Today we cats are thinking of another Southern President, whose death occurred just over 100 years ago.
After Woodrow Wilson died in February 1924, his widow Edith sent a handwritten message to Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts — the man who more than anyone else was responsible for ending Wilson's dream of America's entry into the League of Nations.
"My dear Sir," Edith's letter said, "I note in the papers that you have been designated by the Senate of the US as one of those to attend Mr. Wilson's funeral...realizing that your presence would be embarrassing to you and unwelcome to me I write to request that you do not attend. Yours truly, Edith Bolling Wilson."
Lodge wrote back immediately: "My dear Madam...You may rest assured that nothing could be more distasteful to me than to do anything which by any possibility could be embarrassing to you. I have the honor to be very truly yours, H.C. Lodge."
How nice it would be to write a version of Mrs. Wilson's letter to Donald Trump about Jimmy Carter's upcoming funeral, and sign it "America."
Of course, Benedict Donald wouldn't have the grace to elegantly bow out as Lodge did. A consoling fact is that President Carter died while Joe Biden was still in the White House, removing any opportunity for Trump to preside over anything. Because he'll be frustrated and jealous over the nation's (and the world's) many tributes to Carter, we fully expect Trump in three weeks to instantly reverse Biden's proclamation that all flags fly at half-staff for 30 days. We cats HISS.
(P.S. Here's a fun fact we didn't know before: Lodge died soon after Wilson did — in November 2024, of a stroke. As the saying goes, karma can be a bitch. We cats PURR.)
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