(1861-08-06)August 6, 1861 Norwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Died
September 30, 1948(1948-09-30) (aged 87) Oyster Bay, New York, U.S.
Resting place
Youngs Memorial Cemetery
Spouse
Theodore Roosevelt
(m. 1886; died 1919)
Children
Theodore III
Kermit
Ethel
Archibald
Quentin
Parent
Charles Carow (father)
Signature
Edith Kermit Roosevelt (née Carow; August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt and the first lady of the United States from 1901 to 1909. She was previously the second lady of the United States in 1901 and the first lady of New York from 1899 to 1900.
Growing up alongside the Roosevelt family, Edith Carow began a romance with Theodore Roosevelt as a teenager and became a New York socialite. After a falling out in young adulthood, they split up and did not rekindle their friendship until after Theodore was engaged to Alice Hathaway Lee. Edith and Theodore were engaged shortly after Alice's death, and Edith took in Theodore's daughter, also named Alice, as a stepdaughter. They moved into their new home, Sagamore Hill, and she had five children with Theodore. They stayed in Washington, D.C. while Theodore was on the Civil Service Commission, where Edith established a social network of prominent figures, including Henry Adams. The Roosevelts moved back and forth between New York and Washington as Theodore's political career progressed, and she became a public figure as Theodore's wife as he became a war hero in the Spanish–American War and got elected governor of New York. She became second lady of the United States when Theodore was elected Vice President of the United States, and she became first lady shortly after when President William McKinley was assassinated, propelling Theodore to the presidency.
The exact nature of Edith's influence over Theodore's presidency is unknown, but they frequently spoke about politics and he often took her advice. She kept her husband informed of news stories that she deemed important, and she worked as an intermediary to get information for him. Edith resented the press, and she used her influence to control press coverage. To prevent intrusion on their personal lives, she had photographs produced of the family and gave them to the press. She also controlled Washington social life, organizing weekly meetings of the cabinet members' wives, from which she became the gatekeeper of who could attend formal events. Edith made charitable donations throughout her tenure as first lady, and she featured various musical artists at the White House to promote their work. She disapproved of Theodore's chosen successor, William Howard Taft, and had an animosity toward his wife Helen Herron Taft. Edith's most enduring legacies are her oversight of the 1902 White House renovations and her hiring the first social secretary for a first lady, Belle Hagner.
Edith took up travel in the years after leaving the White House, touring Europe and Latin America for the first of many times. She was severely injured after being thrown off of her horse in 1911, permanently losing her sense of smell. Though she disliked Taft and Woodrow Wilson, Edith discouraged Theodore from his campaign against them in the 1912 presidential election, which he lost. Her health declined in the 1910s, and she was devastated by the losses of her son Quentin in 1918 and then her husband in 1919. She remained politically active, supporting Warren G. Harding in 1920 and Herbert Hoover in 1932—the latter being an effort to distance herself from Hoover's opponent, Theodore's distant cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt. Edith took an interest in her ancestry in 1920s, writing a book on her ancestors and purchasing her ancestral home in Brooklyn, Connecticut. She lost two more of her sons in the 1940s, and was bedridden for the last year of her life. Edith died on September 30, 1948. Historians have consistently ranked her in the upper half of first ladies in periodic polling by the Siena College Research Institute.
Edith Kermit Roosevelt (née Carow; August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt and the first lady of the...
Quentin Palfrey (b. 1974) Katy Palfrey Ethel Carow Roosevelt (1891–1977), m. Richard Derby EdithRoosevelt Derby (1917–2008), historian and conservationist...
the death of her mother, Edith, in 1948. Ethel Carow Roosevelt was born in Oyster Bay, New York to Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow. She had a...
EdithRoosevelt Derby Williams (June 17, 1917 – June 8, 2008) was an American historian, conservationist, and granddaughter of the 26th President of the...
second son of Theodore Roosevelt, (1858–1919) and Edith Kermit Carow (1861–1948). He had an older half-sister Alice Lee Roosevelt (1884–1980), from his...
ineffectual intellectual. On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt felt deeply troubled that his second marriage...
Edith Wilson (née Bolling, formerly Galt; October 15, 1872 – December 28, 1961) was the first lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921 and the second...
Quentin Roosevelt I (November 19, 1897 – July 14, 1918) was the youngest son of President Theodore Roosevelt and EdithRoosevelt. Inspired by his father...
c-span.org. Retrieved June 10, 2020. Britannica. (September 26, 2020). "EdithRoosevelt" Retrieved November 15, 2020. Watson, Robert P. (February 1, 2012)...
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president...
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (/ˈɛlɪnɔːr ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ EL-in-or ROH-zə-velt; October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and...
American medical researcher Edith Ramirez (born 1967), American lawyer and chair of the Federal Trade Commission EdithRoosevelt (1861–1948), American first...
by the Youngs family. Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth President of the United States, and his wife EdithRoosevelt are buried at Youngs. Oyster Bay...
presidencies: Theodore Roosevelt was married to Alice Hathaway Lee from 1880 until her death in 1884. He was subsequently married to Edith Carow from 1886 to...
"Mittie" Roosevelt (née Bulloch; July 8, 1835 – February 14, 1884) was an American socialite. She was the mother of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and the...
: 130 This also required her to be in regular contact with first lady EdithRoosevelt, with whom she developed a strong rivalry. At the same time, Taft's...
children. All full names with married names are given except for Theodore Roosevelt III and Herbert Charles Hoover. Currently there are 33 confirmed, known...
friends with First Ladies Frances Cleveland, Caroline Harrison, and EdithRoosevelt. Caroli, Betty Boyd (2010). First Ladies: From Martha Washington to...
McKinley EdithRoosevelt Helen Taft Ellen Wilson Margaret Wilson Edith Wilson Florence Harding Grace Coolidge Lou Hoover Eleanor Roosevelt Bess Truman...
Washington, D.C., the fourth child of President Theodore "T. R." Roosevelt Jr. and Edith Kermit Carow. He had three brothers, Ted (Theodore III), Kermit...
Anna Roosevelt Cowles (January 18, 1855 – August 25, 1931) was the older sister of United States President Theodore Roosevelt and an aunt of Eleanor Roosevelt...
six children as well as his staff. A year later, in 1902, First Lady EdithRoosevelt hired McKim, Mead & White to separate the living quarters from the...
nps.gov. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved November 16, 2016. Gilles, Edith Belle (2002). Abigail Adams: A Writing in Life. Routledge. p. xv. ISBN 978-0-415-93945-4...
the regular press conferences carried out by her predecessor Eleanor Roosevelt, believing that her responsibility as a wife was to keep her opinions...
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