The Other Washington Monument: Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s Contentious Career

Modern stories of daughters of the American Presidents and their clutched lives have been exemplified by teenybopper movies such as Chasing Liberty and The First Daughter. These films typically tell of the heroine’s quest for individuality, freedom and love and usually end with their realization that their position as the President’s daughter holds as much responsibility as the President himself. The life story of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, first daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, would have catapulted into a bigger hit, if it gets to capture the drama, glamour and the controversies that highlight her long life of ninety six years.Amidst Turmoil and Catastrophe: A Picture of Determination and Character In February 12, 1884, Alice Lee Roosevelt was born in Manhattan to eighteen year old Alice Hathaway Lee and twenty four-year old, Republican member of the New York state legislature, Theodore. Her tragic birth seemed a sign of the turbulent life this American socialite would lead later on. A few days after Alice’s birth, both Theodore’s wife and mother passed away. The former died of a kidney disease and the latter of typhoid fever.Perhaps as a result of this, or of Theodore’s political ambitions to become mayor of New York City, Alice has never seen much of her father while she was growing up, so she was raised by Theodore’s sister Anna, whom she called Aunty Bye. Anna was unmarried but sociable and would fill in stories of her real mother to Alice, as a compensation for her apathetic father. Alice would also later comment that Aunty Bye was a significant and optimistic influence in her life (Beres, 1995).After three years under Aunty Bye’s care, Alice moved in (because of her stepmother’s bidding) with Theodore and her new wife, Edith Kermit Carow in Sagamore Hill, Long Island. She later became the eldest in a brood of six, but was believed to have a distant relationship with her family. Even though Alice gre w up without the care of a mother, she obtained the elegance and beauty which was widely adored by the public (Bingham, 1969). This occurred despite her contraction of polio in 1887, an infection which almost crippled her.In fact, she would later be praised for a flawless posture, which resulted from her stepmother’s recourse to stretch her legs every night as a cure for her viral disease (Beres, 1995) or, according to Cordery (1995), from wearing leg braces until she was aged thirteen. Teen Life at the White House Despite losing in the mayoralty race in New York in 1886, Theodore Roosevelt’s political career became one of the most unparalleled in the history of the United States. He battled corruption as he held positions in the US Civil Service Commission and the New York City Board of Police Commissioners.He became one of the youngest Presidents at forty two after having been sworn into office because of the assassination of then President William Mc Kinley in Septe mber 1901. Alice was seventeen years old then and seemed to struggle with her popularity to the media, as she thwarted when given the nickname â€Å"Princess Alice† by the journalists. She was also lucky (or unlucky, as she would later comment, that her celebration was a â€Å"dowdy† arrangement of her stepmother) to be the first Presidential daughter to have debuted under the Executive Manor, which incidentally, was renamed the White House by Theodore Roosevelt.During these times, Alice’s attitude was characteristic of today’s rich, famous and reckless teenage celebrities. Alice also had her share of the â€Å"Paparazzi moments†, rebellious attitude and controversies. She was a regular at the weekly publication â€Å"Town Topics† at Washington, DC, the predecessor of E-buzz in the 1900’s. Her favorite shade of blue, so called â€Å"Alice blue†, became a fashion fad and she inspired and popularized songs like â€Å"Where art t hou Alice† and â€Å"Alice Blue Gown†.She was widely imitated and her image represented the wrong kind of cool, as she was, as Beres (1995) states, â€Å"blunt, opinionated, scandalous, and highly unpredictable †¦ the smoking, drinking, racing around in cars and betting on horses†. This behavior brought negative publicity to her family. Perhaps to derail this trend, Alice was sent as an emissary of her father to Cuba and Puerto Rico, and to Japan, China, Korea and the Philippines during the 1905 Russo-Japanese war settlement (Cordery, 1995).But it was her marriage to Nicholas Longworth in February 17, 1906 that spoiled her rampage, much to her father’s contentment. They traveled after their famed honeymoon in Cuba and were accompanied by the royalty of Germany, France and England in their visit to Europe. Her Political Ascent and Demise Her fame as a politician, or somewhat, as a handmaid of the politicians, became eminent after her marriage, as she s upported her Father’s and Nicholas’ campaigns and became the center and promulgator of social events.However, during the 1912 elections, Theodore, who was then running for his third term at the Presidency, lost along with Nicholas who was also failed to win as Senator. With her help and support, his husband regained position in 1914, while she invested her time with issues concerning World War I, the League of Nations and the Ohio Republican Committee. With the loss of her father in January 6, 1919, she continued to strengthen her territory in the political arena. She championed the controversial issue on women suffrage in 1920, as Beres (1995) thought, not because she found it important, but because it was contentious.Two days after her 41st birthday, she gave birth to her only daughter, Paulina, who was rumored to be her child to Senator William E. Borah. Nonetheless, Nicholas, who died in 1931 while he was Speaker of the House, was a devoted father to their only chi ld. She declined when offered to run for her husband’s position but constantly graced the political field with presence. During the time of Hitler’s violent reign, contrary to her father’s legendary involvement on many international political concerns which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, she pioneered isolationism for the US.Her witty but frank and intrepid, mostly mean (Bingham, 1969) comments, aptly referred to as swordplay by Skow (1988), have earned her the reputation of being a major influential political and historical character in her time. In fact, according to Keegan (2006), she would have made an atrocious American Idol judge. She authored Crowded Hours in 1933 when she was 49 and continued to goad both politicians and the public in her ephemeral column My Day. She was also a constant critic of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and many other US presidents.Paulina, on the other hand, who had a constant appeal for her mother’s lo ve, committed what was thought to be suicide at her young age of thirty two. Alice took care of her granddaughter Joanna who had unrelenting loyalty for her until Alice’s death (Cordery, 1995). On the contrary, Skow (1998) mentioned that Alice lived alone for the remainder of her life. She was buried beside Paulina, when she died on February 20, 1980. References Beres, C. B. (1995). â€Å"Alice Roosevelt Longworth. † DISCovering U. S. History. Gale Research: [Electronic copy]. Retrieved September 6. 2007. In â€Å"Alice Roosevelt Longworth.† Great Lives from History, Frank N. Magill. (Ed. ) American Women Series, v. 3. Salem Press. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. http://galenet. galegroup. com/servlet/HistRC/ Bingham, J. (1969). Before the colors fade: Alice Roosevelt Longworth. [Electronic copy]. Retrieved September 6, 2007. American Heritage Magazine, 20:2. http://www. americanheritage. com/articles/magazine/ah/1969/2/1 969_2_42. shtml. Cordery, S. A. (1995). Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth. Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 10: 1976-1980. Charles Scribner's Sons. Keegan, R. W. (2006).An American princess. Time Magazine. [Electronic copy]. Retrieved September 6, 2007. www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1207827,00. html Longworth, Alice Roosevelt. (1933). Crowded Hours: Reminiscences of Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Charles Scribner's Sons. Longworth, Alice Roosevelt. (2007). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved September 6, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9048900 Skow, J. (1988). Swordplay Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Time Magazine. [Electronic copy]. Retrieved September 6, 2007. www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967243,00. html