Alice Longworth Roosevelt (1884-1980)

Figure 1.--Alice was President's Roosevelt's oldest child by his first wife Alice Lee Hathaway who died in childbirth. Willfull and headstrong, the Preside remarked of Alice as a teenager, ""I can either manage Alice or the country. I can't do both." She later became a Washington institution.

Alice was Theodore Roosevelt's first child. She arrived in a great tragedy. Her mother Alice Lee Hathaway died in child birth. She had been the love of her father's life. After her mother's death, her father left Alice with relatives for several years as he attempted to cope with his grief. She was an older teenager when her father became president. As a teenager and young adult, Alice proved difficult to handle. She was called "Princess Alice" by the press. Her father said, "I can either manage Alice or the country. I can't do both." Her cousin Elenor was scandalized by her behavior, once writing, "I saw her in Bobbie Goelet's auto quite alone with three other men!". Alice married Ohio Nicholas Longworth, an influential Congressman, in a magnificent White House ceremony during 1906. He eventually became Speaker of the House of Representatives. Alice lived into her 90s. She became a Wahington institution and even in her later years lost none of the lively nature she exhibited as a teenager. She could be sarcastic and loved nothing more than Washington gossip and scandal. She was especially known for sating at a social event, "If you haven't got anything good to say about anybody come sit next to me". One of her most famous assessments was her comment on President Coolidge. She said, he looks like he was "weaned on a pickle".