February 12…Happy Birthdays!

Today is a date for three Presidential-related birthdays: one First Lady, one President, and one First Daughter. Two are more well known than the third, but all three made their marks on our country and in our world.

1775–London, England–Louisa Catherine Johnson, born to American merchant Joshua Johnson and Englishwoman Catherine Newth. Louisa grew up with her seven siblings partly in and around London and partly in Nantes, France. In 1795, Louisa met an American diplomat, who came from a rather prestigious American family, named John Quincy Adams. At first it seemed as if John were more interested in Louisa’s older sister, but he married Louisa on July 26, 1797. Theirs was not the easiest of marriages. Due to his various governmental positions, they traveled and moved frequently. They managed to have four children: George Washington Adams, John Adams II, Charles Frances Adams, and Louisa Catherine Adams.

In 1809, Louisa left her two older sons with their Adams grandparents and traveled with her younger son and husband to St. Petersburg, Russia. It was here that baby Louisa was born, and a little over a year later, died. It broke her heart when she left St. Petersberg in 1814 to leave her only daughter behind as she and her son Charles traveled with minimal security and without John Quincy across a wintry and war-damaged Europe. They survived this treacherous 40 day trip in order to join John Quincy in Ghent where he was working on peace negotiations to end the War of 1812.

In 1825, Louisa became our country’s first foreign-born First Lady. She mostly disliked her time in the White House, living with depression during the time she was there. She even wrote an unpublished memoir titled, Autobiography of a Nobody. The main highlight of her time as First Lady was the wedding of her middle son John. To date, he is the only Presidential son to have been married in the White House.

Louisa lived four years after her husband’s death. She died on May 15, 1852. On the day of her funeral, both houses of Congress adjourned out of respect for her, the first time this had ever been done for a woman.

1809–Sinking Spring Farm, Kentucky–Abraham Lincoln. What more can be said about this great man? What stories can be told that have seldom been told before? What more can be written?

Abraham came from a quite humble background. he was born in a small cabin in Kentucky. His family moved to southern Indiana in 1816, shortly before Indiana became a state. His mother died when he was only nine. His father remarried the following year. He attended school for less than a year out of his life, but he managed to educate himself by observing, listening, asking the right questions, and, especially, by reading. In 1830, Abraham moved with his family to Illinois where he ultimately became a lawyer and later a politician. In 1840, he became engaged to a young woman by the name of Mary Todd from Lexington, Kentucky. For an unknown reason, he called off the wedding. After nearly a year apart, mutual friends brought them back together, and they married on November 4, 1842.

They had four sons: Robert, Eddie, Willie, and Tad. Eddie died at age 4. Willie died at age 12 in the White House. Tad outlived his father by just a few short years and died at the age of 18. Only Robert lived to grow up and grow old. While their relationship with Robert seemed to be somewhat strained, both parents doted on their two youngest. Willie and Tad had very few if any limits put on what they could do. Abraham spent as much time with them as possible in spite of his responsibilities to the country, even allowing them to interrupt important meetings for seemingly trivial reasons. He frequently walked to a toy store on New York Avenue in order to buy more toys for his youngest.

We will save the story of his death for another day. Let’s end here on a more positive note. Most historians rank Abraham as our country’s greatest President. He not only was a great President but also a great husband and father.

1884–New York City, New York–Alice Lee Roosevelt–One story that sums up Alice best is one told about her father. Supposedly, someone came to Theodore one day while he was President and told him that he needed to control that wild daughter of his. Theodore looked at the man for a moment and replied, “I can either run the country or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both”.

Alice’s life started off under the saddest of circumstances. Two days after her birth, her mother Alice died of kidney failure. A few hours before that, Alice’s Grandmother Roosevelt had died in the same house of typhoid fever. In order to deal with this horrendous loss, Theodore left baby Alice in the custody of his oldest sister and spent the better part of the next two years in the Dakotas helping to build his legend. Theodore returned to New York in 1886 and soon married his childhood sweetheart, Edith Carow.

Edith insisted that Alice come to live with them and be part of their growing family. Alice ended up with four brothers and one sister. As Alice grew, she gained a reputation for being independent, out-going, and self-confident. At one point, she made a deal with her father. If he did not force her to go to school, she would read her way through his library at home and educate herself. She probably gained a better education in that manner than she ever would have in a traditional school.

She was 17 when her family moved into the White House. She became an overnight celebrity. At her debut in 1902, her blue dress started a fashion craze of the color “Alice blue”. Alice had always been a bit of a wild child, but now she gained more notice for it. She rode in cars with men…and occasionally drove herself. She stayed out late at parties and was caught placing bets with a bookie. She had a pet snake, “Emily Spinach”, given that name for its color and for it being as thin as her Aunt Emily. Occasionally Emily Spinach “mysteriously” appeared at formal gatherings in the White House, causing a bit of a stir. She also smoked. (At one point her father told her that she was not allowed to smoke under the roof of the White House. Her solution: she smoked on top of the White House roof!)

In 1905, she met Congressman Nicholas Longworth. They married in the East Room of the White House in February 1906. Alice wore a blue gown, had no attendants, and cut her wedding cake with a sword rather than a knife.

After her father’s death in 1919, Alice’s marriage went through some difficult times. Because of this, Alice began spending a fair amount of time with Senator William Borah. In due time, Alice’s only child, daughter Paulina Longworth, was born. Alice was a rather distant mother while Nicholas doted on the child.

Alice lived the rest of her life in Washington, DC, in a house on Massachusetts Avenue. After the death of her daughter in 1956, Alice raised her granddaughter and was much closer to her than to her daughter.

Throughout her life, Alice maintained her reputation for being outspoken and noteworthy. She met with and advised Presidents and other leaders. As she grew older, she became much like Dolley Madison in that she was visited by dignitaries and invited to all major social events. She became known around town as “The Other Washington Monument”.

After dealing with several health issues, Alice died on February 20, 1980, at the age of 96. To date, she holds the record for longest lived Presidential child.