Scandals in Presidential Administrations: Alice Roosevelt and William Borah
Theodore Roosevelt once famously said to his friend, author Owen Wister, about his oldest child Alice, "I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both." He wasn't kidding.
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth was the only child of Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee. She was born in the Roosevelt family home at 6 West 57th St. in New York City on February 12, 1884. Her mother died two days after her birth, from kidney failure. Eleven hours earlier that day, Theodore's mother Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch died of typhoid fever. Theodore Roosevelt was so distraught by his the death of his wife and his mother on the same day that his diary for that day contains a large black X and the words "the light has gone out of my life". He referred to his daughter Alice as "Baby Lee". Roosevelt left his life in New York and headed west where he spent two years traveling and living on his ranch in North Dakota. He left baby Alice in the care of his sister Anna, known as "Bamie" of "Bye". Bamie had a significant influence on young Alice. Alice would later write of her: "If auntie Bye had been a man, she would have been president." Bamie looked after Alice until Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Kermit Carow.
Theodore and Edith had five children together: Theodore III (Ted), Kermit, Ethel, Archibald (Archie), and Quentin. Bamie married and moved to London for a time. As Alice grew up, she became more independent and came into conflict with her father and stepmother. During some of these times, Bamie was a stabilizing influence. Alice often visited Bamie when Theodore and Edith found her behavior challenging.
Alice grew up to be a beautiful young woman, who was independent, outgoing and self-confident. When her father was governor of New York, he and his wife proposed that Alice attend a conservative school for girls in New York City. A rebellious Alice wrote, "If you send me I will humiliate you. I will do something that will shame you. I tell you I will." In her autobiography Crowded Hours, Alice wrote positively about Edith Carow, stating "That I was the child of another marriage was a simple fact and made a situation that had to be coped with, and Mother coped with it with a fairness and charm and intelligence which she has to a greater degree than almost any one else I know."
When her father became President in 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley, Jr. in Buffalo, Alice became an instant celebrity. Alice appeared jealous that her father's new duties meant that he spent significantly less time with her, as she longed for more of his attention. She had a reputation as a rule-breaker at a time when women were under significant pressure to conform. The media noticed many of her exploits. She smoked cigarettes in public, rode in cars with men, stayed out late partying, kept a pet snake in the White House named Emily Spinach (named Emily for her spinster aunt and Spinach for its green color) and was seen placing bets with a bookie.
In 1905, Alice, traveled with her father's Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, as part of the American delegation on a diplomatic mission to Japan, Hawaii, China, the Philippines, and Korea. A group of 30 congressmen came along on the trip, including Alice's future husband Nicholas Longworth III. During the cruise to Japan, Alice jumped into the ship's pool fully clothed, and coaxed Congressman Longworth to join her in the water. In December 1905, after returning to Washington from this trip, Alice became engaged to Longworth, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Cincinnati, Ohio. He would eventually become Speaker of the House. Longworth was 14 years older than Alice and had a reputation as a Washington, D.C., playboy, or as one author put it, "as a chaser of women and whiskey." Their wedding took place in February 1906 and was the social event of the season. It was attended by more than a thousand guests with many thousands gathered outside hoping for a glimpse of the bride. Immediately after the wedding, the couple left for a honeymoon that included a voyage to Cuba and a visit to the Longworths in Cincinnati. This was followed by travels to England and continental Europe, a trip that included dinners with King Edward, Kaiser Wilhelm, Clemenceau, Whitelaw Reid, Lord Curzon, and William Jennings Bryan. When the returned, they bought a house at 2009 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., in Washington, D.C.
When a serious split developed in the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, Alice supported her father's 1912 presidential campaign for the Progressive of "Bull Moose" party. Her husband stayed loyal to Taft. During the campaign, Alice appeared on stage with her father's vice presidential candidate, Hiram Johnson, in Longworth's own district, to campaign against Longworth. When Longworth lost his seat by about 105 votes, Alice joked that she was responsible for at least 100 of those votes. Longworth was elected again in 1914 and stayed in the House for the rest of his life.
