The President had a secret romantic relationship with another woman and he was worried that it would be made public and hurt him politically.
So, he asked one of his closest advisors for help. There were "indiscreet" letters that needed to be kept secret and there was a sizable cash payment to the woman involved as well.
There was even a magazine article involved, only the president wanted to have this one published, not spiked.
Two days before the meeting with his advisor, the President prepared a statement to be made public in the event his dalliances were to become known.
Here's what it said, in part: “These letters disclose a passage of folly and gross impertinence in my life. I am deeply ashamed and repentant.”
Now you know.
That president was not Donald J. Trump.
Obviously, there is no way he could pen such a statement with such beautiful words. And, of course, he would never admit to "folly and gross impertinence" or say he was "deeply ashamed and repentant."
Because Trump does not apologize, admit weakness, or that he was wrong. Never.
Then who was this president with the beautiful words and the guilty conscience?
It was Woodrow Wilson. Although the incident occurred a year after his wife had died, it apparently had taken place before that.
All of this is reported in this Washington Post article, which says that Wilson's statement of contrition and more than 200 of the letters that he wrote to the woman — along with the personal letters he wrote to his wife and to others are included in “The Papers of Woodrow Wilson,” a 69-volume collection edited and annotated by historian Arthur S. Link.
The books are in the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC.
Wonder what historians will say when they review the writings of President Trump decades from now. One thing is certain -- there will be no flowery prose about how guilty he feels about his affairs or the mistakes he has made -- even though, as he once said, he has "the best words."