157 Facts About Edith Roosevelt

Edith Kermit Roosevelt was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt and the first lady of the United States from 1901 to 1909.

Edith Roosevelt had previously been the second lady of the United States in 1901 and the first lady of New York from 1899 to 1900.

Edith Roosevelt resented the press, feeling that it was intrusive.

Edith Roosevelt controlled Washington social life, organizing weekly meetings of the cabinet members' wives, and became the gatekeeper of who could attend formal events.

Edith Roosevelt took up travel in the years after leaving the White House, frequently touring Europe and Latin America.

Edith Roosevelt's health declined in the 1910s, and she was devastated by the deaths of her son Quentin in 1918 and then Theodore in 1919.

Edith Roosevelt remained politically active, supporting Warren G Harding in 1920 and Herbert Hoover in 1932.

Edith Roosevelt took an interest in her ancestry in the 1920s, writing a book on her ancestors and purchasing her ancestral home in Brooklyn, Connecticut.

Edith Roosevelt lost two more of her sons in the 1940s and was bedridden for the last year of her life.

Edith Roosevelt Kermit Carow was born on August 6,1861, in Norwich, Connecticut.

Edith Roosevelt was the first of two daughters born to Charles Carow and Gertrude Elizabeth Tyler.

Edith Roosevelt was unhappy with her childhood, and she rarely spoke of her parents throughout her adult life.

Corinne Roosevelt was Edith's closest childhood friend, and Edith was often brought along with the Roosevelt children in their family activities.

Edith Roosevelt bonded with Corinne's brother, Theodore Roosevelt, over their mutual love of literature.

The Carows moved uptown in 1871, where Edith Roosevelt attended Miss Comstock's School.

Edith Roosevelt learned to speak fluent French and took a more active interest in English literature, with a particular focus on the works of William Shakespeare.

Edith Roosevelt was unable to travel, as she had to stay home tending for her parents, who had both fallen ill.

Edith Roosevelt maintained a close relationship with the Roosevelts over the following years, though she was cold toward Alice.

Theodore's wife and his mother Martha Bulloch Edith Roosevelt both died in February 1884, so he moved west to distance himself from his life in New York.

Edith Roosevelt avoided her intentionally, worrying that he would be betraying Alice if he developed feelings for Edith.

Edith Roosevelt promptly had her own family's furniture brought in to replace the furniture from Theodore's previous marriage.

Edith Roosevelt decided that her stepdaughter Alice was to live with them and was to refer to Edith Roosevelt as her mother.

Sagamore Hill had a staff of approximately 12 servants, and Edith Roosevelt found herself managing the entire staff and estate by herself.

Each morning, Edith Roosevelt tended to the household chores while Theodore worked on his writing, and then the two went walking or rowing in the afternoons.

Edith Roosevelt was content with a quiet, domestic life, but she accepted that Theodore would often bring home company for her to entertain.

Edith Roosevelt began suffering headaches that plagued her for the rest of her life, sometimes leaving her bedridden.

Edith Roosevelt's first child, Theodore III, was born September 13,1887.

Edith Roosevelt hired her own childhood nanny, Mary Ledwith, to care for the children.

Edith Roosevelt then underwent a period of postpartum depression, and she experienced a miscarriage the following year.

In October 1888, Edith Roosevelt joined Theodore in traveling west to campaign for Benjamin Harrison in that year's presidential election, finding the experience enjoyable.

Edith Roosevelt was pregnant again, and she stayed at Sagamore Hill while Theodore moved to Washington, DC His absences especially took a toll on her while she was pregnant, causing her further depression.

Edith Roosevelt's second son, Kermit, was born on October 10,1889.

Edith Roosevelt preferred Washington to New York, and after arriving, she made her first of many visits to the Smithsonian Institution and Fischer's antique shop.

Edith Roosevelt looked back fondly on these years later in life.

Edith Roosevelt attended several receptions at the White House in 1890 with her husband, and was now received as a guest rather than a tourist.

Edith Roosevelt retired to Sagamore Hill that summer at the end of the social season, and she accompanied Theodore on his travels west.

Edith Roosevelt gave birth to a daughter, Ethel, on August 13,1891.

Edith Roosevelt was in charge of all the family's finances, keeping meticulous records and allotting $20 per day to her husband.

The Roosevelts were invited to dine at the White House for the first time on February 1,1894, where Edith was seated directly next to President Grover Cleveland.

Edith Roosevelt regretted not running to the point of depression, and Edith made a promise not to give further input on his political career.

