"Brother Woodrow": A Memoir of Woodrow Wilson by Stockton Axson (Papers of Woodrow Wilson, Supplementary Volumes, 7) - Hardcover

9780691032559: "Brother Woodrow": A Memoir of Woodrow Wilson by Stockton Axson (Papers of Woodrow Wilson, Supplementary Volumes, 7)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691032556 ISBN 13: 9780691032559

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1993

This memoir of Woodrow Wilson is a long-neglected treasure, full of the candid and perceptive observations of Wilson's brother-in-law and close friend, Stockton Axson. A charming and talented scholar of English literature, Axson became one of the few people in whom the reticent Wilson confided freely. Axson and Wilson met in 1884, when Wilson was courting Axson's sister Ellen, while Axson was still a school boy. The friendship of the two men ended only with the president's death in 1924. Axson's fondness for his mentor, "Brother Woodrow," pervades this account, but he is frank in his analysis of Wilson's flaws. As one of only a few personal memoirs of Wilson, this book offers a uniquely intimate view of the "human side" of the introverted president--and a sensitive evocation of the social life of a bygone era.

Axson begins with memories of Wilson's father and of Wilson's life as a young man, including his engagement and marriage to Ellen Axson and his early teaching posts. Wilson taught for twelve years at Princeton University before his accession to its presidency, and Axson also taught there during this period. After Wilson began his stormy career as president of Princeton, Axson's bachelor quarters were often a meeting place for the "Wilson faction." His lucid analysis of Wilson's successes and failures as Princeton's president is one of the highlights of the book--and probably the best record of these years of Wilson's life.

The book ends with a look behind the scenes of Wilson's career as governor of New Jersey and president of the United States, and an analysis of the growing complexity of his personality. "It is Uncle Joseph [Wilson's father] in him," observed one relative of Wilson's seeming rigidity. From the standpoint of a loving family member, Axson offers a penetrating but sympathetic report on how Wilson changed as he bore the terrible burdens of World War I and its aftermath.

Originally published in 1993.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Personal memoir of Woodrow Wilson by his brother-in-law, edited by Link (American History/Princeton). Axson (younger brother of Wilson's wife-to-be, Ellen) met the future President in 1884, when Axson was still a youth, unsure of himself but thoughtful and observant--for instance, in his portrait of his sister, who emerges here as gifted and selfless (she gave up art and learned German in order to assist Wilson in his research), absolutely committed to the success of her husband and privy to all his secrets. As an adult, Axson taught English literature at Princeton and experienced Wilson's magnetism, power, tenacity, and emerging political gifts when Wilson, as Princeton's president, proposed to refocus the elite school as a democratic institution. Axson details the hive of rumors, dirty tricks, and moneyed manipulation that ensued as students, faculty, and trustees split over the vast reforms Wilson proposed (``They are fighting me on the basis of their privilege, and privilege never yields,'' he quotes Wilson as saying). Axson presents the paradox at the center of Wilson very clearly--the sense of incorruptible virtue fused with a tough, undoubting use of available tools and power. The author was privy to fewer firsthand observations during the presidency, these touched upon here mostly in terms of Wilson's opinions of this man or that (we learn, for example, that Wilson didn't take Teddy Roosevelt very seriously). Revealing of the idealism, energy, and talents--as well as of the preoccupied and cold personality--that carried Wilson to a dominant presidency. (Thirty halftones--not seen) -- Copyright �1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal:

In this supplementary volume to the Papers of Woodrow Wilson , Link edits the personal notes and papers left by Wilson's brother-in-law, Stockton Axson. Warm, but not completely uncritical, Axson's observations are pithy and even interesting. They help clarify the forces that shaped Wilson's views and character. By Wilson's own admission, his father was his greatest teacher while his wife, Ellen Axson, added polish by teaching him art and literature. Link provides corrections of facts and standardized spelling and grammar, and the cumbersome early 20th-century language has been improved by editing. Recommended for academic libraries.
- Harry Willems, Tabor Coll. , Hillsboro, Kan.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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