Edith Kermit Carow and Theodore Roosevelt married in London, England on December 2, 1886. They were married four years after the death of Alice Lee Roosevelt. She was Roosevelt's first wife.
Edith Roosevelt was born in Norwich, Connecticut. As first lady, she oversaw the first repairs of the White House since the War of 1812. She met regularly with cabinet wives. She shared her political opinions with the president. More than earlier first ladies, Mrs. Roosevelt controlled the press. She screened all information about her family before it was released to reporters.
In 1909, Mrs. Roosevelt retired with her husband to New York. After his death in 1919, she traveled around the world. She also remained active in the Republican Party. In the 1930s, Edith Roosevelt openly opposed the presidential hopes of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt. (She called them the "other Roosevelts." Franklin Roosevelt was her husband's fifth cousin. Eleanor Roosevelt was his niece.)
Mrs. Roosevelt died at her Sagamore Hill estate in 1948. Edith and Theodore Roosevelt are buried at Young's Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay, New York.
Theodore Roosevelt's Children :
Theodore and Alice Lee Roosevelt had one daughter, Alice Roosevelt. She was his oldest child. When her father was president, the press called her "Princess Alice." Roosevelt once said of his daughter: "I can do one of two things. I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both."
In 1906, Alice Roosevelt married Nicholas Longworth in the East Room of the White House. He was a congressman from Ohio. He later became speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1925-1931). The Longworth House office building on Capitol Hill is named for him. For many years, Alice Roosevelt Longworth was a popular and colorful figure in Washington, D.C. She died in 1980.
Theodore and Edith Roosevelt had five children: Theodore, Jr. (World War I hero; assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy; diplomat); Kermit (soldier; businessman); Edith Roosevelt Derby; Archibald (soldier; financier); and Quentin (soldier; killed in World War I.)
