1926.02.04 “The Chief Joins his Legions”
by Carey Cassius Orr (1890-1967)
11 x 9 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection
Orr was a newspaper cartoonist originally from Ada, Ohio. He studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, while also being a semi-professional baseball pitcher. He began his newspaper career with the Chicago Examiner before becoming a fulltime editorial cartoonist with the Nashville Tennessean at age 24. He began his longtime association with the Chicago Tribune in 1917 and stayed with the paper for 46 years. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his editorial cartoons in 1961.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only Democrat to serve as president during the Progressive Era when Republicans dominated the presidency and legislative branches. As president, Wilson changed the nation's economic policies and led the United States into WW1. He was the leading architect of the League of Nations, and his stance on foreign policy came to be known as Wilsonianism.
Wilson had a history of health issues. And on October 2, 1919, Wilson suffered a serious stroke, leaving him paralyzed on his left side, and with only partial vision in the right eye. He was confined to bed for weeks and sequestered from everyone except his wife and his physician. Anxious to help the president recover, his private secretary, physician, and the First Lady determined what documents the president read and who was allowed to communicate with him. For her influence in the administration, some have described Edith Wilson as "the first female President of the United States." By November 1919, historian Arthur Link says Wilson's "recovery was only partial at best. His mind remained relatively clear; but he was physically enfeebled, and the disease had wrecked his emotional constitution and aggravated all his more unfortunate personal traits.” By February 1920, the president's true condition was publicly known. Many expressed qualms about Wilson's fitness for the presidency at a time when the League fight was reaching a climax. No one close to Wilson was willing to certify, as required by the Constitution, his "inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office."