Edith Roosevelt was reluctant to leave Washington and her social circle in the city, but the move came with an increased salary for Theodore.

Edith Roosevelt eventually joined him in the city whenever he worked overnight, and after her period of mourning for her mother ended, she began attending cultural events in the city.

Edith Roosevelt delayed her move to Washington because of pregnancy.

Edith Roosevelt's final child, Quentin, was born on November 9,1897.

Edith Roosevelt spent the following four months recovering from an abdominal abscess and the resulting surgery.

Edith Roosevelt traveled to Florida on June 1,1898, to see Theodore off as he left to fight with the Rough Riders.

Edith Roosevelt wrote to him almost every day while he was away and stayed informed through the newspaper, which often covered his exploits with the Rough Riders as he became increasingly famous.

Edith Roosevelt did not join him on the campaign, out of both her need to support the children and her desire to avoid public attention.

Edith Roosevelt instead took charge of the mail that he received.

Edith Roosevelt's children were older by this point, and their time in school or with a governess gave her a degree of freedom from her previous responsibilities.

Edith Roosevelt renovated the New York State Executive Mansion in Albany after moving in so that it was a suitable home for her children, and she redecorated it with new artwork.

Edith Roosevelt grew comfortable with her life in Albany, as it brought financial security and her role as first lady allowed her to spend more time with her husband.

Edith Roosevelt pursued new hobbies in the city, joining the Friday Morning Club and accompanying Frances Theodora Parsons on botanical trips.

Edith Roosevelt was more cautious about public life as her husband became one of the most prominent figures in American politics.

Edith Roosevelt's primary focus when entertaining was the flower arrangements, while an aide addressed food, seating, and music.

Edith Roosevelt became very thin during the campaign, because of the stress of Theodore being away and the possibility that he might win.

Edith Roosevelt started a diary, deciding that her insights as the wife of a public figure were worth preserving.

Edith Roosevelt attended Theodore's inauguration as vice president in Washington on March 4,1901.

Edith Roosevelt felt that the job's limited duties made it a poor fit for her perennially active husband.

Only six months into his term as vice president, Theodore became president of the United States, and Edith Roosevelt became the nation's first lady.

Edith Roosevelt dreaded the idea of Theodore being president, fearing both for his safety and for her children who would receive national attention.

Edith Roosevelt feared that he would not do well under the confinement he would experience as president, and she worried that he was too young to be president.

Edith Roosevelt received some relief at the beginning of her tenure when she spoke to former president Cleveland about Theodore as president, to which he simply responded "don't worry, he is all right".

Edith Roosevelt likewise delegated management of the staff to the chief usher.

Each Tuesday, Edith Roosevelt organized a meeting with the wives of all the cabinet members to run concurrently with cabinet meetings.

In tandem with her responsibilities as first lady, Edith Roosevelt continued acting as the caregiver for her children.

Edith Roosevelt tended to her children and her husband whenever they fell ill or were injured, which happened many times throughout her tenure.

Quentin's childhood friend Earle Looker later wrote that Edith Roosevelt seemed to regret that her role as first lady prevented her from being more active in the children's play.

Edith Roosevelt hoped for another child, but her two pregnancies in 1902 and 1903 both resulted in miscarriages.

Besides her own children, Edith Roosevelt made sure to dedicate time to her stepdaughter Alice, who felt neglected by Theodore.

Edith Roosevelt nonetheless lost five pounds from stress as the election neared.

Edith Roosevelt was disappointed when, in the jubilation of his victory, Theodore announced that he would not run for election again.

Edith Roosevelt knew he would come to regret the announcement, and she later said that she would have done anything in her power to prevent it if she had known what he was going to say.

In May 1905, Edith Roosevelt set off to create a presidential retreat to which the family could escape.

Edith Roosevelt went to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Albemarle County, Virginia, where she purchased a cabin from a family friend.

Edith Roosevelt chose Archibald Butt, the new White House military aide.

Edith Roosevelt found comfort in the fact that the first lady did not have to make social calls, instead receiving them from others each afternoon.

Edith Roosevelt found the egg roll distasteful, saying that it ruined the grass and lamenting the smell of rotting eggs as the event went on.

Edith Roosevelt refused to recognize him socially, leaving to have lunch with relatives before he arrived to meet Theodore.

Edith Roosevelt disliked the White House upon moving in, saying that it was "like living over the store".

Edith Roosevelt objected to McKim's proposed design for her writing desk, calling it "ugly and inconvenient".

