Recent from talks
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. Longworth led an unconventional and controversial life. Her marriage to Representative Nicholas Longworth III, a Republican Party leader and the 38th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was shaky, and her only child, Paulina, was from her affair with Senator William Borah.
Alice met 16 U.S. Presidents during her life: Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, her father Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, her cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. She is widely thought to be the person who met the most serving U.S. Presidents in history.
Alice Lee Roosevelt was born in the Roosevelt family home at 6 West 57th St. in Manhattan, New York on February 12, 1884. Her mother, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, was a Boston banking heiress. Her father, Theodore, was then a New York State Assemblyman. As an Oyster Bay Roosevelt, Alice was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Two days after her birth, in the same house, her mother died of undiagnosed Bright's disease. Eleven hours earlier that day, Theodore's mother, Martha "Mittie" Bulloch Roosevelt, had died of typhoid fever.
Theodore was rendered so distraught by his wife's death that he could not bear to think about her. He almost never spoke of her again, would not allow her to be mentioned in his presence, and even omitted her name from his autobiography. Therefore, his daughter Alice was called "Baby Lee" instead of by her first name. She continued this practice late in life, often preferring to be called "Mrs. L" rather than "Alice".
Seeking solace, Theodore retreated from his life in New York and headed west, where he spent two years traveling and living on his ranch in North Dakota. He left his infant daughter in the care of his sister Anna, known as "Bamie" or "Bye". Letters to Bamie reveal Theodore's concern for his daughter. In one 1884 letter, he wrote, "I hope Mousiekins will be very cunning, I shall dearly love her."
Bamie had a significant influence on young Alice, who would later speak of her admiringly: "If auntie Bye had been a man, she would have been president". Bamie took her under her watchful care, moving Alice into her book-filled Manhattan house, until Theodore married again.
After Theodore married Edith Kermit Carow on December 2, 1886, Alice was raised by her father and stepmother. Through this marriage, Alice had five half-siblings: Theodore III (Ted), Kermit, Ethel, Archie, and Quentin. Theodore remained married to Edith until his death in 1919. During much of Alice's childhood, Bamie was a remote figure who eventually married and moved to London for a time. As Alice later became more independent and came into conflict with her father and stepmother, Aunt "Bye" provided needed structure and stability. Late in life, she said of her aunt: "There is always someone in every family who keeps it together. In ours, it was Auntie Bye."
Hub AI
Alice Roosevelt Longworth AI simulator
(@Alice Roosevelt Longworth_simulator)
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. Longworth led an unconventional and controversial life. Her marriage to Representative Nicholas Longworth III, a Republican Party leader and the 38th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was shaky, and her only child, Paulina, was from her affair with Senator William Borah.
Alice met 16 U.S. Presidents during her life: Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, her father Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, her cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. She is widely thought to be the person who met the most serving U.S. Presidents in history.
Alice Lee Roosevelt was born in the Roosevelt family home at 6 West 57th St. in Manhattan, New York on February 12, 1884. Her mother, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, was a Boston banking heiress. Her father, Theodore, was then a New York State Assemblyman. As an Oyster Bay Roosevelt, Alice was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Two days after her birth, in the same house, her mother died of undiagnosed Bright's disease. Eleven hours earlier that day, Theodore's mother, Martha "Mittie" Bulloch Roosevelt, had died of typhoid fever.
Theodore was rendered so distraught by his wife's death that he could not bear to think about her. He almost never spoke of her again, would not allow her to be mentioned in his presence, and even omitted her name from his autobiography. Therefore, his daughter Alice was called "Baby Lee" instead of by her first name. She continued this practice late in life, often preferring to be called "Mrs. L" rather than "Alice".
Seeking solace, Theodore retreated from his life in New York and headed west, where he spent two years traveling and living on his ranch in North Dakota. He left his infant daughter in the care of his sister Anna, known as "Bamie" or "Bye". Letters to Bamie reveal Theodore's concern for his daughter. In one 1884 letter, he wrote, "I hope Mousiekins will be very cunning, I shall dearly love her."
Bamie had a significant influence on young Alice, who would later speak of her admiringly: "If auntie Bye had been a man, she would have been president". Bamie took her under her watchful care, moving Alice into her book-filled Manhattan house, until Theodore married again.
After Theodore married Edith Kermit Carow on December 2, 1886, Alice was raised by her father and stepmother. Through this marriage, Alice had five half-siblings: Theodore III (Ted), Kermit, Ethel, Archie, and Quentin. Theodore remained married to Edith until his death in 1919. During much of Alice's childhood, Bamie was a remote figure who eventually married and moved to London for a time. As Alice later became more independent and came into conflict with her father and stepmother, Aunt "Bye" provided needed structure and stability. Late in life, she said of her aunt: "There is always someone in every family who keeps it together. In ours, it was Auntie Bye."
Recent media