Untold Power
The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson
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Narrated by:
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Saskia Maarleveld
About this listen
A nuanced portrait of the first acting woman president, written with fresh and cinematic verve by a leading historian on women’s suffrage and power
While this nation has yet to elect its first woman president—and though history has downplayed her role—just over a century ago a woman became the nation’s first acting president. In fact, she was born in 1872, and her name was Edith Bolling Galt Wilson. She climbed her way out of Appalachian poverty and into the highest echelons of American power and in 1919 effectively acted as the first woman president of the U.S. (before women could even vote nationwide) when her husband, Woodrow Wilson, was incapacitated. Beautiful, brilliant, charismatic, catty, and calculating, she was a complicated figure whose personal quest for influence reshaped the position of First Lady into one of political prominence forever. And still nobody truly understands who she was.
For the first time, we have a biography that takes an unflinching look at the woman whose ascent mirrors that of many powerful American women before and since, one full of the compromises and complicities women have undertaken throughout time in order to find security for themselves and make their mark on history. She was a shape-shifter who was obsessed with crafting her own reputation, at once deeply invested in exercising her own power while also opposing women’s suffrage. With narrative verve and fresh eyes, Untold Power is a richly overdue examination of one of American history’s most influential, complicated women as well as the surprising and often absurd realities of American politics.
©2023 Rebecca Boggs Roberts (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Quite simply a compelling yarn… Roberts’s storytelling soars as she leads the reader through Edith’s machinations to hide her husband’s disabilities while maintaining his White House’s functions.” —Washington Post
"[A] fast-moving, sure-footed biography...“Untold Power” is a delightful read" —Wall Street Journal
"Untold Power is not a hagiography of Edith Wilson...[Roberts] uses Wilson’s story not as an easy sell for the Women’s History Month marketplace, but as a way to examine...entrenched power systems and to shade in a chapter of US history that set in motion the feminist cause" —The Guardian
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In this entertaining and eye-opening book, Eleanor Herman revisits some of the sex scandals that have rocked the nation's capital and shocked the public, while asking the provocative questions: does rampant adultery show a lack of character or the stamina needed to run the country? Or perhaps both? While Americans have judged their leaders' affairs harshly compared to other nations, did they mostly just hate being lied to? And do they now clearly care more about issues other than a politician’s sex life?
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lots of speculation no facts
- By John Pyle on 11-30-20
By: Eleanor Herman
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First Ladies
- The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump
- By: Betty Boyd Caroli
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 20 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies is an essential resource for anyone interested in the role of America's First Ladies. Caroli observes the role as it has shifted and evolved from ceremonial backdrop to substantive world figure. This expanded and updated fifth edition presents Caroli's keen political analysis and astute observations of recent developments, including Melania Trump's reluctance to take on the mantle and former First Lady Hilary Clinton's recent run for president. Caroli here contributes a new preface and updated chapters.
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Thorough
- By Kindle Customer on 10-11-20
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The Kennedys
- An American Drama
- By: Peter Collier, David Horowitz
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 20 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Who are the Kennedys? Are they the brilliant, heroic, extraordinary people their admirers believe them to be? Or are they arrogant, competitive, self-absorbed children of a willful and immensely rich patriarch, as their detractors claim? In fact, they are all of these things, and more.
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Well-written (and narrated) Kennedy history.
- By SBG on 09-17-19
By: Peter Collier, and others
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Franklin and Lucy
- President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life
- By: Joseph E. Persico
- Narrated by: Ted Barker
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the 20th century. While FDR's official circle was predominantly male, it was his relationships with women - particularly with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd - that most vividly bring to light the human being beneath this towering statesman.
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Franklin and Lucy
- By Connie's on 03-06-09
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All the Great Prizes
- The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt
- By: John Taliaferro
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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If Henry James or Edith Wharton had written a novel describing the accomplished and glamorous life and times of John Hay, it would have been thought implausible - a novelist’s fancy. Nevertheless, John Taliaferro’s brilliant biography captures the extraordinary life of Hay, one of the most amazing figures in American history, and restores him to his rightful place. John Hay was both witness and author of many of the most significant chapters in American history - from the birth of the Republican Party, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War, to the prelude to the First World War.
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Almost a Five Star
- By Lulu on 12-22-14
By: John Taliaferro
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America's Queen
- The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
- By: Sarah Bradford
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
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Using remarkable new sources, Sarah Bradford has written a timely celebration of a life that was more private than commonly supposed. Revealing new testimony from many of the couple's friends shows the complexities of this apparently very public relationship and of her controversial marriage to Aristotle Onassis. Here is the private Jackie - neglected wife, vigilant mother, and working widow - whose contradictory and fascinating nature is illuminated by all that Bradford has discovered.
