after the election the National Academy of Sciences held its autumn 

 meeting in New Haven and several members came to me in great alarm 

 over what they believed to be the imminent appointment of some very 

 unfit person (I have quite forgotten who it was, for he was never more 

 than a name to me) as the head of one of the scientific bureaus in 

 Washington. They asked me to carry their protests to the President-elect 

 and I did so, as soon as I returned home. Governor Wilson laughed and 

 said: "You need not be alarmed; I have no intention of appointing that 

 man, though I have been bombarded with letters and telegrams recom- 

 mending him. As Governor of the State, I have learned how to dis- 

 tinguish a machine-made movement in support of a man, or a measure, 

 from a genuine, spontaneous one. This fellow's support is entirely 

 artificial." 



When I entered the Governor's library, I found my Brother just end- 

 ing an interview with him, an interview which the "Colonel," as he 

 was then, has described in his Memories and has told how he felt 

 tempted to put in a word for himself, but wisely refrained. I should hke 

 to add that I never asked President Wilson to promote my Brother, and 

 never made the slightest hint or allusion as to such a thing. The suc- 

 cessive promotions v/ere the President's spontaneous acts; indeed, I 

 never asked him for anything, though I sometimes sent him informa- 

 tion which had reached me and which I thought he should have. 



President Wilson's inauguration in March 1913 was a great occasion 

 for Princetonians, who journeyed to Washington in troops and bat- 

 talions. I did not attend, but, a few weeks later, when the National 

 Academy of Sciences held its spring meeting, I was invited to the White 

 House, with my eldest daughter, and had a most interesting visit. As 

 the National Academy is part of the government and is its official ad- 

 viser in matters scientific, it is customary, after the inauguration of a 

 new President of the United States, for the Academy to call at the White 

 House and pay their respects in a body. The first time that I took part 

 in this ceremony was in 1909, shortly after the inauguration of Presi- 

 dent Taft and the members of the Academy were astonished and in- 

 dignant at their reception. Though Mr. Taft was an educated man and 

 had lived in Washington for years, he seemed to have no idea as to 

 who we were. We merely passed before him in line, shook hands with 

 him and then filed out of the "Executive Mansion," as it used to be 

 called. 



Our reception by President Wilson in 1913 was in very marked con- 

 trast to that of four years before. He made a great occasion of it, pre- 



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