
tary of State, and Mr.. Lansing had no
doubts about the position in which he
would be placed by taking the Office
The President has from time to time
shown a disposition to regard cabinet
meetings as superduous. Time and
again. however. when newspapers
would print stories saying he didn't
think cabinet meetings were neces-
sary. he would issue vehement denials
through administration officials, but
there is no question in my mind that
Mr.. Wilson's conception of cabinet
government is decidedly different
from that held by some of his pred
eceSsors.
He feels that cabinet officers are ad-
visers and subordinates who are to
give advice when asked for it and
to take orders and carry them out
according to the wishes of their chief
The war has unquestionably had
spirits. little things provoke him.
For instance, on the boat going over
to France he took considerable offense
because the George Washington car
State Department stafr. He held Sec
retary Lansing responsible for this
and fretted the first two days out at
sea and wouldn't receive the Secre-
tary of State. simply because his in
about keeping the number
on the boat down to a minimum evil !
IDENTIFY had not been carried out. !
Just why Mr.. Wilson wanted the |
whole boat to himself. people couldn't |
understand, nor was it comprehensi- |
BILE why the President allowed only a
handful Of people to accompany him |
on the return journey and left lots Of |
space in the vessel which it had been |
thought would be occupied by return
ing troops, but the boat was only half |
filled when it started from Brest, and |
the only explanation which anybody |
could deduce from the strange de-
meanor Of the President was that he |
wanted to be all alone and didn't want |
to be annoyed.
WelgAeA Down By Burdens.
Instances. trivial, indeed. could be
cited to show that the President was
weighed down by Official burdens to
an extent that the public has little
known, and that gradually he has de-
veloped an irritabiltty which has not
been known except to the inner circle.
Twice on the western trip. which he
took Immediately after his return
from Europe, the President showed
his temper. In St. Louis. just as he
was about to begin his speech at
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