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

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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.

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.

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.

One of the 20th centuries most fascinating characters is the subject of the biography she deserves. Yes, the famous wit and flamboyant behavior is there, and her carelessness and neglect. But this book puts Mrs. Longworth's role in political history into perspective with meticulous research that includes interviews with people whose memories of working with her add a wealth of fascinating detail. Well done!

The author of this book has chosen her subject well for it would be almost impossible to write a dull biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Born two days before her mother's death Alice was her father's child in every sense of the word and was far more like her intrepid father than any of his other children. Unfortunately a lot of her outlandish behavior may have been a cry for attention from her father because he was not close to his eldest child until well into his presidency. Teddy just never really managed to deal with the loss of his wife and shortly after Alice's birth he left for an extended stay out west leaving the baby in the care of his sister.

For most of her early life that left Alice feeling like she had to do things to grab her father's attention and she became quite skilled at it. Slowly but surely however her father came to see just how intelligent and observant she was and he began to lean on her as an advisor and as a good will ambassador to the world and when he sent her on a fact-finding tour of Asia she charmed the entire Eastern world.

Alice had a White House wedding when she wed Ohio congressman Nick Longworth and she was sure that she would return to the White House either as first daughter when her father retook the office or as first lady when Nick became president but all of those dreams were just that. Nick did become speaker of the house but alcoholism ended all hope of a Longworth presidency. Long after his death however Alice ruled on as the queen of DC society and as one of the shrewdest political operators in the city. Alice was probably the most intelligent person that the Roosevelt clan ever produced and that is saying something.

This is a nice and overdue biography of Alice Longworth and in places it is a superb biography. Mrs. Cordery does a magnificent job of dealing with Alice's youth and teen years but after that the story sags a little. That's not to say that the story gets dull or slows down once Alice is married but there are some glaring holes that just can't be ignored. For instance there is good evidence that Sen. William Borah was the father of her daughter but the evidence is not concrete or if it is the author fails to make it sound concrete. Still she proceeds with the story as if this theory is fact and while I don't doubt that it is I would like more concrete proof. Also lacking is much detail at all of Alice's relationship with her daughter. The daughter is seldom even mentioned and toward the end of the book the granddaughter gets more space than the daughter ever did. Alice may have been a bad mother or she may have been a wonderful mother but one can't tell by reading this book. One just never does get a really intimate feel for Alice in this book especially after she reaches adulthood.

Overall this is a good biography and if the above-mentioned holes were filled in it would be very good. The writing is generally good although I did have to go back and re-read a sentence here and there to catch what the author was trying to say. There is a lot of new information to be found here and the author has researched her subject pretty well but I never really felt like the author completely caught the essence of her subject.

The timing of the release of this book was excellent. I had just finished a book on Teddy Roosevelt and had wondered if there had been anything written on his daughter, Alice. I could not imagine that this woman had disappeared from history after the defeat of Teddy. And as the book tells in great detail, she did not.
I had no idea that she had continued to be such a political force. The book was well researched and well written. If you cannot get enough of Roosevelt history then this book is a must. It not only tells the story of Alice but give the Roosevelt Aficionado new insights into the relationship of Teddy Roosevelt and his children.
Overall a great read.
jft

As Teddy Roosevelt's oldest child, Alice was introduced to the lifestyles of the rich and politically well-connected early on in her life. She never got over living in the White House. To read her correspondence on the subject, it was forever hers. Alice was a diva. She was the original "it's all about me" celebutant. Very few people ever denied her, and when they did, woe be unto them.

She was married to the Speaker of the House, had a child by a distinguished senator from Idaho and held political sway over the inner circles of Washington, D.C. until her death in 1980.

Stacy Cordery's new biography is voluminous, coming in at 608 pages, not including the references and bibliography. Cordery has done a thorough and sincere job, but even her meticulous efforts can't make "Princess Alice," as she was called, a likable creature. She may have been admirable from afar, but up close and personal, she was selfish, self-centered and hated sharing the spotlight with anyone.

