Edwin M. Watson – Major General, United States ARmy

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Kenwood: Home of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies

Kenwood Kenwood is the home of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies. Built between 1939 and 1941 for Major General and Mrs. Edwin M. Watson on 78.5 acres of land (once owned by Jefferson), it served
initially as a weekend retreat and later as a permanent residence.

Major General Edwin Watson, a senior military aide, was the friend and personal secretary of Franklin D. Roosevelt who adopted Kenwood as his Camp David during his presidency and retreated here on several occasions. The guest cottage was built in 1940-41 for Roosevelt, though he stayed there on only one occasion, preferring the social activity of the main house. On subsequent visits, including four days in June 1944 awaiting the Normandy invasion, he slept in the front bedroom of the main house. Mrs. Watson bequeathed Kenwood to the University of Virginia, which in turn has leased the property to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.
My Day: Eleanor Roosevelt

There was little doubt the president needed some rest. The rigors of the 1944 campaign had taken a toll on this seemingly indefatigable man (President Franklin D. Roosevelt), and in February he had traveled to Yalta for a conference with Stalin and Churchill on the shape of the postwar world. His return via the destroyer U.S.S. Quincy had been an 8,000-mile journey marked by the death of his longtime aide, Major General Edwin Watson.

Observers noted the death of Watson, called “Pa” by his intimates, had hit Roosevelt particularly hard. The president’s ship had sailed on with the body on board, but the loss of his close advisor served as a grim reminder of his own mortality. By the spring of 1945, FDR had been president for over a dozen years that had been filled with an exhausting procession of triumph and tragedy as he carried the nation through one of the most tumultuous periods in its history.

March 1, 1945:

WASHINGTON, Wednesday — Like so many things in life, the President’s homecoming this morning was a mixture of light and shadow. It was  naturally a joy to have the President and Anna back again, but our  happiness is greatly dimmed by the loss of such a loyal, warm friend as Major General Edwin M. Watson has been over the past years.

General Watson had been with the President, first as military side and then as both senior military aide and secretary, during many of the years  that we have been here. I know that his loyalty and kindliness meant a  great deal in cementing a deep friendship between them. For the General  himself, I am sure that death in line of duty, while taking this most
important trip, was probably a fitting climax to his life. For Mrs.  Watson, however, the shock must have been terrible and added greatly to  the tragedy of her loss.

As one grows older one realizes that these separations must come where  people are as old or older than oneself, but nevertheless the loss of  companionship and the readjustment is always difficult. So what would  naturally be a happy homecoming has been a time of sorrow.

At noon we went to Arlington for General Watson’s funeral services. The  rest of the day was spent very quietly.

ARLINGTON BURIAL FOR GENERAL WATSON

President and General Marshall Attend Military Rites in Sleet Storm For Roosevelt Aide

WASHINGTON, February 28, 1945 – Major General Edwin M. Watson, military aide and secretary to President Roosevelt, was buried with full military honors in Arlington Cemetery today while the President, his close friend for many years, looked on during a fall of rain and sleet.  General Watson died at seas on February 20 while returning with the President from the Yalta conference.

Mr. Roosevelt had only been back in the White House a few hours from his long trip to the Crimea when he ventured forth in the storm to attend the Roman Catholic committal service held at the graveside in the National Cemetery.

The President sat in a limousine a few yards from the ceremonies, his face grave and immobile, while he witnessed the burial.  General Watson’s widow, the former Frances Bash, concert pianist, remained in a near-by car.  Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Anna Boettinger, their daughter, accompanied by her husband, Lieutenant Colonel John Boettinger, drove with the President to the cemetery, but stood in the rain during the ceremonies.

The committal service was read by Lieutenant Duane Brady, a Naval Chaplain.  A rifle squad fired the traditional three volleys and Taps was played as the coffin was lowered into the grave.  A memorial mass will be held at 9 A.M. tomorrow in St. Matthews Cathedral.

The grave was circled by a group of high officials including General of the Army George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff; Admiral of the Fleet William D. Leahy, the President’s personal Chief of Staff; James F. Byrnes, Director of Mobilization and Reconversion; War Manpower Chairman Paul V. McNutt; Attorney General Francis Biddle; Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and Bernard M. Baruch.

Robert Goodloe, who had been General Watson’s messenger and chauffer for many years, stood in the group of mourners.  Also present was Edith Fletcher, cook with the Watson family for many years.

Also attending were Under Secretary of state Joseph C. Grew; Postmaster General Frank Walker; Judge Samuel I. Rosenman, the President’s Special Adviser; Chairman Andrew J. May of the House Military Affairs Committee.

General Watson had spent most of his sixty-one years in the Army, but it was the Navy which did him honor with the Presidential cruiser put in at an East Cost port last night.  To the shrill, plaintiff piping of a boatswain, sailors carried the coffin down the steep gangway, accompanied by a detail of officers and ship’s chaplain.  The carried it slowly to the President’s special train, waiting a few years away.  It lay along in a car reserved for that purpose, with the luggage which Watson had carrier on many trips tithe “the Boss.”

Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Roosevelt met the train when it arrived in Washington long before dawn.

Friday, June 8, 1945 10:15 am

The President presented Distinguished Service Medal posthumously to Major General Edwin M. Watson, with the following present: Mrs. Edwin M. Watson; The Secretary of War [Henry L. Stimson]; General George C. Marshall; General and Mrs. Warner McCabe; Mrs. Anna Boettiger; Mr. Edward Nash; Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt;
Miss E. V. Nash; Justice and Mrs. Felix Frankfurter; Justice and Mrs. Robert Jackson; Hon. and Mrs. Frank Walker; Judge and Mrs. Samuel Rosenman; Colonel B. W. Davenport; Colonel Frank McCarty; Hon. B. M. Baruch; Hon. George T. Summerlin; Hon. Stanley Woodward; White House Staff.

emwatson-DSM-AWARD

WATSON, EDWIN M

  • MAJ GEN U S ARMY
  • DATE OF DEATH: 02/20/1945
  • BURIED AT: SECTION SOUTH  SITE 1909-A
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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