Joseph Patrick Tumulty

American politician (1879–1954)

Joseph Patrick Tumulty (pronounced TUM ulty; 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. Tumulty graduated from Saint Bridget's School and then, in 1901, from Saint Peter's College, New Jersey in Jersey City. 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.

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. On August 31, 1948, Hiss wrote to his lifelong friend and fellow Harvard University friend, William L. Marbury, Jr., an attorney:<blockquote>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 equal pay, a profit sharing plan, and health insurance. 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.

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.

Tumulty died on April 9, 1954, in Olney, Maryland. He is interred in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland.