PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON - PHOTOGRAPH MOUNT SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: WILSON GARDNER, GEORGE T. ODELL, MERCER VERNON, LEROY T. VERNON, EDWARD B. CLARK, L. AMES BOWEN, T. W. BRAHANY, J. P. ANNIS, JOHN P. FAVIT, JOSEPH P. TUMULTY, RUDOLPH FORSTER, JAMES D. PRESTIN, JOHN E. NEVIN, C. E. STEWART, HENRY E. ELAND, S. M. WILLIAMS, WILLIAM E. BINGHAM, DAVID LAWRENCE - HFSID 5911

WOODROW WILSON, JOSEPH P. TUMULTY and the WHITE HOUSE PRESS CORPS
The President, Presidential Secretary Tumulty, veteran White House staffer Forster, and 16 reporters have signed this photo on the 10½x9 mount.
Photograph Mount signed: "Woodrow Wilson" as President "J.P. Tumulty" as Personal Secretary, "Rudolph Forster", and 16 members of the White House press corps: "David Lawrence", "Wilson Gardner", "Edward B. Clark", "Leroy T. Vernon", "Mercer Vernon", "George T. Odell", "L. Ames Bowen", "John E. Nevin", "C.E. Stewart", "Henry E. Eland", "S.M. Williams", "William E. Bingham", "T.W. Brahany", "John P. Favit", "J.P. Annis" and one other. Sepia, 10½x9. Abraham Lincoln was the first President to task a key aide to manage relations with the Press. By the Cleveland administration, the White House "beat" concept developed, strengthened by subsequent Presidents and especially Theodore Roosevelt, who gave reporters their own space in the White House. As President Wilson's Private Secretary, the equivalent of a modern chief of staff, JOSEPH P. TUMULTY (1870-1954) dealt extensively with the press. Tumulty convinced Wilson to hold regularly scheduled news conferences, sometimes as often as twice per week. Wilson, never a great admirer of the press corps, gave fewer briefings as war clouds loomed, but Tumulty began the practice of daily briefings, and also defined rules for when information was off the record, and for exact times when confidential information could be released. The White House Correspondents' Association was formed during Wilson's first term (February 25, 1914). RUDOLPH FORSTER (1872-1943), called to the White House for temporary duty as a stenographer for President McKinley in 1897, remained on staff to serve eight Presidents. Forster, who kept his own political opinions to himself, handled much Presidential correspondence, and attended all White House press conferences. DAVID LAWRENCE (1888-1973), who would found US News & World Report in 1933, is credited with persuading President Wilson not to fire Joseph Tumulty in 1916, despite policy and personal disagreements. EDWARD B. CLARKE became White House reporter for the Chicago Evening Post in 1903. A close friend of Theodore Roosevelt, he gave the famous interview in which TR denounced writers, including novelist Jack London, who wrote inaccurately about nature ("nature fakers"). At age 57, Clarke resigned his journalist role to join the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War I. LEROY T. VERNON (d. 1938), longtime Washington correspondent for the Chicago Daily News, had left his post temporarily to serve as a campaign manager for William Howard Taft. JOHN E. NEVIN (d. 1933), a reporter for Boston newspapers, traveled to the Versailles Conference with President Wilson. English-born HENRY E. ELAND was a longtime reporter for the Wall Street Journal. T. W. BRAHANY, a veteran reporter, was President Taft's assistant secretary during the 1912 Presidential campaign. Photo has slightly silvered. Slightly surface creased, not evident head on, and slightly soiled. 2 signatures (not Wilson's) slightly stained. Several vertical and horizontal tears, varying from ¼- to ¾-inches, on mount in blank areas.Otherwise, fine condition.