But Alice's campaign against her husband caused a permanent rift in her marriage. According to her biographers, Alice carried on numerous affairs during the time that she and Longworth were married. The most famous of these was with Senator William Borah of Idaho. According to Alice's own diaries, Borah was the father of her daughter, Paulina Longworth, who was born in 1925. She facetiously referred to her daughter as "Aurora Borah Alice."
William Edgar Borah was a progressive Republican Senator from Idaho who served in the Senate from 1907 until his death in 1940. He led a group of Senators known as the "Irreconcilables" who opposed the Treaty of Versailles. He challenged President William Howard Taft's policies, although he supported Taft over Roosevelt in the 1912 election.
Nicholas Longworth was a doting father to Paulina, even though he almost certainly knew that the child's real father was Borah. It was said that Alice fell in love with Borah from the Senate gallery, where she would go to listen to his famed oratory, often in favor of Prohibition or against the League of Nations. The two would get together privately, where Borah would entertain her with stories of his youthful lawyering among the cattle ranchers and miners of his home state. The two exchanged frequent letters as they maintained their discreet affair. Among the things they had in common, besides their child, were a mutal love of both English literature and of the memory of Theodore Roosevelt.
Nicholas Longworth died in 1931, Following the death of her husband, Alice and her daughter continued to live near Dupont Circle on Massachusetts Avenue, in Washington's Embassy Row. When asked to run for her late husband's seat, she declined. She returned to Cincinnati for the burial of her husband, and later for the social debut of her daughter. When asked if she would be buried in Cincinnati, Alice said that to do so "would be a fate worse than death itself." Still in office, Borah died in his sleep of a cerebral hemorrhage at his home in Washington, D.C., aged 74, on January 19, 1940.
In 1944, 19 year old Paulina married Alexander Sturm, an artist from the prominent Sturm, Ruger firearms family. They had a daughter, Joanna. Paulina experienced serious problems with her mental health and fell into a deep depression when her husband died in 1951. Six years later, she died from a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills. Alice raised her orphaned granddaughter Joanna, and the two had a very close, loving relationship.
Alice continued to cross paths with presidents and other prominent Washingtonians. After many years of ill health, Alice died in her Embassy Row house on February 20, 1980 at age 96 from emphysema and pneumonia. She is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth was the only child of Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee. She was born in the Roosevelt family home at 6 West 57th St. in New York City on February 12, 1884. Her mother died two days after her birth, from kidney failure. Eleven hours earlier that day, Theodore's mother Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch died of typhoid fever. Theodore Roosevelt was so distraught by his the death of his wife and his mother on the same day that his diary for that day contains a large black X and the words "the light has gone out of my life". He referred to his daughter Alice as "Baby Lee". Roosevelt left his life in New York and headed west where he spent two years traveling and living on his ranch in North Dakota. He left baby Alice in the care of his sister Anna, known as "Bamie" of "Bye". Bamie had a significant influence on young Alice. Alice would later write of her: "If auntie Bye had been a man, she would have been president." Bamie looked after Alice until Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Kermit Carow.
Theodore and Edith had five children together: Theodore III (Ted), Kermit, Ethel, Archibald (Archie), and Quentin. Bamie married and moved to London for a time. As Alice grew up, she became more independent and came into conflict with her father and stepmother. During some of these times, Bamie was a stabilizing influence. Alice often visited Bamie when Theodore and Edith found her behavior challenging.
Alice grew up to be a beautiful young woman, who was independent, outgoing and self-confident. When her father was governor of New York, he and his wife proposed that Alice attend a conservative school for girls in New York City. A rebellious Alice wrote, "If you send me I will humiliate you. I will do something that will shame you. I tell you I will." In her autobiography Crowded Hours, Alice wrote positively about Edith Carow, stating "That I was the child of another marriage was a simple fact and made a situation that had to be coped with, and Mother coped with it with a fairness and charm and intelligence which she has to a greater degree than almost any one else I know."
When her father became President in 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley, Jr. in Buffalo, Alice became an instant celebrity. Alice appeared jealous that her father's new duties meant that he spent significantly less time with her, as she longed for more of his attention. She had a reputation as a rule-breaker at a time when women were under significant pressure to conform. The media noticed many of her exploits. She smoked cigarettes in public, rode in cars with men, stayed out late partying, kept a pet snake in the White House named Emily Spinach (named Emily for her spinster aunt and Spinach for its green color) and was seen placing bets with a bookie.
