Please note that the following is a digitized version of a selected article from White House History Quarterly, Issue 51, originally released in print form in 2018. Single print copies of the full issue can be purchased online at Shop.WhiteHouseHistory.org No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All photographs contained in this journal unless otherwise noted are copyrighted by the White House Historical Association and may not be reproduced without permission. Requests for reprint permissions should be directed to rights@whha.org. Contact books@whha.org for more information. Š 2018 White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions.
WHITE HOUSE HISTORY Quarterly
Veterans Day, the White House, and the Centennial of the End of World War I The Journal of T H E W H I T E H O U S E H I S T O R I C A L A S S O C I A T I O N Number 51
CONTRIBUTORS
the white house historical association Board of Directors
chairman
michael beschloss is an American historian specializing in the U.S. presidency. He has been a longtime member of the White House Historical Association Board of Directors, and is the author of nine books, including the newly released Presidents of War.
Frederick J. Ryan Jr.
vice chairman and treasurer John F. W. Rogers
secretary James I. McDaniel
president Stewart D. McLaurin John T. Behrendt, Jean Case, Henry A. Dudley Jr., Cathy Gorn, Janet A. Howard, Knight Kiplinger, Martha Joynt Kumar, Anita McBride, Mike McCurry, Robert M. McGee, Roger B. Porter, Ann Stock, Ben C. Sutton Jr., Tina Tchen
t h o m as b o g h ar dt is a senior historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History. Prior to this post, he served as historian at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., and as a Thyssen Fellow at Georgetown University.
ex officio David S. Ferriero, Carla Hayden, Tom Mayes, Earl A. Powell III, David J. Skorton
directors emeriti
John H. Dalton, Nancy M. Folger, Elise K. Kirk, Harry G. Robinson III, Gail Berry West
white house history quarterly editor William Seale
j o h n m i lt o n c o o p e r is an American historian, author, and educator specializing in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American diplomatic history. He is professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
vice president of publishing and executive editor Marcia Mallet Anderson
editorial and production director Lauren McGwin
senior editorial and production manager Kristin Skinner
editorial and production manager Elyse Werling
jo nat h an g r o ss is editor of Thomas Jefferson’s Scrapbooks: Poems of Nation, Family, and Romantic Love. He is a professor in the Department of English at DePaul University.
editorial assistant Jeanine Marie
consulting editor Ann Hofstra Grogg
editorial advisory Mac Keith Griswold Scott Harris Anthony Pitch Lydia Barker Tederick
consulting design Pentagram
the editor wishes to thank The Office of the Curator, The White House; and the staff of the Woodrow Wilson House
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white house history quarterly
edwar d j. le n ge l is a former chief historian of the White House Historical Association. st eph en t. m os k e y is an independent scholar specializing in American cultural history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He is the author of Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age. ly d i a t e d e r i ck is curator in the Office of the Curator, The White House, where she has worked since 1979. She has lectured and published articles on the history of the White House and its fine and decorative arts collections, and she serves on the White House History Quarterly Editorial Advisory. elyse w er li n g is editorial and production manager at the White House Historical Association.
CONTENTS
Flags line veterans’ graves at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Foreword
The Pilgrim’s Passage: President Wilson’s Voyage to France on the USS George Washington, 1918
william seale
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s t e p h e n t. m o s k e y
Woodrow Wilson’s War: A Perilous Fight
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ed ward lengel
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The White House in the Great War: From Diplomacy to Remembrance
ly d i a t e d e r i c k
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November 11, 1918 to November 11, 2018 A Century of Honor and Remembrance
tho mas bo gh ard t
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The Espionage Scene in Washington: Collusion, Secrets, and Spies
elys e w er li ng
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Presidential Site Feature: Monticello, Montpelier, and Oak Hill
mich ael besch lo ss
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April 6, 1917: War Is Declared Against the German Empire: ALAMY
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Painted at the Paris Peace Conference: A Portrait of President Woodrow Wilson by William Orpen
jo hn milto n co o p er
jo nat h an g r o ss
Reflections: Declaring War s t ewart d. m claur i n
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FOREWORD
The GREAT WAR
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to France to attend the Peace Conference at Versailles; and Lydia Tederick presents a portrait of Wilson painted at Versailles. Elyse Werling collects images of veterans at the White House and presidential observations of Veterans Day and Jonathan Gross reflects on the Marquis de Lafayette’s “Leaving Calls” during his 1824–25 visit to America. We think less and less about World War I— the Great War—as a century has passed. Some of us remember the red paper poppies given out on Veterans Day, reminiscent of those that bloomed following the battles on Flanders Field, near what became the Belgian Cemetery at Tyne Cot where 368 American veterans are among 11,965 war dead who lie in peace amid rows of poppies.
william seale editor WHITE HOUSE HISTORY QUARTERLY
white house history quarterly
ISTOCK BY GETTY IMAGES
t h e c l o s e o f t h e f i r s t w o r l d wa r on November 11, 1918, ended the first great world war in our history and brought home from the battlefields of Europe more than 2 million veterans. America’s first world encounter had lasted 1 year, 7 months, and 5 days. It was the Americans’ late entry in 1917 that brought the fight that began in 1914 to a close and achieved a dubious peace—felt for the years to come. Twenty years later the Second World War would rise in part from the mistakes in settling the first. In such a time as a world war the White House claims full attention and a deep hold on Americans. The House of All, Wilson’s house, and, in this later case, seemingly near and yet far, in a war fought on foreign soil. In this issue of White House History Quarterly John Milton Cooper presents a cameo of Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth president; Edward Lengel writes about the war and its influences on the White House; Thomas Boghardt examines the Washington, D.C., espionage scene; Stephen T. Moskey describes President Wilson’s grand and colorful convoy
Poppies line rows of graves at Tyne Cot Cemetery near Passendale, West Flanders, Belgium.
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