Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting
Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1: Let me paint a picture for you. It was nineteen
Speaker 1: forty four in German occupied France, east of Paris, in
Speaker 1: the country's more mountainous region. A woman furiously pedaled her
Speaker 1: bicycle up a rocky hill. She'd been traveling for hours
Speaker 1: to complete a special mission. She was hungry and exhausted,
Speaker 1: and her legs felt like lead. But then she came
Speaker 1: upon a Nazi checkpoint. They were scattered throughout for so
Speaker 1: she knew this moment was inevitable. Despite the butterflies in
Speaker 1: her stomach and the knowledge that if she was caught
Speaker 1: she would surely be killed, she rolled to a stop
Speaker 1: beside two German officers. They looked her over. She forced
Speaker 1: her breathing to steady, then flashed them a friendly smile.
Speaker 1: In her experience, this was the best way to put
Speaker 1: German soldiers at ease. To convince them that she was
Speaker 1: a local villager, a young housewife, a supporter of the
Speaker 1: Nazi occupation. Of course, this was all a careful ruse,
Speaker 1: but it worked. The men grinned back without even looking
Speaker 1: at her passport. They waved her through the checkpoint. She
Speaker 1: thanked them and rode away at a leisurely pace. However,
Speaker 1: the minute she was out of their sight, she began
Speaker 1: peddling harder. She forced her way through the mountains, barely
Speaker 1: stopping to rest, to eat, or even to use the
Speaker 1: bathroom for thirty six hours. By the time she finally
Speaker 1: reached her destination, she had traveled nearly one hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty five miles on her bicycle. She made it to
Speaker 1: the French city of Chateauroux, where she could access a
Speaker 1: private radio transmission. She sent a message to her contact
Speaker 1: in London with a set of new codes so that
Speaker 1: they could re establish a safe line of communication. This
Speaker 1: was crucial to an upcoming military operation, one that was
Speaker 1: called the Invasion of Normandy, better known as D Day.
Speaker 1: You see, this woman was a spy for the British government, and,
Speaker 1: unbeknownst to those two German soldiers who had led her
Speaker 1: through their checkpoint. She was also one of the Nazis'
Speaker 1: most wanted people. The year before, in nineteen thirty four,
Speaker 1: the Gestapo had put a five million franc bounty on
Speaker 1: her head. The problem was no one in the German
Speaker 1: army actually knew who she was or what she looked like.
Speaker 1: They just knew that she was impossible to catch, which
Speaker 1: is why they called her the White Mouse. As for
Speaker 1: the woman's friends, well, they just called her Nancy. Her
Speaker 1: full name was Nancy Wake. She was born in New
Speaker 1: Zealand in nineteen twelve and raised in Australia. She moved
Speaker 1: to Paris as a young adult, where she met and
Speaker 1: married a wealthy businesiness man. The two often traveled throughout Europe,
Speaker 1: which is how during the nineteen thirties Nancy watched the
Speaker 1: rise of the Nazis' first hand. She promised herself that
Speaker 1: if she ever got the chance, she would do whatever
Speaker 1: she could to fight back. When the Nazi army invaded
Speaker 1: France in nineteen forty, she got that chance. She volunteered
Speaker 1: as a member of the French Resistance. Her wealth and
Speaker 1: status gave her the ability to cross international borders with ease,
Speaker 1: so she primarily worked as a transporter helping vulnerable people
Speaker 1: get out of Nazi occupied France. She actually bought an
Speaker 1: ambulance and used it to help refugees get across the
Speaker 1: Spanish border. She continued doing this until nineteen forty three,
Speaker 1: when the German Army caught wind of what she was
Speaker 1: up to. The Gestapo put her on their most wanted
Speaker 1: list and offered a huge reward in exchange for her capture.
Speaker 1: This put Nancy in a really tough spot. Her husband
Speaker 1: was a high profile businessman. He couldn't just up and
Speaker 1: leave the country without arousing suspicion. That meant that either
Speaker 1: she had to stay and risk capture, or leave her
Speaker 1: husband and flee to safety, and she chose the second option.
Speaker 1: Nancy traveled to England, where she was trained by the
Speaker 1: British Special Operations Executive. In nineteen forty four, she parachuted
Speaker 1: back into France to help Allied forces prepare for the
Speaker 1: upcoming D Day invasion. She organized ammunition drops, set up
Speaker 1: supply lines, and biked hundreds of miles to make sure
Speaker 1: Allied communications were secure. When France was liberated in late
Speaker 1: nineteen forty four, Nancy went back to Paris in the
Speaker 1: hopes of finding her husband, but all she found was
Speaker 1: bad news. He had been captured, interrogated, and killed by
Speaker 1: the Gestapo over a year earlier. He was heartbreaking, as
Speaker 1: was the case for most people, The war changed Nancy's
Speaker 1: life forever. She fought for freedom and lost her marriage
Speaker 1: and became a new person. Nancy received military honors from France,
Speaker 1: Great Britain, and the United States. She also eventually remarried
Speaker 1: and moved back to Australia, where she lived for over
Speaker 1: forty years. After her second husband's death in the late
Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, she returned to England. She died in London
Speaker 1: in twenty eleven, just one month shy of her ninety
Speaker 1: ninth birthday. According to her wishes, Nancy was not buried
Speaker 1: in one place. Instead, her ashes were scattered throughout France.