In 1905, Alice, traveled with her father's Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, as part of the American delegation on a diplomatic mission to Japan, Hawaii, China, the Philippines, and Korea. A group of 30 congressmen came along on the trip, including Alice's future husband Nicholas Longworth III. During the cruise to Japan, Alice jumped into the ship's pool fully clothed, and coaxed Congressman Longworth to join her in the water. In December 1905, after returning to Washington from this trip, Alice became engaged to Longworth, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Cincinnati, Ohio. He would eventually become Speaker of the House. Longworth was 14 years older than Alice and had a reputation as a Washington, D.C., playboy, or as one author put it, "as a chaser of women and whiskey." Their wedding took place in February 1906 and was the social event of the season. It was attended by more than a thousand guests with many thousands gathered outside hoping for a glimpse of the bride. Immediately after the wedding, the couple left for a honeymoon that included a voyage to Cuba and a visit to the Longworths in Cincinnati. This was followed by travels to England and continental Europe, a trip that included dinners with King Edward, Kaiser Wilhelm, Clemenceau, Whitelaw Reid, Lord Curzon, and William Jennings Bryan. When the returned, they bought a house at 2009 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., in Washington, D.C.
When a serious split developed in the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, Alice supported her father's 1912 presidential campaign for the Progressive of "Bull Moose" party. Her husband stayed loyal to Taft. During the campaign, Alice appeared on stage with her father's vice presidential candidate, Hiram Johnson, in Longworth's own district, to campaign against Longworth. When Longworth lost his seat by about 105 votes, Alice joked that she was responsible for at least 100 of those votes. Longworth was elected again in 1914 and stayed in the House for the rest of his life.
But Alice's campaign against her husband caused a permanent rift in her marriage. According to her biographers, Alice carried on numerous affairs during the time that she and Longworth were married. The most famous of these was with Senator William Borah of Idaho. According to Alice's own diaries, Borah was the father of her daughter, Paulina Longworth, who was born in 1925. She facetiously referred to her daughter as "Aurora Borah Alice."
William Edgar Borah was a progressive Republican Senator from Idaho who served in the Senate from 1907 until his death in 1940. He led a group of Senators known as the "Irreconcilables" who opposed the Treaty of Versailles. He challenged President William Howard Taft's policies, although he supported Taft over Roosevelt in the 1912 election.
Nicholas Longworth was a doting father to Paulina, even though he almost certainly knew that the child's real father was Borah. It was said that Alice fell in love with Borah from the Senate gallery, where she would go to listen to his famed oratory, often in favor of Prohibition or against the League of Nations. The two would get together privately, where Borah would entertain her with stories of his youthful lawyering among the cattle ranchers and miners of his home state. The two exchanged frequent letters as they maintained their discreet affair. Among the things they had in common, besides their child, were a mutal love of both English literature and of the memory of Theodore Roosevelt.
Nicholas Longworth died in 1931, Following the death of her husband, Alice and her daughter continued to live near Dupont Circle on Massachusetts Avenue, in Washington's Embassy Row. When asked to run for her late husband's seat, she declined. She returned to Cincinnati for the burial of her husband, and later for the social debut of her daughter. When asked if she would be buried in Cincinnati, Alice said that to do so "would be a fate worse than death itself." Still in office, Borah died in his sleep of a cerebral hemorrhage at his home in Washington, D.C., aged 74, on January 19, 1940.
In 1944, 19 year old Paulina married Alexander Sturm, an artist from the prominent Sturm, Ruger firearms family. They had a daughter, Joanna. Paulina experienced serious problems with her mental health and fell into a deep depression when her husband died in 1951. Six years later, she died from a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills. Alice raised her orphaned granddaughter Joanna, and the two had a very close, loving relationship.
Alice continued to cross paths with presidents and other prominent Washingtonians. After many years of ill health, Alice died in her Embassy Row house on February 20, 1980 at age 96 from emphysema and pneumonia. She is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C.