Alice Blue Gown was the first media star of the 20th century. Alice (1884-1980) was the eldest daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. She was his only child by his first wife Alice Lee who died on the same day as his mother in February 1884. TR never spoke about the beautiful Alice Lee or wrote about her during the remainder of his life. Instead he wed his childhood sweetheart
Edith (1861-1948) with whom he had four sons and a daughter. Alice felt aloof from her father and did not get along well with her puritanical and shy stepmother. Alice spent much of her youth living in Connecticut with her aunt Bamy Cowles TR's older sister.
Alice was raised in the White House taking trips to the Far East on behalf of her father. The press and public loved her. She was witty, warm and a rebel who had a pet snake, loved smoking, bicycling and betting on the horses. She wore slacks in a day when this was a no-no. In 1906 she wed the womanizing Congressman from Cincinnati Nicholas Longworth.
Nick was an alcoholic who had countless affairs throughout the marriage. He and Alice did have love for one another but often lived separate lives. Alice loathed Cincinnati and her mother-in-law. Nicholas would become the Speaker of the House of Representatives under Herbert Hoover dying as a respected legislator in 1931.
Alice was distraught over her father's failed bid to win the presidency against William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Eugene Debs in the wild 1912 election. TR led the Bull Moose Party after his spilt with the very conservative Republican Taft. Due to the party division the progressive governor of New Jersey Woodrow Wilson was elected. TR and Alice were furious that her husband Nicholas supported Taft. Alice would also fated to see her husband Nick, brother Ted and lover William Borah blocked in their efforts to someday be President of the United States. She despised the politics of her cousin FDR and made fun of his wife Eleanor. She spent the New Deal years in the political wilderness. Her husband Nick had died in 1930.
Alice had one child by her married lover William Borah the Senator from Idaho. Borah was a strong isolationist opposing American membership in the League of Nations following the end of World War I. Nick may have known he was not the natural father of Paulina born to Borah and his wife in 1925. Pauline died a suicide or as a victim to a drug overdose.
Alice was noted for her grand parties and was friendly with a bevy of American politicians including the Kennedys, Richard Nixon, LBJ, the Herbert Hoovers and countless conservative Republicans. She wrote a newspaper column and was famed for her witticisms such as saying Thomas Dewey looked like the little groom on top of the wedding cake. Dewey lost the race for president to both FDR in 1944 and Truman in 1948.
Alice was, opines biographer Cordrey,the smartest of TR's children. She had a photographic memory. Alice was an omnivorous reader and a keen observor of the political scene. Prior to World War II she was a founder of the America
First organization dedicated to keeping the US out of European war. She was always strongly Republican though she did cross over to LBJ in 1964.
Alice did not entertain fools gladly and could be cruel in her remarks. She never ran for political office prizing her privacy and relishing her fame as the most famous presidential child.
Stacy Cordrey a professor at Monmouth College adds to our knowledge of the famous Oyster Bay Roosevelts with this well researced biography of a fascinating American woman. The reader learns not only about Mrs. Longworth but the tumultous times in which she lived. While not espousing feminist causes Alice was openminded about the role of women in American life. She deserves to be better known and this bigraphy could well serve as the source of a biopic on the complex woman who danced the light fantastic across history's twentieth century stage.

In this biography author Stacy Cordery succeeeds in making her subject come alive. Alice Roosevelt was the pop star of her day just 100 years ago and was the center of attention in Washington DC from the time her father was in the White House until her death almost 80 years later. Using primary sources, Alice's letters and diaries gave the writer the opportunity to paint a vivid portrait in words. This book is recommended for anyone interested in women's history or in political drama.

This full-length biography of Theodore Roosevelt's oldest child is simply terrific. Delving into the personal Alice, author Stacy Cordery looks at all angles of the "First Daughter" and what she comes up with is pure fascination. Alice Roosevelt Longworth was as intriguing an individual as I had always thought and Cordery's book fleshes out that dynamism.

When one thinks of the long life Alice had and her connection to power, it's hard to imagine that her life could be replicated in any way today. She knew all of the presidents from Benjamin Harrison to Gerald Ford and was friends with many of them. Her dinner parties and teas were legend but it was her political influence...and there was lots of it...that Alice wielded and that the author so nicely captures. It would have been fun to meet Alice and to attend one of her functions, but it would have been always beneficial, I'm sure, to be ON her side, if not BY her side.

Many of Alice Roosevelt Longworth's quips are famous but one that appears toward the end of the book struck me particularly. She frequently said that "the secret of eternal youth is arrested development". Alice certainly knew what she was talking about and how it applied to her own self. Yet it is Cordery's offering of the personal Alice that makes this book so good..... the shy president's daughter who dared to be different, her struggles with alcoholic members of her family, (including her husband) and the delight she took in the company of other well-known people...these are the marks that make Alice's life so engaging vis-a-vis her position of fame.

I highly recommend "Alice" and commend the author for the depth and scope of her work. It's a wonderful read covering a life of almost a century and the many people who were brought into her sphere. Alice was indeed "sui generis".