Speaker 1: To me, it's a poetic ending to a truly incredible
Speaker 1: story in death, as she had been in life. Nancy
Speaker 1: Wake the White Mouse could never be pinned down. In
Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen, US President Woodrow Wilson was sitting in his
Speaker 1: office in the White House, holding his head in his hands.
Speaker 1: He was in a difficult position, after all, as World
Speaker 1: War One raged across Europe, he had two contradictory goals
Speaker 1: to support the Allied war effort and to simultaneously keep
Speaker 1: America out of conflict. This geopolitical dance was exhausting, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't the only problem on Wilson's mind. Just months earlier,
Speaker 1: his wife Ellen had passed away from a kidney disorder.
Speaker 1: The loss was crushing. Ellen was his closest confidant, the
Speaker 1: mother of his two children, and the first Lady of
Speaker 1: the United States. Ever since she died, Wilson had been
Speaker 1: depressed and lonely. He couldn't focus, He couldn't bring himself
Speaker 1: to care about anything. But that was all about to
Speaker 1: change that day. The doors of the White House elevator
Speaker 1: opened to reveal a tall woman with a mess of dark,
Speaker 1: curly hair. She was wearing walking clothes and mud stained boots.
Speaker 1: Right away, she struck Wilson as a unique kind of woman,
Speaker 1: one who wasn't afraid to get her shoes dirty. She
Speaker 1: introduced herself as Edith Bowling, and she certainly was unique.
Speaker 1: At forty two years old, she was a widow with
Speaker 1: no children. She'd been born into a prominent Virginia family,
Speaker 1: so she was wealthy and well educated. When her husband
Speaker 1: passed away seven years earlier. He left her a jewelry
Speaker 1: store in Washington, which she ran by herself. The circumstances
Speaker 1: of her life made her fiercely independent, quick witted, and adventurous.
Speaker 1: She was also friends with one of Wilson's cousins who
Speaker 1: happened to work as a hostess at the White House,
Speaker 1: and that's how Edith wound up inside. The President was smitten.
Speaker 1: He and Edith were married that December, and just like that,
Speaker 1: the United States had a new First Lady. Edith was
Speaker 1: known to be smart, fashionable, and gracious, but she tried
Speaker 1: to stay out of politics. She was afraid of being
Speaker 1: seen as a quote unquote too authoritative person. It wasn't
Speaker 1: until nineteen seventeen, when the US officially entered World War One,
Speaker 1: that she stepped into a more leadership kind of role.
Speaker 1: She worked to support the war effort and fostered trust
Speaker 1: with the public. For example, during World War One, the
Speaker 1: US Food Administration had to ration certain items like flour
Speaker 1: and meat. In an attempt to set a positive example
Speaker 1: for the American people, Edith had the White House follow
Speaker 1: these same rationing rules as the company flock went on.
Speaker 1: Though Edith did much more than choose the presidential menu.
Speaker 1: She had a gift for puzzles and languages, and she
Speaker 1: actually helped decode some secret messages during the war. On
Speaker 1: top of this, in nineteen eighteen, she accompanied her husband
Speaker 1: to Europe to visit American troops. This made her the
Speaker 1: first first lady to travel to Europe on political business.
Speaker 1: In June of nineteen nineteen, she went again to attend
Speaker 1: the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended
Speaker 1: World War One. Back in Washington, with a newly international
Speaker 1: peace established, things were going well for the first couple.
Speaker 1: But then in October of nineteen nineteen, Woodrow Wilson's life
Speaker 1: changed once again. He suffered a major stroke that left
Speaker 1: him partially paralyzed and completely incapacitated. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: Throughout history, US presidents have gone to great lengths to
Speaker 1: hide their health problems. Wilson was no different. He hid
Speaker 1: the severity of a stroke from almost everyone, including the
Speaker 1: American people, the US Congress, and members of his own cabinet.
Speaker 1: The war had just ended, and Wilson didn't want to
Speaker 1: introduce any sense of panic or instability back into politics.
Speaker 1: The only people who knew how sick Wilson was, were
Speaker 1: his doctor and his wife, and suddenly Edith found herself
Speaker 1: in a very unique position. She was the president steward
Speaker 1: between October of nineteen nineteen and January of nineteen twenty one.
Speaker 1: Every bit of correspondence with Wilson went through Edith first,
Speaker 1: and every decision the president made was filtered through and
Speaker 1: finalized by her. Now, Like I said, Edith was always
Speaker 1: afraid of being seen as too authoritative. She insisted that
Speaker 1: she never made decisions without her husband's input, but many
Speaker 1: historians believe that she was far too modest. Edith is
Speaker 1: considered by some to have been America's first unofficial female president,
Speaker 1: a decision maker who worked behind the scenes when the
Speaker 1: real president no longer could. After his term ended, Woodrow
Speaker 1: and Edith Wilson retired to a townhouse in Washington. D. C.
Speaker 1: Wilson died three years later, but Edith lived on for
Speaker 1: another four decades. The Wilson House is a National Historic
Speaker 1: Landmark and is open to the public for tours. Inside
Speaker 1: you'll find multiple portraits of Edith Wilson looking fashionable, gracious,
Speaker 1: and authoritative, which, despite her own reservations, is certainly not
Speaker 1: a bad thing. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey
Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it
Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time,
Speaker 1: stay curious.