Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer, political activist, and socialite. She was the eldest child of United States president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice. She played a prominent role in his presidency from 1901 to 1909 and was a prominent critic of her third cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, during his presidency from 1933 to 1945. As a leading Washington, D.C. socialite for most of her life, she met with sixteen sitting presidents of the United States and is widely thought to be the person who met the most sitting presidents in history.
Longworth led an unconventional and controversial life during and after her time in the White House. Her marriage to House speaker Nicholas Longworth was tense, and her only child, Paulina, was born from an affair with Idaho senator William Borah. Remaining active in Washington society until shortly before her death at the age of 96, she was the last surviving child of Theodore Roosevelt and the longest-lived child of any United States president.
Early life Alice Lee Roosevelt was born on February 12, 1884 in the Roosevelt family home at 6 West 57th St. in Manhattan. Her father Theodore Roosevelt, through whom she was descended from Schuyler family, was a member of the New York State Assembly. Her mother, Alice Hathaway Roosevelt (née Lee) was an heiress of the family which had founded the Boston investment banking firm Lee, Higginson & Co.Brogan, Hugh and Mosley, Charles American Presidential Families October 1993, page 568
On February 14, two days after her birth, her father's mother, Martha, died of typhoid fever. Alice's own mother died of undiagnosed Bright's disease eleven hours later.Morris, pp. 229–230 Their deaths rendered her father distraught; he rarely mentioned Alice for the rest of his life and would not allow her to be mentioned in his presence. Although the newborn Alice was named for her mother, the family therefore called her "Baby Lee."Morris, pp. 232, 373 She continued this practice as an adult, often preferring to be called "Mrs. L" rather than "Alice".
Seeking solace, Theodore left Alice in the care of his elder sister Anna, known as Bamie, retreated from his life in New York, and headed west, where he spent two years traveling and living on his ranch in North Dakota. Despite his grief and distance, letters from Theodore to Bamie reveal his concern for his daughter. In one 1884 letter, he wrote, "I hope Mousiekins will be very cunning. I shall dearly love her."Wead D. All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families. Atria Books, 2003 p. 48. Bamie took her under her watchful care, moving Alice into her book-filled Manhattan home until Theodore remarried,Morris, pp. 373–374 and she had a significant influence on young Alice, who would later remark, "If auntie Bye had been a man, she would have been president."Rixey, L. Bamie: Theodore Roosevelt's remarkable sister. D. McKay Co., 1963, p. v.
Relationship with stepmother and rebellion
On December 2, 1886, Theodore married his childhood friend Edith Kermit Carow, and two-year old Alice returned to her father's home, where she was raised by her father and stepmother, along with five half-siblings born to Edith: Ted (b. 1887), Kermit (b. 1889), Ethel (b. 1891), Archie (b. 1894), and Quentin (b. 1897). After Alice was returned to her father, her aunt Bamie married and moved to London for a time, becoming a more remote figure in her life.Teague, Michael. Mrs. L: Conversations with Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1981. .
Young Alice struggled to get along with her stepmother, who had known her mother before her death. Edith made it clear that she regarded the late Alice as a beautiful fool, insipid and childlike and once angrily told Alice that if her mother had lived, she would have bored Theodore to death.Miller, N. Theodore Roosevelt: A Life. William Morrow, 1992, p. 193. During this period of her childhood, continuing tension with her stepmother and her father's physical and emotional distance led Alice to become impulsive, desperate for attention, and confrontational.
In 1898, her father was elected governor of New York. During his term in office, he and Edith proposed that Alice attend the Spence School, a conservative girls' school in New York City. In response, Alice wrote him, "If you send me, I will humiliate you. I will do something that will shame you. I tell you I will."Renehan, Edward J., Jr. The Lion's Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and His Family in Peace and War. Oxford University Press, 1999 p. 47. During this time, Bamie, who had returned to New York City, provided Alice with needed structure and stability. Later in life, Alice said of her aunt, "There is always someone in every family who keeps it together. In ours, it was Auntie Bye."
In later years, Alice expressed admiration for her stepmother's sense of humor and literary taste. In her memoirs, Alice wrote of Edith, "That I was the child of another marriage was a simple fact and made a situation that had to be coped with, and Mother coped with it with a fairness and charm and intelligence, which she has to a greater degree than almost any one else I know."Longworth, A. L. R. Crowded Hours. Charles Scribner's Press, 1933, p. 9.
Life in the White House (190109)
In the 1900 elections, Alice's father was elected vice president of the United States, and following the September 1901 assassination of William McKinley, he became president, an event that Alice greeted with "sheer rapture".
