Walter Hines Page to Woodrow Wilson
Title
Walter Hines Page to Woodrow Wilson
Creator
Page, Walter Hines, 1855-1918
Identifier
WWP25535
Date
1918 November 23
Description
Ambassador Page lets President Wilson know that he is doing well in the hospital.
Source
Library of Congress, Woodrow Wilson Papers
Publisher
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum
Subject
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924--Correspondence
Contributor
Anna Phillips
Relation
WWP25536
Language
English
Provenance
Document scan was taken from Library of Congress microfilm reel of the Wilson Papers. WWPL volunteers transcribed the text.
Text
St Luke’s Hospital, New York
Dear Mr. President:
The doctors continue to delay their permission for me to travel further, and (I fear) the chance lessens of my having the pleasure to see you and to report to you before you go - on the most momentous journey a man ever took! My formal resignation therefore, is due - or past due, and I have sent it to Mr. Lansing.
I never wrote anything, my dear Mr. President, with such regret. What wd I not give to be in England when you are there! But my regret is the measure also of my profound appreciation of your giving me the most interesting and (I hope also by far) the most useful experience of my life, an experience that I hope to turn to good use, and to your credit) as long as I live. - You will find the heart of England most grateful to us; and the admiration of your extraordinary management of the world’s most extraordinary events - beyond bounds. It would be the greatest joy of my life to see them receive you. You have set the moral standard for the world to become a new world.
Great as my disappointment is in the detention here, I am assured that my illness is going well; my detention comes from minor causes. All my great doctors, English, Scotch, and American, assure me of a complete recovery within a reasonable period; and I am now undoubtedly making good progress in that slow process.
How gracious you and Mrs. Wilson were to have had sent to me the other day the beautiful box of roses that still brighten and perfume my prison here! So to be thought of is the happiest experience any prisoner could have.
I am, my dear Mr. President, for your confidence and kindness, always most gratefully yours,
Walter H. Page
This is the first time I have held a pen since I wrote to you - perhaps 3 months ago. ---
To the President
Dear Mr. President:
The doctors continue to delay their permission for me to travel further, and (I fear) the chance lessens of my having the pleasure to see you and to report to you before you go - on the most momentous journey a man ever took! My formal resignation therefore, is due - or past due, and I have sent it to Mr. Lansing.
I never wrote anything, my dear Mr. President, with such regret. What wd I not give to be in England when you are there! But my regret is the measure also of my profound appreciation of your giving me the most interesting and (I hope also by far) the most useful experience of my life, an experience that I hope to turn to good use, and to your credit) as long as I live. - You will find the heart of England most grateful to us; and the admiration of your extraordinary management of the world’s most extraordinary events - beyond bounds. It would be the greatest joy of my life to see them receive you. You have set the moral standard for the world to become a new world.
Great as my disappointment is in the detention here, I am assured that my illness is going well; my detention comes from minor causes. All my great doctors, English, Scotch, and American, assure me of a complete recovery within a reasonable period; and I am now undoubtedly making good progress in that slow process.
How gracious you and Mrs. Wilson were to have had sent to me the other day the beautiful box of roses that still brighten and perfume my prison here! So to be thought of is the happiest experience any prisoner could have.
I am, my dear Mr. President, for your confidence and kindness, always most gratefully yours,
Walter H. Page
This is the first time I have held a pen since I wrote to you - perhaps 3 months ago. ---
To the President
Original Format
Letter
To
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
Files
Collection
Citation
Page, Walter Hines, 1855-1918, “Walter Hines Page to Woodrow Wilson,” 1918 November 23, WWP25535, World War I Letters, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.