When I think of the flag which our ships carry, the only touch of

Click the image to launch gallery view

When I think of the flag which our ships carry, the only touch of color about them, the only thing that moves as if it had a settled spirit in it, — in their solid structure; it seems to me I see alternate strips of parchment upon which are written the rights of liberty and justice and strips of blood spilt to vindicate these rights, and then, — in the corner a prediction of the blue serene into which every nation may swim which stands for these things.

This fragment is from an actual speech given by Woodrow Wilson at the State Democratic Convention in Trenton, New Jersey in September 1910 on receiving notice of his nomination for the governorship.

The version recorded by his biographer and private secretary Joseph P. Tumulty contains a few minor differences that might be due to the speech's oral delivery (e.g. "spilled" for "spilt", punctuation changes, "these great things" for "these things"; 13).

Related Images:
1. Wilson being visited by Democratic senators, either while Governor of New Jersey or shortly after his nomination as the Democratic candidate for governor. Wilson is the fifth man from the left in the front row.
2. President Wilson in 1919.

Source(s)

Information Sources:
Cooper, John Milton. Woodrow Wilson: A Biography. Random House, 2009.

Tumulty, Joseph P. Woodrow Wilson As I Know Him. Kessinger Publishing, 2004.

Image Sources:
1. "1. Sen. Ben Tillman, 2. John E. Osborne, 3. J.B. Sanford, 4. P.L. Hall, 5. Governor [Woodrow] Wilson, 6. Norman Mack, 7. Willard Saulsbury, 8. J.E. Davies, 9. J.R. Mountcastle, 10. Cong. Talbott", ca. 1910-1915. Library of Congress Flickr Stream.

2. "Thomas Woodrow Wilson, Harris & Ewing bw photo portrait, 1919", by Harris & Ewing. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Item Relations

This item has no relations.