Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-05-27
Woodrow Wilson
AS | KNOW HIM
BY JOSEPH P. TUMULTY.

thoroughly honest. ct have no
fault to find, Tumulty, with the
men who disagree with me, and
I ought not to penalize them when
they give expression to what they
believe are honest opinions"
I have never seen him manifest
any bitterness or resentmc. toward
even his bitterest, most implacable
enemies. Even toward William Ran
dolph Hearst, whose papers through
out the country have been his I'M
relenting foes, he never gave ex-
preston to any i'll feeling or cha
grin at the unfair attacks that
were made upon him. remember
a little incident that shows the trend
of his feelings in this regard, that
occurred when we were discussing
the critical Mexican situation. AT
this time the Hearst papers were
engaged in sensational propaganda
in behalf Of Intervention in Mexico.
The president said to me, "I heard
of a delightful remark that that
fine old lady, Mrs. Phoebe Hearst,
made with reference to what she
called her big boy Willie" "You
know" he continued, Mrs. Hearst
does not favor intervention in Next
co, and it was reported to me that
she chided her son for his flaming
headlines urging intervention, and
told him that unless he behaved
better she would have to take him
over her knee and spank him."
An Unusual Modesty
The president has one great failing,
inherent in the very character of
the man himself, and this is his in
born, innate modesty-his unwilling
ness to dramatic the part he played
in the great events Of the war, so
that the plain people Of the country
could see him and better understand
him. There is no man living today
who has a greater power of personal
appeal or who is greater master in
the art of presenting ideals, facts and
81 guments than Woodrow Wilson.
AS his secretary for nearly eleven
years, I was often vexed because
he did not, to use a newspaper
phrase, play up" better, but he was
always averse to doing anything
that seemed artificially contrived to
win applause. Under my own eyes,
seated in the White House offices, 1
have witnessed many great story
walk in and out, but the president
always admonished us that such
things must not be pictured or CAPT
talized in any way for political pur
poses; and thus every attempt we
made to dramatic him, as Colonel
N f~,;z 1t.
up, was Immediately placed under
the president embargo.
His unwillingness to allow us in
the White House to "play him up"
as the leading actor in this or that
movement was illustrated in the fol
lowing way: On July 1, 1919, a cable
reached the White House from his
Holiness Pope Benedict, expressing
the appreciation of his holiness for
the magnificent way in which the
president had presented to the peace
conference the demands of the Cath
Ollie church regarding Catholic mis-
sions, and conveying to the president
his thanks for. the manner in which
the president had supported those
demands. The cable came at time
when certain leaders of my own
church, the Roman Catholic, were
criticizing and opposing the president
for what they thought was his anti
Catholic attitude. 1 tried to induce
from the pope and the presidents
reply are as follows:
Rome, the Vatican,
July 1, 1919
To His Excellency,
Doctor Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States.
Excellency:
Monsignor GARRETT, upon his
return from Paris, fastened to
inform us with what spirit Of
moderation your excellency ex-
amined the demands regarding
the Catholic missions which we
presented to the peace confer
ence, and with what zeal your
excellency subsequently support
ed these demands. We desire to
express to you our sincere graft
tude and at the same time we
urge your eXcellency to be good
enough to employ your great in
fluence, also in order to prevent
the action, which, according OF
the peace treaty with Germany,
it is desired to bring against the
Kaiser and the highly-placed Ger
man commanders. This action
could only render more bitter ma
tional hatred and postpone for
long time that pacification Of
souls for which all nations long.
furthermore, this trial, if the
rules of justice are to be observ-
ed, would meet insurmountab1e
difficulties, as may be seen from
the attached article from the
Osservatore Romano, which deals
exclusively with the trial of the
kaiser, the newspaper reserving
the right to treat in another ar
ticle the question of the trial Of
the generals.
It pleases us to take advantage
of this new occasion to renew
to your excellency the wishes
which we entertain for your
prosperity and that Of your fam f
III e.