Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker [Hardcover]

Stacy A. Cordery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2007

An intimate and revealing portrait of America’s most memorable first daughter

Alice Roosevelt Longworth lived her entire life on the political stage and in the public eye, earning her the nickname “the other Washington monument.” In this new biography—the first in twenty years—Stacy A. Cordery presents a detailed and richly entertaining portrait of the witty and whip- smart daughter of Teddy Roosevelt.

“Princess Alice” was a tempestuous teenager. Smoking, gambling, and dressing flamboyantly, she flouted social conventions and opened the door for other women to do the same. Her husband was Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth but—as Cordery documents for the first time—she had a child with her lover, Senator William Borah of Idaho. Alice’s political acumen was widely respected in Washington. She was a sharp-tongued critic of her cousin FDR’s New Deal programs, and meetings in her drawing room helped to change the course of history, from undermining the League of Nations to boosting Nixon. During the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, her legendary salons were still the center of political ferment.

With new insights into Teddy Roosevelt, and for everyone who delights in Washington history and gossip, Alice is a fascinating portrait of a woman who influenced American politics for nearly a century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fiercely intelligent eldest daughter of President Teddy Roosevelt (1884–1981) was rebellious and outspoken partly as the result of her desperation to gain the attention of an emotionally distant father, according to historian Cordery. Utilizing Alice's personal papers, Cordery describes how she was more devastated by the political infidelity of her husband, House speaker Nicholas Longworth, during the 1912 presidential election (he sided with Taft over TR) than by his sexual dalliances. Her own affair with powerful Idaho Sen. William Borah resulted in the birth of her only child, Paulina. When her beloved father died in 1919, the stoic Alice simply omitted it completely from her autobiography, and she was a poor mother to Paulina, who died in 1957, at 32, from an overdose of prescription medicines mixed with alcohol. Alice's independence of mind often led her against the grain: she worked to defeat Wilson's League of Nations and was a WWII isolationist and America First activist. Her witty syndicated newspaper columns criticized FDR and the New Deal, and she betrayed her cousin Eleanor by encouraging FDR's liaison with Lucy Mercer Rutherford. Cordery (Theodore Roosevelt: In the Vanguard of the Modern) pens an authoritative, intriguing portrait of a first daughter who broke the mold. Photos. (Oct. 22)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Our royalty is our presidential families, and the eldest daughter of Theodore Roosevelt was even referred to in the press of the time as Princess Alice. "Larger than life" is a clichéd description, but Alice Roosevelt Longworth was qualified to wear it. This absorbing, magnificently complete biography, the first to be based on Alice's own papers, presents her as the first female celebrity of the twentieth century. What that meant in terms of how she viewed herself and how she was viewed by her famous father and an adoring public is explored in Cordery's impressively astute psychological understanding of this quite complex personality. Alice's mother died giving birth to her, her father was famously distant, and her stepmother, First Lady Edith, hadn't a clue about how to handle an intelligent, willful—and world-famous—stepdaughter who seemed bent on acting in the most dramatic fashion. Alice's tumultuous marriage to Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth is sensitively appraised, and the true father of Alice's one child is identified. Always the political animal, Alice remained a force in Washington, D.C., politics as well as society throughout her long life, a life she plotted for herself unbound by tradition. Hooper, Brad"

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (October 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670018333
• ISBN-13: 978-0670018338
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #561,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Roosevelt, Theodore

More About the Author

Stacy Cordery is a historical biographer and professor of History at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Her third book, Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker, was a New York Times notable non-fiction book and earned extensive praise for its depth of research and its engaging prose. She has completed her newest biography, Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts, due out in early 2012 and now available for pre-order.

Learn interesting and amusing tidbits about Daisy Low on Stacy Cordery's blog: www.stacycordery.com
Follow Stacy on facebook: Stacy Cordery, Author or on Twitter. Like the book at its facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/JulietteGordonLowBook

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Washington Monument, November 27, 2007

By 

Ronald H. Clark (WASHINGTON, DC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker (Hardcover)

For those of us who live in Washington, the name of Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980) is a familiar one, for she played a major and central role on the stage of the Capital for almost all of her long and interesting life. Daughter of course of Teddy Roosevelt, and his first wife, Alice came of age while TR was President, and had one of the few authentic White House weddings. She married Representative Nicholas Longworth, an Ohio Republican, who eventually rose to be Speaker of the House, before his untimely death in 1931. Alice lived on as a public figure here for nearly 50 more years and just had one heck of an interesting life.

