Edith Carow Roosevelt
Edith Roosevelt was the second wife of the widower Theodore Roosevelt. They would have five children together, in addition to Teddy’s daughter Alice from his first marriage. Edith served as the First Lady of New York while her husband was Governor and in order to avoid shaking hands with strangers in receiving lines – an act which she found tiresome – she began to carry a bouquet of flowers in each hand, a habit which she brought with her to the White House.
Her first official act upon entering the White House was dismissing the housekeeper, a role which she assumed herself. Edith also hired a social secretary and thus became the first First Lady to hire a staff member tasked with planning the agenda of the First Lady. It was the beginning of the First Lady’s staff, which has evolved ever since.
When President Roosevelt became the first president to leave the country while in office Edith when with him, establishing another precedent which has continued since, as the President seldom leaves the country without his wife at his side. Edith also established the White House as the pinnacle of Washington society, both for social events such as the wedding of Alice Roosevelt, and for parties and levees for the Washington elite.
Edith used her influence with her husband to persuade him to lobby Congress for the funds to establish the National Portrait Gallery, acted as a go between for Roosevelt during the negotiations which ended the Russo-Japanese War, and worked to stay up to date on the political and international atmosphere in support of her husband. But her greatest contribution as First Lady was in her renovation of the White House. Edith wanted the living quarters for the President’s family separated from the working and public spaces of the mansion.
Her renovations, which were designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White, led to the construction of the West Wing. The public spaces were redecorated as well as refurbished and Edith interposed to save much of the historical furnishings, some of which are in display in today’s Lincoln Bedroom, which Lincoln had used as an office rather than a sleeping room. Much of the layout and décor of today’s White House dates from Edith’s tenure, including the White House China display.