WILSON, Woodrow, President . Typed letter signed ("Woodrow Wilson") to "The Honorable THE CHIEF JUSTICE of the Supreme Court" (Mahlon Pitney), Washington, D.C., 2 March 1917. 1 page, 4to, on White House stationery. Very bold signature, with flourish. FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, WILSON ASKS THE CHIEF JUSTICE TO ADMINISTER THE OATH OF OFFICE "My dear Mr. Chief Justice: I hope that it will be possible for you without personal inconvenience to administer the oath of office to me in the President's Room at the Capitol on Sunday next at noon. I am taking it for granted that I shall be there attending to the necessary last signature, etc., of the session [of Congress], and I would be very much complimented if you could yourself be there and do me this service." Wilson narrowly won a second term as President with the slogan, "he kept us out of war," but by the time of his inauguration, three days after this letter, it looked increasingly unlikely that the U.S. could maintain its cherished neutrality from the terrible European conflict. Germany had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in January. Shortly after Wilson's inauguration, a sensation was created by publication of the intercepted Zimmerman telegram. Sent from the German foreign minister to Germany's minister in Mexico, it promised that Mexico would regain Texas, Arizona and New Mexico in the event Germany and America went to war. With deep reluctance, Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress on April 2, to request a declaration of war, vowing that "the world must be made safe for democracy." Only one other letter of a President arranging to take the oath of office has been sold in the last two decades. That letter, from Thomas Jefferson to the President pro tempore of the Senate, was sold at Christie's, (May 1991, lot 210, $145,000) and is presently in a noted private collection.
WILSON, Woodrow, President . Typed letter signed ("Woodrow Wilson") to "The Honorable THE CHIEF JUSTICE of the Supreme Court" (Mahlon Pitney), Washington, D.C., 2 March 1917. 1 page, 4to, on White House stationery. Very bold signature, with flourish. FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, WILSON ASKS THE CHIEF JUSTICE TO ADMINISTER THE OATH OF OFFICE "My dear Mr. Chief Justice: I hope that it will be possible for you without personal inconvenience to administer the oath of office to me in the President's Room at the Capitol on Sunday next at noon. I am taking it for granted that I shall be there attending to the necessary last signature, etc., of the session [of Congress], and I would be very much complimented if you could yourself be there and do me this service." Wilson narrowly won a second term as President with the slogan, "he kept us out of war," but by the time of his inauguration, three days after this letter, it looked increasingly unlikely that the U.S. could maintain its cherished neutrality from the terrible European conflict. Germany had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in January. Shortly after Wilson's inauguration, a sensation was created by publication of the intercepted Zimmerman telegram. Sent from the German foreign minister to Germany's minister in Mexico, it promised that Mexico would regain Texas, Arizona and New Mexico in the event Germany and America went to war. With deep reluctance, Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress on April 2, to request a declaration of war, vowing that "the world must be made safe for democracy." Only one other letter of a President arranging to take the oath of office has been sold in the last two decades. That letter, from Thomas Jefferson to the President pro tempore of the Senate, was sold at Christie's, (May 1991, lot 210, $145,000) and is presently in a noted private collection.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
