Born on February 12, 1884, Alice Roosevelt was the eldest child of Theodore Roosevelt and Alice Hathaway Lee. Two days after her birth, her mother died of Bright’s disease and her grandmother died of typhoid fever. She lived in an age defined by social conformity, and the public adored her for her way of bucking the system. She smoked cigarettes in public, rode unchaperoned in cars with men, partied late into the night, engaged in voodoo, and was seen placing bets with a bookie. When the Roosevelt family was moving out of the White House, she buried a voodoo doll of Nellie Taft, the incoming first lady, which earned her a ban from the residence. When her father assumed the presidency, she became an instant celebrity and a fashion icon; so much that a particular shade of blue became known as “Princess Alice Blue”. Alice attended the Imperial Cruise and made headlines on every stop of the journey. She was photographed attending Sumo Wrestling matches, had tea with the Meiji Emperor in Japan, and the Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty of China. She even jumped fully-clothed into the ship's pool and coaxed a Congressman to join her. The press reported her extravagant purchases of Chinese silk, and the pearl necklace given to her by the Cuban government. Alice married Congressman Nicholas Longworth who was 14 years older than her and had a reputation as a “Washington playboy”. The marriage between them was awkward and mismatched, which led both to seek out emotional and carnal solace in other people. She had an affair with Senator William Borah which produced her daughter, Paulina Longworth. She was a heavy smoker and went through two mastectomies. Her own father, Theodore Roosevelt once said, “I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both.” Alice Roosevelt died at the age of 96 after contracting pneumonia and was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D.C.
Alice Roosevelt (aka Princess Alice or The other Washington Monument) once said, “If you can’t say something good about someone, sit right here by me.”
2 comments:
It was really interesting to read about such a interesting young woman! Some of her exploits don't sound that out of the norm for modern day society, but I would've expected far greater backlash considering the time period she is in. I was surprised to read about the positive public reception to her antics. From the way she behaves, it sounds like Alice belongs with the flappers of the 1920s!
You made reading this very interesting and gave good insight on how much of a rebel Alice Roosevelt was
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