Edith Roosevelt saw the construction of a feature long desired by past first ladies: separate living quarters secluded from the executive offices and public areas, allowing the family to live uninterrupted by visitors.

Edith Roosevelt had a tennis court installed, hoping that it would encourage her husband to maintain a healthy weight.

Edith Roosevelt then ensured the continuation of the White House china collection that had been started by former first lady Caroline Harrison.

Edith Roosevelt organized the creation of a portrait gallery that featured official portraits of the first ladies.

Since Theodore did not read the newspapers, Edith Roosevelt read four each day and brought clippings to him if she thought they warranted his attention.

Edith Roosevelt had two Secret Service agents stationed at Pine Knot each night without telling Theodore.

Edith Roosevelt agreed with Theodore's policies when he became adamant about progressive reforms in his second term.

Shortly after becoming first lady, Edith Roosevelt put her efforts toward helping her friend Frances Metcalfe Wolcott reunite with her ex-husband following a divorce.

Edith Roosevelt donated handkerchiefs and other items to be auctioned for charity during the first two years of her tenure, establishing a "handkerchief bureau" to facilitate the donations.

Edith Roosevelt stopped after the handkerchiefs were scrutinized and criticized, which caused her a great deal of emotional distress.

Edith Roosevelt made anonymous donations from her personal funds to those in need, so long as she could first confirm the facts to ensure she was not "'carrying' people when they should 'learn to walk".

Edith Roosevelt frequently did needlework for charity, participating in the St Hilda Sewing Circle with Oyster Bay's Christ Episcopal Church.

Edith Roosevelt voiced her support for the Audubon Society's efforts to end the use of decorative plumes on women's hats in 1905, and she joined the New York Assembly of Mothers in 1907.

Edith Roosevelt sponsored a variety of classical instrumentalists and singers, giving them a venue to perform at the White House.

Edith Roosevelt enjoyed classical music, including the work of Richard Wagner.

Edith Roosevelt hosted the famous German composer Engelbert Humperdinck when he visited the United States, which led to her appearance at a charity performance of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel for The Legal Aid Society.

Edith Roosevelt supported the theater and allowed the performance of plays at the White House at a time when actors were seen as lower class.

Edith Roosevelt exerted her influence over journalists: for example, when she wore the same dress on multiple occasions, she convinced the reporters to describe it differently each time.

Hagner was responsible for answering Edith Roosevelt's mail, managing her schedule, overseeing guest lists, and communicating information about the first lady's activities to the press.

Edith Roosevelt sometimes had adjustments made to keep them updated.

When Marion Graves Anthon Fish wrote a critical article about the first lady's fashion consisting of "three hundred dollars a year", Edith Roosevelt cut it from the newspaper and placed it in her scrapbook.

Edith Roosevelt was skeptical when Theodore selected the secretary of war William Howard Taft as his successor to run as a candidate in the 1908 presidential election.

Edith Roosevelt had bonded with these people over the years and became emotional when discussing Taft's intentions.

Edith Roosevelt's children had all moved out except for Ethel, who had just reached adulthood.

Edith Roosevelt was severely injured the following month after being thrown off of her horse.

Edith Roosevelt was unconscious for the next two days and underwent physical rehabilitation for several months thereafter.

Edith Roosevelt temporarily lost her sense of taste from the accident, and she permanently lost her sense of smell.

Edith Roosevelt strongly disliked the idea of Theodore returning to politics.

Edith Roosevelt advised him not to run for president in the 1912 election, asserting that he would "never be president again".

Edith Roosevelt again feared for Theodore's safety as he resumed his political activity, and her fears were validated when he was shot by John Schrank while campaigning.

Theodore lost the election, and Edith Roosevelt loathed the eventual winner, Woodrow Wilson, whom she considered a "vile and hypocritical charlatan".

In June 1913, Edith Roosevelt learned that her sister was to undergo an appendectomy and traveled to Italy to join her, staying until August.

Edith Roosevelt accompanied them in the beginning, returning home as they began the second stage of the trip charting unexplored areas in Brazil.

Edith Roosevelt's health declined that year, preventing her from attending Kermit's wedding.

Edith Roosevelt took up typing to distract herself when they left for war, but this effort was short-lived.

On July 17,1918, Edith Roosevelt learned that Quentin's plane had been shot down and that he had been killed.

Edith Roosevelt stayed by him each day until his death on January 6,1919.

Edith Roosevelt did not need the pension provided to first ladies, but she worried about embarrassing the other former first ladies by refusing it.

