Woodrow Wilson 1923 Radio Address - Armistice Day

Delivered from his Washington, DC home on November 10, 1923, the recording is the earliest known of a radio broadcast - and may have been the first remote (non-studio) radio broadcast.

[richardlawson]

I thought he would have more of a Southern accent. He just has that 19th Century sound. I'm old enough to have known many people from that time. They sounded like him.

[sophiepalmer-doran]

Wilson's first stroke was in May 1896. It caused marked weakness of the right upper limb plus sensory disturbances in the fingers. The finger problems were mis-diagnosed as neuritis. Wilson was unable to write normally for almost a year afterwards.

In June 1904 Wilson developed weakness in the right upper limb that lasted for several months

On May 28, 1906, Wilson suddenly lost vision in his left eye. This persisted. Weakness of the right upper limb was present

November 1907 -- Developed weakness and numbness of fingers or right upper limb that lasted several months;
July 1908 -- Two attacks of "neuritis" affecting the right upper limb;

December 1910 -- Transitory weakness of the right hand.

April 1913 -- Attack of "neuritis" involving right upper limb;

May 1914 -- Abnormal retinal arteries observed;

May-Sept. 1915 -- Episodes of transient weakness in his right hand.

In September 1919 Wilson was having severe headaches, double vision, and signs of a weakened heart. On Sept. 25 he developed a transitory weakness on the left side of his body


Oct. 2, 1919. According to some accounts, the president awoke to find his left hand numb to sensation before falling into unconsciousness. In other versions, Wilson had his stroke on the way to the bathroom and fell to the floor with Edith dragging him back into bed. However those events transpired, immediately after the president’s collapse, Mrs. Wilson discretely phoned down to the White House chief usher, Ike Hoover and told him to “please get Dr. Grayson, the president is very sick.”
Grayson quickly arrived. Ten minutes later, he emerged from the presidential bedroom and the doctor’s diagnosis was terrible: “My God, the president is paralyzed, ” Grayson declared.

[fguremeout]

This year marks a century of
soundwaves over the airwaves. The music will give us inspiration.

[RajHK]

I just love the way people used to talk.

[bluesboy]

Never knew Wilson gave a radio address.

[woodrowwilsontheoriginal]

Thank you, this reminds boosts my ego, being remembered.

[jackbuckley]

Hard to imagine that now long-ago era in our history. Of course, the people of that time, or any time, see themselves at the height of modernity, which, of course, they were. We view our own existence now in the same way, giving no thought to how primitive our society will look 50, 75, & 100 years from now, our culture & mindset about a huge variety of things seeming extremely foreign & strange to those Americans in the future to which I've referred. The woman you see there with Wilson was his 2nd wife, Edith Galt, whom he married not overly long after his 1st wife, Ellen Axson, died, while First Lady in the White House. Wilson was devastated, disconsolate, & almost wholly disfunctional for some period of time. He was the type of man whose life needed & required the unswerving support of a woman. Despite his towering intellect, Wilson could be far more emotional & compassionate about people & issues than I ever realized. He came out of that 19th-century era of sentimentality & romanticism, especially towards women, values which have long-since vanished in our casual, informal, self-centered, non-idealistic, & far more cynical age. I'm particularly struck here by Wilson's energy & limber physicality. He also appears to have been quite capable of smiling, appreciating the respectful, patriotic crowds out to see him, & generally enjoying himself; in short, not the stern, unsmiling, stiff-necked, unbending Presbyterian as to which he's so often been depicted. I'm in the process of rediscovering the man, only just recently, perusing books containing his official papers & speeches. The speeches, wow---usually quite lengthy & intellectual, many, of course, given from the backs of campaign trains, as well as dinners, press club meetings, & official state functions, in addition to State of the Union addresses, etc. I don't know how his voice could carry so far when speaking to crowds outdoors, who apparently gave him their rapt attention. Remember what a thrill it was to see the President of the U.S. back then, far, far different from our own blase', media-saturated time. I could go on & on but suffice it to say, Woodrow Wilson was a very multi-faceted---and fascinating---man!

[Eddie_Schantz]

Wilson died 85 days after this address on Feb. 3, 1924

[insertaliashere]

He sounds happier when he's sick. It's quite strange.

[heavenlytroopers]

The moral obligations of Freedom and Honor.

[wrestlefanatic]

He definitely sounded very sick during this address.

[freedomnews]

One of America s Great Southerners and Unique Decent Fellows. Woodrow Wilson thank you for saving the Armenians by entering world war one.

[iangonzales]

Rewatching this on Veteran’s Day… Armistice Day.

[_Moshup]

One of his last voice recordings before he died the next year, 1924.

[stevevandien]

Wilson had great gifts and great flaws. He had a brilliant, retentive intellect. But he had enormous hubris. He believed he was correct about the toothless League of Nations and imposing segregation upon previously integrated federal jobs. Once he believed he was right, no one could convince him otherwise.

[marvinwatkins]

Definitely not as good a recording as his one of 11 years earlier, perhaps due in part to his stroke.

[ChrisPBacon-]

Because of Woodrow Wilson, we have the Federal Reserve. Thanks pal 👍 very cool..

[gregb]

It is interesting that the farther along in the speech Wlison went, the less English and more American he sounded.

[bradyfry]

I would've thought that the first audio recording of a president wouldve been from Coolidge.

[stevenmaginnis]

He more or less foretold World War II.