Wilson Casts Ballot at Princeton
Title
Wilson Casts Ballot at Princeton
Creator
Annin, Joseph P.
Identifier
WWP20765
Date
1913 September 24
Description
President Woodrow Wilson travels to Princeton, N.J., to vote and then tours the University.
Source
Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia
Language
English
Text
Woodrow Wilson roamed again among the scenes of his early victories yesterday. He paid his first visit to Princeton since his inauguration as President of the United States. Incidentally, and this was the excuse for his visit, he cast ballot No. 26 in the Democratic primaries, voting for Acting Governor Fielder for the nomination.
Weeks of planning probably could not have produced a more quiet reception or a less ostentatious visit than that in which President Wilson figured yesterday. And it is extremely doubtful if any plans could have given the President greater pleasure or a more expansive feeling of freedom than those he provided for himself, without consultation with any one.
Woodrow Wilson, fresh from one great legislative struggle and with a greater one impending in the Senate, threw aside the cares of state as his close friends have not seen him do since he entered the White House.
Takes Party on Tour.
He led his small party, comprising his personal physician, Dr. Cary Grayson; his brother-in-law, Prof. Stockton Axson, and one or two close Princeton friends, on a sentimental journey that was a pleasure to watch.
He shook hands gladly with those of his friends who reached him, and waved and nodded gayly to less fortunate ones. And when the spirit moved him, he called out to other friends who failed to notice the President of the United States in the quiet group of sightseers.
The President carried five votes into Jersey in the special car which left the Union Station at 8 o’clock yesterday morning. They were his own and those of Senator Hughes, Secretary of War Garrison, Secretary Tumulty, and Prof. Axson. Secretary Garrison, Senator Hughes, and Mr. Tumulty went on to Newark and Jersey City to vote for Governor Fielder.
Arrived at Princeton, the President was met by a quiet group of several hundred students. College does not open until tomorrow, and many of the upper classmen had not arrived. Refusing the use of automobiles, which awaited them, the President and his party walked to the polling booth in a fire house just off Nassau Street. Here he spent about four minutes answering questions required by law and marking his ballot. Asked by one of the group of photographers if he would stand for a “shot,” he replied: “Wait until I get these spectacles off. I don’t want to look any older than necessary.”
Calls on Bank Cashier.
After a brief visit at the Princeton Bank with his friend “Ed” Howe, the cashier, President Wilson started out on a personally conducted tour of the university, he being the conductor and Dr. BGrayson the star auditor. Ancient and historic Nassau Hall was visited first, then the faculty rooms and then the library, where the President spent some time explaining a valuable collection of original death masks, including the one of Palmerston, advertised by enterprising newspaper men several years ago as growing a beard. Next the President, always followed at a respectful distance by several hundred students and townspeople, walked through to ’79 hall, a gift to the college by his class, and thence to the chapel, from the pulpit of which he had for so many years loked almost daily into the faces of hundreds of students and friends.
A brisk walk, which discouraged many of the idly curious who followed, brought the party past the eating clubs, over which the President, while at Princeton, waged one of his stiffest battles, to University Field. Then it was back again, over the turf of the lower campus, into the gymnasium, where the President boastfully showed the trophies of athletic victories over Harvard and Yale, up to his old room in Witherspoon Hall.
Alexander Hall Last Stop.
Alexander Hall, where commencement exercises are held, was the last stop on the campus tour, and all but the President dropped gratefully into the soft-cushioned benches for a few minutes of much-needed rest. Then the party climbed into an automobile for an hour’s spin around the outskirts of the town and down to the Lawrenceville preparatory school, of which Dr. Wilson was a trustee.The President paid but one call at Princeton—that to his old friend and former next-door neighbor, Mrs. Eliza Ricketts, who, despite her eighty-seven winters, came briskly to lead the President into her front parlor.
There was no formal representation of the faculty over which the President formerly presided. President Hibben was not in evidence until after the President was supposed to have left Princeton, when he rode up on a black horse. He met President Wilson almost face to face. The meeting was not exactly tropical.“Mr. President, I wanted to shake hands with you, and say good-bye before you left,” exclaimed Dr. Hibben, running forward.
“I am very glad to see you,” returned the President politely.
“I was told that you called at my office this morning,” continued Mr. Hibben.
“Oh, no,” returned the President quickly; “I stopped in at the faculty rooms, but did not call at your office.”
