Bamie Roosevelt
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Anna Roosevelt Cowles | |
---|---|
Born | Anna Roosevelt January 18, 1855 New York City, U.S. |
Died | August 25, 1931 | (aged 76)
Other names | Bamie Roosevelt Cowles, Bye |
Spouse | |
Children | William Sheffield Cowles Jr. |
Parent(s) | Theodore Roosevelt Sr. Martha Bulloch Roosevelt |
Family | Roosevelt |
Anna Roosevelt Cowles (January 18, 1855 – August 25, 1931) was the older sister of United States President Theodore Roosevelt and an aunt of Eleanor Roosevelt.[1] Her childhood nickname was Bamie (/ˈbæmi/), a derivative of bambina (Italian for "baby girl"), but as an adult, her family began calling her Bye because of her tremendous on-the-go energy ("Hi, Bamie! Bye, Bamie!"). Throughout the life of her brother, Theodore, she remained a constant source of emotional support and practical advice. On the death in childbirth of her sister-in-law, Alice Hathaway Lee, Bamie assumed parental responsibility for T.R.'s daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, during her early years.
Early life
Bamie was born in a
Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice once remarked that had Bamie, with her incredible intelligence and energy, been born a 19th-century man, without the social restrictions that the era placed on women, she would have been president instead of her brother. Her niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, stated in her autobiography that Bamie had "an able man's mind." Although she was not seen as a stunningly gorgeous woman like her mother or her sisters-in-law, her natural intelligence and energy was magnetic to both men and women. She remained an emotional pillar of strength for all the Roosevelts.
Family responsibilities from a young age
Because Bamie's mother, Mittie, was often distracted by illness or by her busy social life, Bamie increasingly took a central role in running the Roosevelt household, particularly after the premature death of her father, Thee. In fact, T.R.'s elder daughter Alice remarked that Bamie almost seemed to be born into middle age, so significant were the adult responsibilities put into her hands from childhood. Unlike many children in a similar situation, Bamie had the natural maturity, judgment, and wisdom to "hold the family together," Alice said.
When T.R.'s first wife Alice died suddenly following childbirth, most probably of kidney failure (
Elliott's wife,
T.R.'s lifelong confidante
Throughout his life, Bamie's brother Theodore often turned to her for counsel in letters and personal conversations. In fact, it was said by their niece Eleanor that T.R. made few important significant political decisions and even fewer personal decisions without getting the input of his sister. She remained a trusted confidante for his entire career. As president, he would walk down to her residence at 18th and I in Washington so often that Bamie's house was sometimes called the "other White House." As she became more infirm, T.R. turned more and more to his daughter Alice for advice and to act as a go-between in delicate political situations.
Marriage
In 1895 at age 40, Anna Roosevelt married US Navy Lt. Commander (later Rear Admiral) William Sheffield Cowles (1846–1923), a divorcé who was 49. They had a son, William Jr. (1898–1986), who married Margaret Alwyn Krech (1900–1982) in 1920.
Later life
When niece Eleanor Roosevelt campaigned against T.R.'s eldest son, Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt III, she publicly broke with her niece after the ordeal. In a letter to her son, Bamie wrote of Eleanor:
- "I just hate to see Eleanor let herself look as she does. Though never handsome, she always had to me a charming effect. Alas and alack, ever since politics have become her choicest interest, all her charm has disappeared!"
T.R.'s elder daughter
Eleanor Roosevelt on her Aunt Bamie
Bamie and her niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, eventually reconciled, and in an article in the
Death
Anna Roosevelt Cowles died on August 25, 1931, aged 76.
Notes
- ISBN 978-1-614-23964-2.
- ^ ""How to Take Criticism" Ladies Home Journal (November 1944) Online Edition". Archived from the original on November 27, 2006. Retrieved November 21, 2006.
Sources
Primary sources
- Roosevelt, Theodore. An Autobiography. (1913)
Secondary sources
- Beale Howard K. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power (1956).
- Brands, H.W.Theodore Roosevelt (2001)
- Caroli, Betty Boyd. The Roosevelt Women, Basic Books (1998)
- Dalton, Kathleen. Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life. (2002)
- Harbaugh, William Henry. The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt. (1963)
- Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt(2001)
- Morris, Edmund The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (1979)
- Morris, Edmund Theodore Rex. (2001)
- Mowry, George. The era of Theodore Roosevelt and the birth of modern America, 1900-1912. (1954)