Known for her sharp tongue, sense of mischief, and independent ways (e.g., while her husband was still alive, she apparently managed to have a daughter with Senator Borah of Idaho, and everyone got along famously), Alice was not everyone's cup of tea. But, as this superb biography demonstrates, she had a serious side and was one of the most astue observers of the Washington political scene during the 20th century. Anyone prominent in politics during this period most likely interacted with Alice, particularly at the famous intimate dinners she gave at her beautiful townhouse in Dupont Circle (which still stands, incidentally). Interested in many erudite topics, Alice became quite the reader of books which only added to her incisive command of many topics in addition to the political. All dimensions of her long and fascinating life are covered in this fine book, based upon stupendous research (reflected in the extensive bibliography),including many interviews, and the assistance of Alice's granddaughter which afforded the author unique access to Alice's papers. Though a long book at 483 pages (not counting extensive notes), believe me this biography no more drags than did Alice's life. Alice was undoubtedly one of the most interesting characters on the Washington scene; I regret we arrived here only in 1977, but even then Alice was still at the center of public attention (who else stood on their head regularly in her late 90's) and rightly was given the title of "the other Washington monument" by us all....a title well deserved.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging Portrait of a Political Princess, December 16, 2007

By 

History Buff (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker (Hardcover)

As a non-historian who wishes she could time travel, I gravitate to biography, occasionally whetting my appetite upon historical fiction (albeit with a guilty sigh). I enjoy the escape into other eras where people thought, dressed, talked, and acted differently than they do today. "Alice" filled this need as few biographies do with as much detail paid to her context as to the subject herself. The result is a satisfying read about a highly imaginable, three-dimensional Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Stacy Cordery's detailed and insightful descriptions introduced me to a woman I had never heard of - and yet she was more popular than Shirley Temple at the height of her popularity! By the time I was finished with the book, I wanted to have tea with this political princess. I felt I had a new grasp of a bygone era and a different perspective of Theodore Roosevelt, too. How fun to realize while his leadership of the country was happening on stage, Alice's backstage antics threatened to steal the show. You don't have to love Alice to appreciate her place in history. And if the era doesn't particularly lure you, Cordery's smart and engaging prose and analysis should.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven..., February 14, 2008

By 

Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker (Hardcover)

I was very eager to read Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker by Stacy A. Cordery. I enjoy reading about the Roosevelts and Alice was certainly one of the more colorful family members. But I found Alice uneven and a bit of a disappointment.

The story of Alice Roosevelt Longworth is fairly well-known. Alice was the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt. When Alice was only two days old, both her mother and grandmother (TR's mother) died within hours of each other. Unable to deal with his grief, TR dumped baby Alice with his sister and escaped out west. Three years later, TR married Edith Kermit Carow and they brought Alice to live with them. Soon, Alice was competing with five half siblings. With her emotionally absent father and her stern step-mother, Alice learned to seek attention by rebelling. When her father succeeded to the White House in 1901, Alice became "the first female celebrity of the twentieth century." The press couldn't get enough of the first daughter and nicknamed her Princess Alice. Her father once said "I can either run the country or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both." Alice eventually married Ohio congressman Nicholas Longworth. With her keen intelligence, sharp wit, natural curiosity and political astuteness, Alice remained a mover and a shaker for her 96 years. Her DC house was a gathering place for powerful people.

I thought that Cordery did a good job of covering the political aspects of Alice's life. Unfortunately, I felt that the details of her personal life were lacking. I reached page 200 and realized that there wasn't much that I hadn't read in other sources. There wasn't that much about her interaction with her siblings. Her daughter, Paulina, is largely glossed over. Alice had an affair with Senator William Borah and he was allegedly the father of Paulina. But after lots of pages, he seems to just drop away from the story. What really happened to their relationship? Also, I'm a stickler for details. Was there a funeral for Alice? If so, where was it held? Where is she buried? Her father's death receives only one paragraph. For a book that is advertised as "the first full biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth," there are major holes.

I enjoyed reading Alice, but I was just expecting more.