The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-03-23

Stockton Arson, her brother, de-
clares that Ellen Arson Wilson,
asked her husband to promise her
that as he went into politics he
would try to avoid actual personal
conflicts with men, conflicts of
the kind that had come with Dean
West and that were Threatening
with Doctor Hibben. They had
seen, during the decade, friends
grow cold, then bitter. They had
seen associations Of a lifetime
wither and break. And it all dis
turbed Ellen Arson because she
knew that it panied her husband.
: He was at heart sensitive, easily
wounded, and his scars never cali
loused. Mr.. Arson feels. and prob.
ably there is justification for his
feeling, that this promise which
Woodrow Wilson gave Ellen Arson
there in Princeton In 1910 accounts
for the fact that many times dur
ing the dozen years that stretched
before him, Woodrow Wilson broke
friendly relations. sometimes with
out explanation, where he felt that
he could not hold them without n
quarrel. Possibly he m.strusted
his temper.
An AvOWed Liberal.
After the Presidential campaign
of 1912. Wilson was an avowed
liberal--a progressive Democrat.
He was bidding for the strength of
the progressive faction in his
party, even as Roosevelt was lead
!. ing a similar faction in tho Re-
publican party. The legislative
measures which Wilson forced
through the New Jeresy legis-
lature, almost by sheer power of
his will, and the prestige of his
national leadership, were counted
radical in their day. A few OF
them d.d not stand up under the
test of time, but they were in the
main just. measures as were COM
mon in the more progressive States
of the Union.
1T was in those days that he be-
came the conscious militant liberal.
No man could hold in his heart
for a dozen years the ambition to
be President as woodrow Wilson
held it, and not respond definitely
to that ambition when realization
kept coming nearer and surer as
it came to him in 1911 and the
early part of 1912. He would be
more than human if his ambition
did not urge him, guide him en-
holden him in all that he did.
It was in those hours that Ellen
Axson's fear struggled with her
pride. She knew how frail his
body was. She understood how
deeply he aspired to high service.
She shared his ambitions and de.
sired him to be power for good
in the world.
His Profound Reserve.
No one could question but that
these two walked humbly, even
trembling before the things that
were ahead. His eagerness to
grasp the prize sometimes was
checked by a profound reserve
the reserve of one awed In the
presence Of his responsibility; yet
at other times half unconsciously
he reached for the prize greedlly.
His was a complicated and con-
Trajectory personality. For In MS
own soul he had a dual nature
and added to the puzzle was ESien
Arson. strong, serious woman
his counselor, his friend, ana MS
spiritual partner.
II the Woodrows were coming
OUT OI live BClICLabACAAS
Talvinistic ministry and intruding
into this life, dethroning the
Celtic dreamer, also close in his
life and heart was all that Ellen
Arson had planted there, her IN
heritance from a long line OF
Calyinists and Puritans. NO
wonder the man baffled his init
mates and often was cast as
"a
are mixed in all of us.
In every mans decisive mo-
ments come conflicting forces in
his life. But in those days,
when Woodrow Wilson went for.
ward to meet the call of his blood
and inheritance, he did walk as
straight a course as it is given
to stumbling mortals to follow.
The things he sought were high
things. Even then the faith
that made him world leader
was the impulse that led him on.
"Forward-LOOking Men,"
Three words out of his in
augural address in the following
wear remain embedded in our
thinking, "Forward-looking men,"
The rest was not important; a
liberal message, but not key
note. He failed to make The
welkin ring: he never rang it,
perhaps never could ring 1t;
never could produce startling
dramatic effects.
He undramatiZed many things,
nearly everything he touched.
Lust as Roosevelt, in opposition.
could dramatize himself as a hero
buying a newspaper or eating a
casual peanut by the way, so
Wilson, by falling from balloon,
would manage somehow to dis
tract common interest from his
I: fall, and then light automatically.
He felt intensely enough al
ways but muffled his Impressions
in their expression. 1t was Ellen
Arson, however, upon whom the
impact of duties and obligations
at the White House fell heavily.
: Her serious soul was racked by
Z thousand cares, a thousand breads,
a thousand duties, that came pro-
cessioning through her life.
The White House is no place