After formal introductions all around, Dr. Hibben returned to his horse and the temperature went up again.Throughout his quiet tour of the grounds, the President was stopped by old friends, members of the faculty, their wives and children, postmen, policemen, and charwomen. All had their chance, and all were welcomed. The President’s party returned to Washington last night, reaching here at 9:30 o’clock on the Pennsylvania.
Weeks of planning probably could not have produced a more quiet reception or a less ostentatious visit than that in which President Wilson figured yesterday. And it is extremely doubtful if any plans could have given the President greater pleasure or a more expansive feeling of freedom than those he provided for himself, without consultation with any one.
Woodrow Wilson, fresh from one great legislative struggle and with a greater one impending in the Senate, threw aside the cares of state as his close friends have not seen him do since he entered the White House.
Takes Party on Tour.
He led his small party, comprising his personal physician, Dr. Cary Grayson; his brother-in-law, Prof. Stockton Axson, and one or two close Princeton friends, on a sentimental journey that was a pleasure to watch.
He shook hands gladly with those of his friends who reached him, and waved and nodded gayly to less fortunate ones. And when the spirit moved him, he called out to other friends who failed to notice the President of the United States in the quiet group of sightseers.
The President carried five votes into Jersey in the special car which left the Union Station at 8 o’clock yesterday morning. They were his own and those of Senator Hughes, Secretary of War Garrison, Secretary Tumulty, and Prof. Axson. Secretary Garrison, Senator Hughes, and Mr. Tumulty went on to Newark and Jersey City to vote for Governor Fielder.
Arrived at Princeton, the President was met by a quiet group of several hundred students. College does not open until tomorrow, and many of the upper classmen had not arrived. Refusing the use of automobiles, which awaited them, the President and his party walked to the polling booth in a fire house just off Nassau Street. Here he spent about four minutes answering questions required by law and marking his ballot. Asked by one of the group of photographers if he would stand for a “shot,” he replied: “Wait until I get these spectacles off. I don’t want to look any older than necessary.”
Calls on Bank Cashier.
After a brief visit at the Princeton Bank with his friend “Ed” Howe, the cashier, President Wilson started out on a personally conducted tour of the university, he being the conductor and Dr. BGrayson the star auditor. Ancient and historic Nassau Hall was visited first, then the faculty rooms and then the library, where the President spent some time explaining a valuable collection of original death masks, including the one of Palmerston, advertised by enterprising newspaper men several years ago as growing a beard. Next the President, always followed at a respectful distance by several hundred students and townspeople, walked through to ’79 hall, a gift to the college by his class, and thence to the chapel, from the pulpit of which he had for so many years loked almost daily into the faces of hundreds of students and friends.
A brisk walk, which discouraged many of the idly curious who followed, brought the party past the eating clubs, over which the President, while at Princeton, waged one of his stiffest battles, to University Field. Then it was back again, over the turf of the lower campus, into the gymnasium, where the President boastfully showed the trophies of athletic victories over Harvard and Yale, up to his old room in Witherspoon Hall.
Alexander Hall Last Stop.
Alexander Hall, where commencement exercises are held, was the last stop on the campus tour, and all but the President dropped gratefully into the soft-cushioned benches for a few minutes of much-needed rest. Then the party climbed into an automobile for an hour’s spin around the outskirts of the town and down to the Lawrenceville preparatory school, of which Dr. Wilson was a trustee.The President paid but one call at Princeton—that to his old friend and former next-door neighbor, Mrs. Eliza Ricketts, who, despite her eighty-seven winters, came briskly to lead the President into her front parlor.
There was no formal representation of the faculty over which the President formerly presided. President Hibben was not in evidence until after the President was supposed to have left Princeton, when he rode up on a black horse. He met President Wilson almost face to face. The meeting was not exactly tropical.“Mr. President, I wanted to shake hands with you, and say good-bye before you left,” exclaimed Dr. Hibben, running forward.
“I am very glad to see you,” returned the President politely.
“I was told that you called at my office this morning,” continued Mr. Hibben.
“Oh, no,” returned the President quickly; “I stopped in at the faculty rooms, but did not call at your office.”
After formal introductions all around, Dr. Hibben returned to his horse and the temperature went up again.Throughout his quiet tour of the grounds, the President was stopped by old friends, members of the faculty, their wives and children, postmen, policemen, and charwomen. All had their chance, and all were welcomed. The President’s party returned to Washington last night, reaching here at 9:30 o’clock on the Pennsylvania.
Files
Collection
Citation
Annin, Joseph P. , “Wilson Casts Ballot at Princeton,” 1913 September 24, WWP20765, Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.