Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884, in New York City, NY– February 20,1980, in Washington D.C), was the only daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee.

Related Topics:
February 12 - 1884 - New York City - NY - February 20 - 1980 - Washington D.C - Theodore Roosevelt - President of the United States - Alice Hathaway Lee

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alice Lee Roosevelt was born at the Roosevelt family home on 6 West 57th St. in New York City. Shortly after her birth, both her mother Alice and her paternal grandmother died at the Roosevelt family home in Manhattan. Roosevelt was so distraught with the loss of his wife that he never spoke of her again and refused to have her name mentioned in his presence. Grief-stricken, Roosevelt left his infant daughter Alice in the care of his sister and embarked on a journey of personal discovery.

Related Topics:
Roosevelt - New York City - Manhattan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Returning east, Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Kermit Carrow and reclaimed his daughter. While father and daughter idolized one another, the relationship between young Alice and her stepmother was strained. Ultimately, Theodore and Edith Roosevelt had five children of their own.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alice matured into young womanhood and in the course became known as a great beauty like her mother. However the years of separation between her and her father in her infancy, combined with the tension between her and her stepmother, molded a young woman who was as aloof as she was self-confident and calculating. While not cruel, she was even hard-pressed to find kindness in her heart for her cousin Eleanor Roosevelt, the daughter of her father's brother. Alice was jealous that Franklin and Eleanor and not she, was in the White House and was very outspoken on her feelings. For a time, Alice and Eleanor were competing newspaper columnists, but Alice's "Capitol Comment" column was no match for Eleanor's "My Day" and the column was eventually cancelled. The relationship between the two cousins was strange. Alice and Eleanor often spent time together, invited each other to dinners, suggesting they didn't let politics completely interfere with family affairs. As soon as they reached the political forefront though, the fierce competition began between the two.

Related Topics:
Eleanor Roosevelt - Franklin - Eleanor - My Day

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When her father took office following the assassination of President William McKinley (an event that "filled (me) with an extreme rapture") Alice became an instant celebrity and fashion icon. The song Alice Blue Gown was written as an ode to her and her signature color. She was also known as a rule-breaker in an era when women were under great pressure to conform. One of her most famous actions was smoking a cigarette in public, something that would garner national attention. When her father banned her from smoking in the White House, Alice followed her father's instructions by moving her smoking to the roof of the White House. President Roosevelt was quoted once as saying "I can run the country or I can control Alice, but I can't possibly do both."

Related Topics:
William McKinley - Alice Blue Gown

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alice was the center of attention in the social context of her father's presidency. "She is," President Roosevelt said, "the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral." Upon hearing this, Alice responded that her father was all of those, including "the baby at every christening."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For her husband, Alice chose Nicholas Longworth, a U.S. House of Representatives member from Cincinnati, Ohio who ultimately held the position of Speaker of the House. Longworth had a well-documented reputation as a Washington, D.C. playboy, and the two made an awkward couple. The couple had a daughter, Paulina Longworth (1925-1957), though there is much evidence to suggest that the real father was Alice's long-time lover, Senator William Edgar Borah. Alice and Nick shared an interest in Republican politics and power, but little else. Of the two, Alice was known as taking the more hard-line Republican position, while Longworth was more affable. During their marriage Longworth carried on numerous affairs; Alice responded by using every opportunity to make disparaging remarks about his home district of Cincinnati, Ohio, calling its residents "ignorant savages," and worse.

Related Topics:
Nicholas Longworth - U.S. House of Representatives - Speaker of the House - William Edgar Borah - Cincinnati, Ohio

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When it came time for the Roosevelt family to move out of the White House, Alice buried a Voodoo doll of the new First Lady, Nellie Taft in the front yard. During the administration of Woodrow Wilson, Alice Roosevelt Longworth worked endlessly against the entry of the United States into the League of Nations. Her dinner and reception lobbying is credited with helping to derail America's membership in the League of Nations.

Related Topics:
White House - Voodoo doll - Nellie Taft - Woodrow Wilson - League of Nations

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With great relief, Alice welcomed the presidency of Warren G. Harding, although her feelings toward the Hardings was slightly lower than those she felt toward Cincinnati. Mrs. Longworth felt that Harding was a crass man, barely educated, and ill suited for the job. She also recognized that Harding's election dimmed the prospects of her own husband's possible ascendancy in the new administration, although she was pleased that Harding was a Republican and had appointed Henry Cabot Lodge to his cabinet. Her feelings toward First Lady Florence Harding grew more strained during the Hardings' years in Washington. Alice felt that she had lost her best friend, Evalyn Walsh McLean, to Florence, and the relationship between the Alice -- the Speaker's wife -- and the President's wife grew bitter.

Related Topics:
Warren G. Harding - Henry Cabot Lodge - Florence Harding - Evalyn Walsh McLean

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Following the death of her husband in 1931, Alice Longworth and her daughter continued to live near Dupont Circle on Massachusetts Avenue, Washington's Embassy Row. When asked if she would run for her late husband's seat, she declined, most likely because of the contempt that she felt for Cincinnati. Her final visits to the city were in order to fulfill obligations, not for pleasure. One such trip was made for the burial of her husband, another for the social debut of her daughter. When asked if she would be buried in Cincinnati, Mrs. Longworth said that to do so "would be a fate worse than death itself."

Related Topics:
1931 - Dupont Circle - Embassy Row

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The widow Longworth maintained her stature in the community, socially and politically, garnering her the nickname of "Washington's Other Monument". Mrs. Longworth served as a delegate to Republican National Convention.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paulina Longworth married Alexander McCormick Sturm, with whom she had a daughter, Joanna (b. 1944). Sturm died in 1951. Following the accidental suicide of her daughter in 1957, Alice Longworth fought for and won the custody of her granddaughter Joanna Sturm, whom she raised. Unlike her relationship with her daughter, Mrs. Longworth doted on her granddaughter and the two were very close. Upon Paulina's death, her cousin Eleanor Roosevelt sent condolences and the two mended their broken relationship on political differences. Following a break-in of her home in the 1960s, Mrs. Longworth planted and trained poison ivy to grow up the façade of her Washington house as a deterrent to future would-be burglars.

Related Topics:
Paulina Longworth - Alexander McCormick Sturm - 1951 - Joanna Sturm - Eleanor Roosevelt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mrs. Longworth continued her obsession with Eleanor Roosevelt, long after Roosevelt's death. In senility, Mrs. Longworth would ask spontaneously, "Where's Eleanor, what's Eleanor doing?" Alice Roosevelt Longworth died in her Embassy Row house in 1980 of emphysema and a number of other extended illnesses at the age of 96. Alice Roosevelt Longworth is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C.

Related Topics:
Eleanor Roosevelt - Eleanor - 1980 - Emphysema - Rock Creek Cemetery - Rock Creek Park

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Of her quotable quotes, her most famous found its way to a pillow on her settee: "If you haven't anything nice to say, come sit by me." To Senator Joseph McCarthy she stated that the garbage men, taxi drivers and street sweepers in her neighborhood could call her by her first name, but that he could not. She also informed President Lyndon B. Johnson that she wore wide brim hats so he couldn't kiss her. When a well-known Washington senator was discovered to have been having an affair with a young woman more than half his age, Mrs. Longworth quipped, "You can't make a soufflé rise twice."

Related Topics:
Joseph McCarthy - Lyndon B. Johnson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~