Joseph Patrick Tumulty (/ˈtʌməlti/TUM-əl-tee; May 5, 1879 – April 9, 1954) was an American attorney and politician from New Jersey, a leader of the Irish Catholic political community, and the private secretary of Woodrow Wilson from 1911 until 1921, during Wilson's service as both New Jersey governor and then as the nation's 28th president.[1]
During his time as Wilson's secretary, Tumulty filled many different roles, including press secretary, public relations manager, campaign organizer for the Catholic and Irish vote, and adviser for minor patronage appointments. His relationship with Wilson was nearly terminated over his opposition to Wilson's marriage in December 1915 to Edith Wilson sixteen months after the death of his first wife. Although Wilson declined Tumulty's offer to resign, their relationship was never again as close.[4]
Following Wilson's reelection as president in 1916, the president yielded to anti-Catholic sentiment from Edith Wilson and Wilson's adviser Col. Edward M. House and dismissed Tumulty. Though he was ultimately reinstated after intervention by his former student David Lawrence, Tumulty's relationship with Edith Wilson remained frosty.
Wilson departed the White House in March 1921. Though his influence in Washington, D.C. greatly diminished, Tumulty remained in Washington, D.C. as a practicing attorney until his death 33 years later.[5]
In August–September 1948, Tumulty was one of many prominent lawyers who advised Alger Hiss on whether to file a defamation suit against Whittaker Chambers after Chambers stated on NBC Radio's Meet the Press that Hiss had been a Communist.[6]
I am planning a suit for libel or defamation... The number of volunteer helpers is considerable: Freddy Pride of Dwight, Harris, Koegel & Casking, the offshoot of young Charles Hughes' firm, Fred Eaton of Shearman and Sterling, Eddie Miller of Mr. Dulles' firm, Marshall McDuffie, now no longer a lawyer; in Washington Joe Tumulty, Charlie Fahy, Alex Hawes, John Ferguson (Mr. Ballantine's son-in-law) and others–but the real job is get general overall counsel and that fortunately is now settled, but we must move swiftly as so far the committee with its large investigating staff and considerable resources has been able to seize the initiative continuously and regularly. Everyone has been most helpful...[6]
Views
An October 20, 1919 newspaper headline showing Tumulty and his family in New Jersey, including (left to right): Miss Grace, Tumulty, Catherine Phillip, Mary Phillip, Joseph, Jr., Tumulty's wife, and Alicia
A "conservative progressive" in his own words, Tumulty was a proponent of women's suffrage and World War I-era censorship. He supported A. Mitchell Palmer's deportation of communist aliens in 1919. Wilson's absence from active-day-to-day executive leadership in 1919-1920 during the negotiations at Versailles, and his later stroke and illness meant that a significant share of the work of the White House had to be completed by Tumulty and Edith Wilson, who continued to lobby against Tumulty. Tumulty's support of Palmer and of U.S. presidential candidate James M. Cox ultimately led to his final break with Wilson.
In his approach to politics, Tumulty was a believer in the power of the state to tackle inequities in American society. In June 1919, for instance, Tumulty recommended to Wilson that he call on Congress to adopt reforms that met the needs of working people, including establishing a federal employment agency, federal housing, old-age pensions, a federal minimum wage,[7] equal pay, a profit-sharing plan, and health insurance.[8] Wilson failed, however, to encourage Congress to enact the measures Tumulty recommended, although nearly all of his proposals would eventually be realized under the New Deal program of future U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Memoir
Tumulty published a memoir, Woodrow Wilson As I Know Him, published in 1921. The book enraged Wilson, however, who made it known that his former private secretary would never again be admitted into his presence or inner circle.
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