Alice Blue Gown
In a family of extraordinary people, Alice Roosevelt stood out for her wit, fashion sense and independence. Of her father, then the president of the United States, she said, "He wants to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral, and the baby at every christening." A Paris newspaper noted that in 15 months Alice attended 407 dinners, 350 balls and 300 parties. An American paper alleged that she stripped down to her lingerie at a drunken orgy at a Newport, Rhode Island, mansion and danced on a table, a story, I regret to inform you, that, though excellent copy, was untrue. One sentence, however, uttered by Teddy, her beloved Papa, captures the essence of Alice.