Edith Roosevelt instead used the funds to support others, including former members of Theodore's Rough Riders.

Edith Roosevelt especially disliked the biography written by Henry F Pringle for its portrayal of Theodore as immature.

Edith Roosevelt made appeals to women specifically, as they had just been granted the right to vote.

In January 1921, Edith Roosevelt traveled the Caribbean, including a voyage deep into the jungle of British Guiana with a party of six to see Kaieteur Falls.

Edith Roosevelt joined Archibald on a trip to Europe in January 1922, where they visited Paris, Berlin, and then London, taking her first airplane trip to the latter.

Edith Roosevelt hosted a party for Theodore's friends in 1922 in which they visited his grave and shared their memories of him, which became a yearly tradition.

Edith Roosevelt traveled through Connecticut in April 1923, where she visited her ancestors' hometown Brooklyn, Connecticut.

Edith Roosevelt was delighted by the Noh drama performed in Japan, particularly Sumida-gawa, which told the story of a mother who lost her son.

Edith Roosevelt had a much lower opinion of China and the Soviet Union as she passed through them.

That same year, Edith Roosevelt co-wrote a travelogue titled Cleared for Strange Ports with Kermit and his family.

Edith Roosevelt traveled to Yucatan, Mexico, in early 1926 where she visited Chichen Itza.

Edith Roosevelt purchased Mortlake Manor in Brooklyn, Connecticut, which had been built for her great-grandfather, Daniel Tyler III.

Edith Roosevelt was not significantly affected by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression.

When Franklin D Roosevelt was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the 1932 presidential election, Edith was frustrated by well-wishers who congratulated her, believing Franklin to be her son.

Edith Roosevelt vocally proclaimed support for Franklin's opponent, Herbert Hoover, and began campaigning for him.

Edith Roosevelt did not recognize the interior, as it had been thoroughly refurnished, and she considered the whole experience "hateful".

Theodore III had been appointed Governor-General of the Philippines under the Hoover administration, and Edith Roosevelt traveled to visit him there shortly before the inauguration.

Edith Roosevelt opposed Franklin's New Deal policies, insisting that they were nothing like Theodore's progressive platform.

Edith Roosevelt maintained good relations with her niece-in-law Eleanor after the latter became first lady, and she generally approved of Eleanor's public activities.

Edith Roosevelt spent March 1934 in Greece before making her final journey to South America in January 1935.

Edith Roosevelt had not seen the house before renting it and discovered that it was a cockroach-infested house in a poor neighborhood, cast under shadow by moss-dripping trees.

Edith Roosevelt spent the early months of 1938 in Portugal, though she found the journey much more difficult in her old age.

Edith Roosevelt had adored Kermit especially among her children, and no one told her that his death was a suicide.

Edith Roosevelt was bedridden in early 1947, where she stayed for the remainder of her life.

Edith Roosevelt died at the age of 87 on September 30,1948, a day after she fell into a coma.

Edith Roosevelt wished for a simple funeral, and by the time of her death she had recorded every detail of how to organize it.

Edith Roosevelt was widely popular as first lady, maintaining strong public approval until her tenure ended.

Edith Roosevelt was compared positively against her predecessor, Ida Saxton McKinley, whose poor health prevented her from being active as first lady.

Edith Roosevelt was more socially active than the first ladies of the preceding two decades, as they either had abbreviated tenures or were unable to fulfill their duties.

Besides social activity, Edith Roosevelt was the most athletic first lady to occupy the White House at that point, regularly engaging in walks and horseback riding.

Edith Roosevelt was the last first lady to live in an environment where horseback riding was a common part of life, and she disliked using automobiles.

Edith Roosevelt is often recognized for the wisdom, both scholarly and political, that she provided her husband throughout his career.

Edith Roosevelt read extensively throughout her life, preferring British, French, and German writers of the 19th century, including William Makepeace Thackeray and Jean Racine.

Edith Roosevelt was given little scholarly attention in the decades after her death.

Historians credit Edith Roosevelt for developing the first lady's office as its own institution.

The historian Stacy A Cordery said that the White House renovations organized by Edith were one of her "most important legacies", and that her hiring of a secretary was "a significant innovation crucial to the creation of the modern institution of first ladies".

Gould presented a negative image of Edith Roosevelt overall, portraying her as having an "acidic personality" and casting doubt on her success as a mother.

Deborah Davis contradicted Gould's account and said that Edith was an admirer of Booker T Washington.