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American Royalty
- By Kindle Customer on 06-10-16
By: Sarah Bradford
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Lady Bird
- A Biography of Mrs. Johnson
- By: Jan Jarboe Russell
- Narrated by: Andrea Gallo
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
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A revealing biography of Lady Bird Johnson with startling new insights into her marriage to Lyndon Baines Johnson and her unexpectedly strong impact on his presidency. Long obscured by her husband's shadow, Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson emerges in this first comprehensive biography as a figure of surprising influence and the centering force for LBJ, a man who suffered from extreme mood swings and desperately needed someone to help control his darker impulses.
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Do not waste an audible credit
- By Sandra B. on 10-15-23
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Team of Five
- The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump
- By: Kate Andersen Brower
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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From the number one New York Times best-selling author of The Residence and First Women - also a New York Times best seller - comes a poignant, news-making look at the lives of the five former presidents in the wake of their White House years, including the surprising friendships they have formed through shared perspective and empathy.
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Fascinating
- By Jean on 06-18-20
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George VI and Elizabeth
- The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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A revelatory account of how the loving marriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy during World War II, and how they raised their daughter to become Queen Elizabeth II, based on exclusive access to the Royal Archives—from the bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen and Prince Charles.
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Great telling of their lives
- By Nancy on 04-15-23
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Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister
- Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China
- By: Jung Chang
- Narrated by: Catherine Ho
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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They were the most famous sisters in China. As the country battled through 100 years of wars, revolutions, and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the center of power, and each of them left an indelible mark on history. All three sisters enjoyed tremendous privilege and glory, but also endured constant mortal danger. They showed great courage and experienced passionate love, as well as despair and heartbreak.
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Fascinating reading
- By David L. Jones on 03-26-20
By: Jung Chang
What listeners say about Untold Power
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- cg
- 09-16-23
Daughter of Cokie and Steve knocks it outta the park
I learned so much about yet another First Lady Rebecca’s mom wrote another book about First Ladies I am so thrilled to add this to my bank of presidential knowledge yeah Rebecca following her vaunted family legacy.
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- Always curious
- 06-10-23
An intimate story worth telling
An excellent book revealing the love Edith had for Woodrow for her entire life, her inter strength, and her defining role in history. The narration is excellent.
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- mporter
- 04-05-23
Well done!
I love First Lady stories and this one did not disappoint! It’s so well written and well narrated. I did not know anything about Edith Wilson or the dichotomy of the person she was. Highly recommend!
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- Bird Miller
- 04-15-23
Intimate view of a president and his wife
This book held all the intricacies of a relationship of one of our past Presidents with his wife. Some was good and some was not. The story does not hold back on telling an honest yet respectful story and painting a clear picture of this early twentieth century power couple. Warts and all. Wilson was president during WWI and during the Spanish flu epidemic, before radio! This is a real inside glimpse into his life and that of his fiercely devoted wife, Edith. Narration completely appropriate and did not detract from the story.
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- L. Berendson
- 05-25-23
Excellent!
I did not know anything about this first lady and she was basically president while her husband was sick and she was amazing!
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- Charlie Ortiz
- 03-28-23
great audible’. As I listened to this audible unfold I felt like I was present within historic event taking place,
The audible untold power is a must listen in this day age to show people hat woman can do the impossible when when the chips are down; and Edith Galt, Stood and did her duty as the wife
Of he sick husband President Wilson, when he suffered a massive stroke during his presidency, This brave First Lady, stood by her husband, and helped her incapacitated and ill husband to run the county, until his term of office was done.
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- Charles
- 07-26-23
President Wilson’s racism
His wife was the acting president for a long time. I like how the author was able to show in historical context that his racism was common at that time. She discusses his most appalling behavior of demoting black government executives to janitors and bathrooms in the basement. She makes only one political jab at the next president. I would have liked a discussion on why she thought the absurdly progressive income tax was initiated during World War I and prolonged after the war versus more money borrowing for the war.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kay
- 01-04-24
Interesting
Interesting - I didn't know much about Edith Wilson so what was included in this book was interesting to me. It seemed well researched & written. Narrator did a good job for a non-fiction title.
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- Nicole Gergen
- 04-19-23
Glad I read it
I didn’t really resonate with Mrs Wilson’s life or ideas, but I thought that Boggs Roberts work as a historian was superb. Some of the press about this book and the character of Mrs Wilson was quite misleading. In the end, I found her main attributes were her controlling and petty nature ( not a drive to engage in policy, diplomacy, or influence international affairs as you might have expected after hearing the author interviewed on NPR).
I wish more time was spend on WWI. I also wish there had been some acknowledgement of the Spanish flu and then later how Edith was affected by the Great Depression. Perhaps the historical record didn’t give the author much to go on here.
Nonetheless it was a fascinating portrait of a powerful woman in an era quite different than our own.
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- Heidi
- 08-01-24
Readers voice lacked Edith’s strength
The reader was too soft and had a near whisper in her voice that made Edith Wilson’s story of a strong minded and devoted wife seem delicate and submissive. It was hard to feel the strength Edith must have had to carry on as caregiver and advisor with this readers soft and breathy voice.
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1 person found this helpful