Joseph Patrick Tumulty
Tumulty in 1913
Secretary to the President
In office
March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921
PresidentWoodrow Wilson
Preceded byCarmi Thompson
Succeeded byGeorge B. Christian Jr.
Member of the
New Jersey General Assembly
from Hudson County
In office
1907–1910
Personal details
Born
Joseph Patrick Tumulty

(1879-05-05)May 5, 1879
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedApril 9, 1954(1954-04-09) (aged 74)
Olney, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeSt. Mary's Catholic Cemetery (in Rockville, Maryland)
Political partyDemocratic
ChildrenGrace
Catherine
Mary
Phillip
Joseph, Jr.
Alicia
EducationSaint Peter's College
Signature

Joseph Patrick Tumulty (pronounced TUM-ulty; May 5, 1879 – April 9, 1954) was an American attorney and politician from New Jersey, a leader of the Irish Catholic political community, and the private secretary of Woodrow Wilson from 1911 until 1921, during Wilson's service as both New Jersey governor and then as the nation's 28th president.[1]

Early life and education

Tumulty was born on May 5, 1879, in Jersey City, New Jersey, to middle-class Catholic parents Philip and Alicia (Feehan) Tumulty.[2][3] Tumulty graduated from Saint Bridget's School and then, in 1901, from Saint Peter's College, New Jersey in Jersey City.[2]

Career

New Jersey Assembly

Tumulty was active in Democratic state politics in New Jersey, and served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1907 to 1910.

As a state legislator, Tumulty acted as an adviser to Woodrow Wilson's 1910 New Jersey gubernatorial campaign, which Wilson won. After becoming New Jersey governor, Wilson appointed Tumulty his private secretary.

White House

From 1913 to 1921, when Wilson was President of the United States, Tumulty continued to serve Wilson as Secretary to the President.

During his time as Wilson's secretary, Tumulty filled many different roles, including press secretary, public relations manager, campaign organizer for the Catholic and Irish vote, and adviser for minor patronage appointments. His relationship with Wilson was nearly terminated over his opposition to Wilson's marriage in December 1915 to Edith Wilson only a few months after the death of his first wife. Although Wilson declined Tumulty's offer to resign, their relationship was never again as close.[4]

Following Wilson's reelection as president in 1916, the president yielded to anti-Catholic sentiment from Edith Wilson and Wilson's adviser Col. Edward M. House and dismissed Tumulty. Though he was ultimately reinstated after intervention by his former student David Lawrence, Tumulty's relationship with Edith Wilson remained frosty.

Wilson departed the White House in March 1921. Though his influence in Washington, D.C. greatly diminished, Tumulty remained in Washington, D.C. as a practicing attorney until his death 33 years later.[5]

Hiss Case involvement

Tumulty and Woodrow Wilson in 1918

In August–September 1948, Tumulty was one of many prominent lawyers who advised Alger Hiss on whether to file a defamation suit against Whittaker Chambers after Chambers stated on NBC Radio's Meet the Press that Hiss had been a Communist.[6]

On August 31, 1948, Hiss wrote to his lifelong friend and fellow Harvard University friend, William L. Marbury, Jr., an attorney:

I am planning a suit for libel or defamation... The number of volunteer helpers is considerable: Freddy Pride of Dwight, Harris, Koegel & Casking, the offshoot of young Charles Hughes' firm, Fred Eaton of Shearman and Sterling, Eddie Miller of Mr. Dulles' firm, Marshall McDuffie, now no longer a lawyer; in Washington Joe Tumulty, Charlie Fahy, Alex Hawes, John Ferguson (Mr. Ballantine's son-in-law) and others–but the real job is get general overall counsel and that fortunately is now settled, but we must move swiftly as so far the committee with its large investigating staff and considerable resources has been able to seize the initiative continuously and regularly. Everyone has been most helpful...[6]

Views

B&W photo of a family of 7
An October 20, 1919 newspaper headline showing Tumulty and his family in New Jersey, including (left to right): Miss Grace, Tumulty, Catherine Phillip, Mary Phillip, Joseph, Jr., Tumulty's wife, and Alicia

A "conservative progressive" in his own words, Tumulty was a proponent of women's suffrage and World War I-era censorship. He supported A. Mitchell Palmer's deportation of communist aliens in 1919. Wilson's absence from active-day-to-day executive leadership in 1919-1920 during the negotiations at Versailles, and his later stroke and illness meant that a significant share of the work of the White House had to be completed by Tumulty and Edith Wilson, who continued to lobby against Tumulty. Tumulty's support of Palmer and of U.S. presidential candidate James M. Cox ultimately led to his final break with Wilson.

In his approach to politics, Tumulty was a believer in the power of the state to tackle inequities in American society. In June 1919, for instance, Tumulty recommended to Wilson that he call on Congress to adopt reforms that met the needs of working people, including establishing a federal employment agency, federal housing, old-age pensions, a federal minimum wage,[7] equal pay, a profit-sharing plan, and health insurance.[8] Wilson failed, however, to encourage Congress to enact the measures Tumulty recommended, although nearly all of his proposals would eventually be realized under the New Deal program of future U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Memoir

Tumulty published a memoir, Woodrow Wilson As I Know Him, published in 1921. The book enraged Wilson, however, who made it known that his former private secretary would never again be admitted into his presence or inner circle.

Death

Tumulty died on April 9, 1954, in Olney, Maryland.[1] He is interred in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland.

References

  1. 1 2 "Joseph Tumulty Dies At Age Of 75. Wilson's Secretary 10 Years Was President's Sounding Board, Political Adviser. Legislator In Jersey. Democrat Who Fought Reign Of Hudson County Bosses Practiced Law In Capital". The New York Times. April 9, 1954. p. 23.
  2. 1 2 Sackett, William (1919). Scannell's New Jersey's first citizens and state guide. J.J. Scannell. pp. 454–455. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  3. ↑ Bennett, David J. (2007). He Almost Changed the World: The Life and Times of Thomas Riley Marshall. AuthorHouse. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-4259-6562-4.
  4. ↑ quod.lib.umich.edu
  5. ↑ "Wilson-Tumulty Breach Widened By Repudiation of 'Message'". The Pittsburgh Press. April 14, 1922. p. 6. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  6. 1 2 Hiss, Alger (August 31, 1948). "(Letter to William Marbury)". Maryland Historical Society. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  7. ↑ Grant, James (November 11, 2014). The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash That Cured Itself. Simon and Schuster. p. 61. ISBN 9781451686463. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  8. ↑ Saunders, Robert M. (1998). In Search of Woodrow Wilson: Beliefs and Behavior. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 205. ISBN 9780313305207. Retrieved February 20, 2018.

Further reading

  • Blum, John Morton. Joe Tumulty and the Wilson Era (1951).
  • Startt, James D. Woodrow Wilson, the Great War, and the Fourth Estate (Texas A&M UP, 2017) 420 pp.
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