The Everything Theodore Roosevelt Book (16 page)

TR was right about the outcome of the election, but he had no intention of leaving politics. Many people believed that someone like TR, who came from one of the city’s aristocratic families, should not be involved in politics. What could he know about the severe economic depression, high levels of unemployment, political graft, and labor disorders that were plaguing the city, they wondered? As a result, many Republicans crossed party lines and voted for his opponents. Perhaps that was for the best as far as TR’s career was concerned.

The Mayoral Race

Almost all the city’s aldermen were under indictment for taking bribes, workers were extremely underpaid for the long hours they toiled—sometimes as many as sixteen hours a day—and labor unions were agitating for power.

Significantly, 207 separate unions, representing 50,000 local employees, banded together as the Central Labor Union and got behind George, as did labor leader Samuel Gompers, who had sparked TR’s interest in politics just a few years earlier. TR did not have anywhere near the name recognition George did or empathy for the city’s residents, according to his opponents.

Hewitt represented the most powerful political machine in New York—and the United States. He was a seasoned campaigner who had served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. (He resigned during his fifth term to take over his mayoral duties.) Strangely enough, he shared some characteristics with TR that George could not emulate.

Hewitt, like TR, was rich and a philanthropist. That helped him, but it worked against TR. Hewitt had worked his way to millionaire status starting with a public school background, whereas TR had been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. In truth, by 1886 TR’s personal wealth was nowhere near Hewitt’s.

There were 219,992 votes cast in the 1886 New York City mayoral election. The breakdown, according to the November 14, 1886,
New York Times:
Hewitt (90,552); George (68,110); Roosevelt (60,435); Wardwell (582). The final tally left 313 votes unaccounted for, but the missing votes were not enough to sway the outcome.

In the long run, Hewitt’s age (he was sixty-four years old), government experience, family connections, ties to a political machine, and promise that he was the only candidate who could save New York City from “socialism, communism, anarchism, nihilism, and revolution” were too much for TR to overcome.

TR campaigned enthusiastically, but lost badly in the November 2, 1886, election. He placed a distant third behind runner-up Henry George. There was one consolation: he did not finish last. That honor went to Prohibition Party candidate William T. Wardwell.

TR Takes the Loss in Stride

No doubt the results of the race elicited a sigh of relief from Edith. They did not faze TR. He commented simply, “Well, anyway, I had a bully time.” The loss provided him with valuable experience that he would use in later years and freed him to make wedding plans with Edith despite his reservations.

It was understandable, given the social mores of the period, that TR was reluctant to marry a second time, especially so soon after Alice’s untimely death. But, Edith Kermit Carow’s charms were too alluring for him to ignore.

TR and Edith were married in a small wedding with few guests at St. George’s Church, Hanover Square, in London on December 2, 1886. Britain’s future ambassador to the United States during World War I, Cecil Spring Rice, was TR’s best man. That was the first day of a long and happy marriage for Edith and TR.

In a Fog

Weather conditions on the day of their wedding were far from ideal. Anyone who believed in omens had to wonder if they signaled a cloudy future for the young couple. The fog swirling throughout the church was so thick that the bride and groom had difficulty picking each other out in the crowd.

TR wore a pair of bright orange gloves so Edith could identify him, lest she marry the wrong man. Fog notwithstanding, the ceremony went on and the honeymoon, which lasted for thirty-three years, began. She obviously did not marry the wrong man.

The newlyweds stayed in Europe for their fifteen-week honeymoon. TR, ever the romantic and adventurer, took the opportunity to lead a group to the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps. The British Royal Society was so impressed with his achievement that it inducted him into its ranks, which was a significant honor.

Honeymoon Adventure

TR was a little careful in where they went, what they did, and who they saw on the honeymoon. He did not want to go places that he and first wife Alice had visited together, since his memories of her were still strong. Nevertheless, they traveled extensively and cavorted with a wide range of people, especially in England.

Cecil Spring Rice, or “Springy,” as TR called him, opened doors for the Roosevelts. TR spent large blocks of time at exclusive social clubs like the Athenaeum and St. James, which was noted as a gathering place for traveling diplomats. He socialized with political and literary figures such as the poet Robert Browning; Sir James Bryce, a member of the British Parliament at the time; and George Otto Trevelyan, a noted statesman, historian, and writer.

The social contacts were beneficial to TR, especially in the case of Bryce, who was appointed in 1907 as the British ambassador to the United States during TR’s first full term as president. The Roosevelts were often weekend guests at country houses around the nation.

TR and Edith spent the winter months on the Riviera and then traveled to Italy, where they visited Milan, Rome, Venice, and Florence. In Florence, reality struck. It was there that they heard about the terrible blizzards that had devastated the Badlands while they were frolicking in Europe.

The news put a crimp in their honeymoon, since TR realized that the money they were spending might run out due to the destruction of his cattle. He had lost most of his herds in the fierce weather.

A Babysitter for Alice

There existed another vexing problem: what to do about baby Alice. TR wanted to let Bamie raise her. Edith did not. She wanted Alice to be part of their family. They opted to defer any decision on her care until they returned to the United States and talked to his sister Bamie.

As happy as TR and Edith were in Europe, they realized that no honeymoon could last forever. They returned to the United States in the spring of 1887 and settled down eventually at Oyster Bay, Long Island, in a house that he had contracted for in March 1884 with the firm of Joseph Wood & Sons of Lawrence, Long Island.

Originally, Theodore intended to name the house at Oyster Bay “Leeholm” in honor of Alice’s family. He changed it to Sagamore Hill in memory of Sagamore Mohannis, the Indian chief who used the hill as a meeting place and signed his people’s rights to the land over to the settlers in the 1660s.

Construction of the house was completed in 1885. Ironically, he had built the house for Alice, but her death precluded any life together for them at Oyster Bay. Nevertheless, Bamie had insisted that he build the house, because young Alice needed a home. Bamie’s persistence was sagacious as events turned out.

Edith and TR established a pattern in their home that would persist through their years of marriage. Edith managed the house and the budget well, particularly in light of TR’s reduced income due to the loss of his cattle. She did it so well that she managed to buy a house for him without his knowledge once they moved to Washington, D.C., and he became president.

Edith the Money Manager

Many people considered Edith to be a better judge than TR of men and of money. They needed that balance, because of his lack of money management skills and his overall joy of life, which tended to cost him a few dollars here and there. Her money management and social skills served them in good stead as the number of Roosevelts increased at Sagamore Hill and beyond.

The experience Edith gained dealing with limited financial resources came into play after they were married. She and TR had both learned a valuable lesson based on her family’s setbacks and the losses he had incurred after the Badlands disaster. They kept tighter reins on their own finances once the honeymoon ended.

Edith was no stranger to dwindling resources. Her own family, although affluent prior to the Civil War, suffered severe financial setbacks afterwards due to inflation and her father’s alcoholism. Their fortunes were reversed badly enough by 1867 that the Carows could not afford their own home. They lived with relatives, but their social standing remained intact.

The Family Grows

The couple did not waste any time starting a family. They already had one child. Alice came to live with them shortly after they began their married life. Again, Bamie’s steady influence played a role in the decision, as it did so often in TR’s life. She helped them resolve their dilemma over what to do about Alice. Bamie turned young Alice over to Edith and TR in May of 1887, although it broke her heart to do so.

Their own first child, Theodore Jr., was born on September 13, 1887, at Sagamore Hill. Kermit followed two years later, on October 10, 1889, also at Sagamore Hill. Their third and final child delivered at the Long Island homestead, Ethel Carow, arrived on August 13, 1891.