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Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker | |||||||
 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Viking Adult Catalog: Book Release date: 2007-10-18 Media: Hardcover Format: Bargain Price Number of pages: 608  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
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An intimate and revealing portrait of America’s most memorable first daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth lived her entire life on the political stage and in the public eye, earning her the nickname “the other Washington monument.” In this new biography—the first in twenty years—Stacy A. Cordery presents a detailed and richly entertaining portrait of the witty and whip- smart daughter of Teddy Roosevelt. “Princess Alice” was a tempestuous teenager. Smoking, gambling, and dressing flamboyantly, she flouted social conventions and opened the door for other women to do the same. Her husband was Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth but—as Cordery documents for the first time—she had a child with her lover, Senator William Borah of Idaho. Alice’s political acumen was widely respected in Washington. She was a sharp-tongued critic of her cousin FDR’s New Deal programs, and meetings in her drawing room helped to change the course of history, from undermining the League of Nations to boosting Nixon. During the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, her legendary salons were still the center of political ferment. With new insights into Teddy Roosevelt, and for everyone who delights in Washington history and gossip, Alice is a fascinating portrait of a woman who influenced American politics for nearly a century. |
| User Reviews: |
 Written on February 8, 2008 Summary: Fine biography of the Not So Good Woman of Washington, DC Excellent, thoroughly researched biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. If you suspect that things in Washington must have been different and better a century ago, this book is the cure. Great picture of the early 20th century in Washington, and the big social & political players, including Alice, who wielded considerable social and political power but never held office. Different and interesting views of Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as seen by a cousin. The description of Alice's famously cruel "Eleanor imitation" (performed for the humiliated Eleanor at least once)is worth the price of the book.  Written on January 23, 2008 Summary: Alice Does Washington 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. Written on January 21, 2008 Summary: Alice: often irreverent, never dull 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". Written on January 10, 2008 Summary: Malevolent looking cover photo; malevolent woman ALICE is a well-researched, well-intentioned biography of a minor American political/society figure; Theodore Roosevelt's oldest and longest-lived child. Ms. Cordery seems to admire Alice very much, but reading this biography, for all its good points (solid research, and basically well-written) did not make me admire or like her. I have always found Alice Longworth (from other books I have read about her) to be a repulsive sort of person. This impression was only reinforced by this full biography, despite Ms. Cordery's emphasis on Alice's stoicism, her intelligence, and force of character. But despite Alice's intelligence, her wide reading and breadth of mind, and the advantages of her position as TR's daughter, her political opinions were, for the most part, very biased and narrow-minded and reflected only her overall unpleasant, emotionally immature character. And, instead of having the strength to stand up to Society's mores and call it quits with her alcoholic, persistently unfaithful husband, she made the kind of deal with the devil that ended up killing off even more of her humanity. For the hope of winning the White House, she stayed in a dead marriage. Which all came to ashes, anyway, because Nick Longworth died as Speaker of the House. It's probably safe to say that Alice's character was formed by her childhood, which was a minefield: withheld affection; a wall of silence and confusion about her mother's life and death, and the arrivals of more children, whose presence probably drained even the small attentions and affection that Alice received from TR and her stepmother, Edith Roosevelt. But, even this realization does not make me sympathize with Alice. Eleanor Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (just by way of two examples) did not have easy childhoods surrounded by constant parental nuture and love, and yet, they both developed into something much better than malevolent gadflys. Yes, they both still had inner demons, but there was something better in their characters which allowed them to rise above the rough beginning, and ACCOMPLISH. Alice, for all her advantages, seemed stuck in immaturity, stubbornness and an "all about me" policy, for the rest of her life. It's hard for me to "rate" a well-written biography about a person I find so completely unsympathetic. Three solid stars for the author's efforts, but Alice, the person, remains a mere 'one star'. Written on January 7, 2008 Summary: Alice Roosevelt 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 |
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| Our price | $7.99 | $16.47 | $10.85 | $9.57 | $10.17 | $11.20 |
| List price | $32.95 | $24.95 | $15.95 | $15.95 | $14.95 | $14.00 |
| Lowest used price | $6.04 | $5.23 | $9.00 | $8.61 | $8.46 | $7.00 |
| Lowest new price | $7.98 | $14.18 | $9.49 | $8.91 | $8.49 | $7.37 |
| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 2007-10-18 | 2007-10-16 | 2008-09-09 | 2008-05-19 | 2008-10-14 | 2008-04-08 |
| Media | Hardcover | Hardcover | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback |
| Format | Bargain Price | - | - | - | - | - |
| Number of pages | 608 | 336 | 480 | 320 | 304 | 400 |
| Ean | - | 9780312374778 | 9781400096794 | 9780393331608 | 9780307276452 | 9780345495006 |
| Book Isbn | - | 0312374771 | 1400096790 | 0393331601 | 0307276457 | 0345495004 |
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