Quotations and Cultural Influence of Alice Roosevelt: Background information when reading American Princess

Quotations and Cultural Influence of Alice Roosevelt

This article relates to American Princess

Alice Roosevelt (1884-1980), daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt and the central figure of Stephanie Marie Thornton's American Princess is not widely remembered in the public consciousness today, but during her lifetime she was an ever-present fixture in the press. This was particularly the case during her father's presidential term, when a teenage Alice shocked the nation by partying, associating with men and smoking cigarettes. Alice influenced fashion trends when she wore a pale blue dress to her debutante party, a color that received a surge in popularity afterwards, and subsequently became known as "Alice blue."

Though Alice's behavior may have mellowed in her later years, she continued to make waves with her razor-sharp wit. One of Alice's most famous quotations comes from a 1965 interview with The Saturday Evening Post in which it is noted that Ms. Roosevelt had a cross-stitched pillow in her sitting room that read "If you can't say something good about someone, sit right here by me." This quotation has also been attributed to Dorothy Parker (with slightly different wording), but evidence strongly suggests that it originated with Alice.

As explored in American Princess, Alice's relationship with her father Theodore could be contentious at times, and she once spoke bluntly about his ego and desperate need for attention in a quote that could easily be applied to a great number of politicians: "He wants to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral, and the baby at every christening."

Alice also brought her signature humor to political commentary. When a journalist claimed that Wendell Willkie, the Republican nominee who hoped to unseat Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940, was receiving grassroots support, she declared that perhaps he meant "the grass roots of 10,000 country clubs." The implication, of course, was that Willkie was only popular with wealthy Americans, a particularly pernicious accusation to hurl at a politician at the end of the Great Depression. (During this election, she also stated that she'd "rather vote for Hitler" than Roosevelt.) Thomas Dewey, Roosevelt's opponent in the 1944 presidential election, looked like "the bridegroom on the wedding cake," presumably a comment meant to emasculate Dewey for his size. Of Calvin Coolidge, she declared, "He looks as though he's been weaned on a pickle," likely referring to a sour facial expression. Of herself, she once said, "My specialty is detached malevolence," a fairly accurate assessment if judged by these quotations.

Alice's instructive "life philosophy" was "Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches." This simple maxim prizes common sense and personal fulfillment, which seems to accurately convey Alice's value system.

by Lisa Butts

Alice Roosevelt in one of her signature blue gowns

Filed under People, Eras & Events

This article relates to American Princess. It first ran in the March 20, 2019 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.