Alice was the center of society attention during her father's presidency, and she thrived on it. In this, she emulated her father, of whom she later remarked, "He wants to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral, and the baby at every christening." The American people and press took to her instantly, earning her the nickname "Princess Alice." At the age of 17, Alice became an instant celebrity and fashion icon. Her society debut was in 1902, and the gown she wore became famous, with its color popularly known as "Alice blue," sparking a trend in women's clothing and inspiring a popular 1919 song, "Alice Blue Gown".
As the first daughter, Alice was known for breaking many social norms for young women of her era. She smoked cigarettes in public and on the White House roof, rode in cars with men, stayed out late partying, kept a pet snake, and was seen placing bets with a bookie. Public scrutiny also came with unwanted speculation; one newspaper falsely claimed that she had stripped down to lingerie at a drunken orgy held at a Newport, Rhode Island mansion and danced atop a table. Alice also played practical jokes. On May 11, 1908, The New York Times reported that she had amused herself in the House of Representatives gallery by placing a tack on the chair of an unknown gentleman.The New York Times (May 12, 1908). "Mrs. Longworth's Joke ". nytimes.com. Retrieved on December 30, 2008.
Over time, her father began to rely on her as a personal and state representative, including on her 1905 state tour of Asia. However, her rebelliousness continued to exasperate her father. Once, after interrupting a conversation between the president and Owen Wister for a third time, he threatened to throw her "out the window," and remarked to Wister, "I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both."Ripper, J. American Stories: Living American History, Vol. II: From 1865. M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 2008, p. 72. When it came time for the Roosevelt family to move out of the White House in 1909, Alice buried a voodoo doll of the new first lady, Nellie Taft, in the front yard. After Taft took office and Nellie had a paralyzing stroke, the doll was discovered, and Alice was barred from the White House grounds.Lawrence L. Knutson (June 7, 1999). "Alice Roosevelt Longworth, wild thing ". salon.com. Retrieved on December 30, 2008.
Tour of Asia
In 1905, Alice and Secretary of War William Howard Taft led an American delegation on visits to Japan, Hawaii, China, the Philippines, and Korea. It was the largest diplomatic mission to Asia in American history at that point, including 23 representatives (including her fiancé, Ohio representative Nicholas Longworth), seven senators, diplomats, officials, and businessmen."Excerpt – 'The Imperial Cruise' by James Bradley." New York Times . November 18, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
On September 12, Alice made news again when papers reported that she had jumped into the ship's swimming pool fully clothed and coaxed New York representative William Bourke Cockran to join her in the water. Newspapers put a romantic spin on the story and reported it was Longworth, to whom Alice was soon engaged. Years later, Robert F. Kennedy chided her about the incident, saying it was outrageous for the time, to which Alice replied that it would only have been outrageous had she removed her clothes.Teichmann, H. Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Prentice Hall, 1979, p. 203. In her memoirs, Alice noted that there was little difference between the linen skirt and blouse she had been wearing and a lady's swimsuit of the period.
Wedding to Nicholas Longworth Upon her return from Asia in December, the Roosevelts announced Alice's engagement to Nicholas Longworth, the scion of a prominent Ohio family who was fourteen years her senior and had a playboy reputation within the capital city. Their wedding was held on February 17, 1906 in the East Room of the White House and was considered the social event of the season, with over one thousand guests and many thousands more gathered outside the White House. She wore a cream white satin wedding dress and dramatically cut the wedding cake with a military sword, borrowed from an aide in attendance.Quinn-Musgrove, Sandra L., and Kanter, Sanford. "America's Royalty: All the Presidents' Children". Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995 p. 149. Immediately after the wedding, the couple honeymooned in Cuba and visited the Longworth family in Cincinnati, followed by travels to England and Europe, where they dined with Edward VII, Wilhelm II, Georges Clemenceau, Whitelaw Reid, George Curzon, and William Jennings Bryan.Roosevelt-Longworth, Alice. Crowded Hours. Ayer Publishing, 1988, p. 120-123.
Post-White House
Marriage
After she married Longworth in 1905, the couple bought a house at 2009 Massachusetts Avenue NW, the present home of the Washington Legal Foundation.
By 1912, their marriage became tense, as the couple took opposing sides in that year's presidential election; Alice supported her father, while Nicholas supported his mentor, Taft. During the campaign, Alice appeared onstage at a campaign rally for her father's ticket alongside vice presidential candidate Hiram Johnson, in her husband's own Ohio district. Longworth ultimately lost his seat to Democratic challenger Stanley E. Bowdle by 101 votes, with many progressive supporters of the Roosevelts voting for third-party candidate Millard F. Andrew. Longworth joked that Alice had been worth at least one hundred votes. Although Longworth was re-elected to the House in 1914 and served for the remainder of his life, the 1912 campaign contributed to a permanent and public chill in their marriage.
The marriage ended when Longworth died on April 9, 1931.
Affairs, daughter, and granddaughter