By the time that Franklin and Eleanor entered the White House in 1933, a rift had long since developed between the Hyde Park branch of the family and the Oyster Bay branch. The bad feelings probably had root in Eleanor and Franklin's long time support for the Democratic Party. T.R., and his family, of course, Bull Moose digressions notwithstanding, were solidly Republican. But the essence of the dispute between the two branches of the family was the feeling of the Oyster Bay Roosevelts that Franklin had usurped the political career of Ted Roosevelt, whom the Oyster Bay clan had expected would follow in T.R.'s political footsteps. It was clear early on that Franklin intended to take advantage of his famous name and pursue a political career. Ted and older sister Alice Roosevelt, in particular, bitterly resented Franklin's attempt to assume the mantel of T.R. in the public eye.
T.R. died in 1919 at the relatively young age of 60. At that time both Ted and his cousin Franklin had ambitions of succeeding to his political legacy. Elected in 1910 from the district surrounding Hyde Park, largely on the strength of the Roosevelt name, Franklin had already served in the New York State legislature and by 1919 was in his post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, where in his seven-year term he was in the process of carving out an impressive legacy of his own. Ted was just mustering out of the Army. Franklin, five years older than Ted, clearly had a head start in the political world.
Ted Roosevelt had followed his father and his cousin FDR in the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, appointed by President Harding. President Harding's election in 1920 came at the expense of FDR, who was the Democratic candidate for Vice President on a ticket with Ohio governor James M. Cox as Presidential candidate. The National Republican Committee had decided to ask Ted to follow his cousin around as he toured the west in an attempt to debunk Franklin's claims to be T.R.'s successor. Franklin was frequently exhibiting a toothy grin and using the word "Bully" at every opportunity. Ted Roosevelt made numerous speeches in support of the Democratic ticket, often suggesting that FDR was not a suitable candidate for Vice President and, in effect, not a "real" Roosevelt. Ted made numerous speeches in which he said that Franklin was a "maverick," "who does not have the brand of our family." In addition to resenting Franklin's attempt to claim his father's political legacy, no doubt Ted harbored some resentment of Franklin's lack of military service in World War I, when Franklin served in the civilian post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy while Ted served in the First Infantry Division in France being shot in the leg and gassed by the German army. TR himself had expressed disappointment that Franklin had not resigned his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and entered the military. Aided by the extensive efforts of Ted Roosevelt, the Harding-Coolidge ticket won in a landslide. President Harding's victory over the Cox-Roosevelt Democratic ticket enabled Ted to be appointed to the powerful post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the position formerly occupied by T.R. and later by Franklin. Although the Secretary of the Navy was nominally in charge, the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy at that time effectively ran the Navy. Franklin was certainly not pleased that his own cousin had helped to assure his defeat in his first run for national office. The formerly cordial relations between the distant Roosevelt cousins, who had only limited contact during their growing up years now turned chilly to say the least. When Franklin contracted polio in 1921, it appeared that his political career was likely over. The Oyster Bay Roosevelts pushed forward with their plan to have Ted follow in his father's political footsteps. Ted ran for and was elected to the New York State Legislature. He was sworn in as a legislator on January 1, 1920.
The family tension erupted into an actual feud when Ted threw his hat in the ring for Governor of New York in 1924 against Democrat hero and incumbent Governor Alfred E. Smith. Eleanor at this time was beginning to assert herself on the political scene as women for the first time had become voters and became accordingly more interested in the political process. With Franklin's polio sidelining his political career, Eleanor took up the cause in large part as a place holder for Franklin, it being the great hope of Eleanor that Franklin would one day recover sufficiently to resume his political career. Eleanor was becoming more and more involved in Democratic Party politics and worked long and hard to get Al Smith elected Governor. She was not sparing in her negative comments about Ted Roosevelt's candidacy. One series of incidents in particular served to drive a wedge between the two branches of the Roosevelt clan. While serving in the Interior Department, Ted's name had been linked tangentially to the Teapot Dome Scandal. Although Ted was ultimately cleared by Congress of any wrongdoing, Eleanor and other Democrats eagerly used the Teapot Dome scandal to undermine Ted's gubernatorial candidacy. Eleanor had a special car rigged with a an oversized mock teapot on top of the car spewing steam out of its spout and carrying the written message that Ted was corrupt.. When Ted would be speaking in a small New York town square, Eleanor and her daughter would often drive the Teapot Dome car around the square honking the horn and spewing steam. When Ted lost the race for Governor of New York to Al Smith, Alice placed the blame for the end of her brother's political career squarely on Eleanor. Alice forever after blamed Eleanor for Ted's political demise. It is not hard to understand the resentment that Eleanor's later self-admitted "rough stunt" stirred in the Oyster Bay contingent, in particular in Ted and Alice.
Ted Roosevelt was serving as the appointed Governor General of the Philippines at the time of Franklin's election in 1932. It was widely speculated that Franklin would not extend Ted's appointment when he assumed office in 1933. When quizzed earlier by reporters as to his relationship with the new President, Ted quipped: "Fifth cousin, about to be removed." And removed he was. Indeed, when Ted's pro forma resignation was sent to the White House, the new President immediately "accepted" Ted's resignation.
So by 1933, Ted's political career, elected and appointed, was over. With Franklin holding the Oval Office until his death in April, 1945, Republican Ted Roosevelt would never again participate in civilian government as an office holder. And Princess Alice would be persona non grata at the White House she once dominated with her adventuresome personality. When the press once quizzed T.R. about Alice's escapades, T.R. told the press: "I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both."
Although Ted was throughout his life a fairly easy going man, the same of course cannot be said for the infamously mercurial "Princess Alice." With regard to Eleanor's trailing Ted around the state in her teapot car, Alice told reporters that "It was a pretty base thing for her to do." Incurring the wrath of Alice Roosevelt Longworth was not something to be undertaken lightly. And Alice had resented Eleanor since they were little girls. When T.R.'s brother Elliot died at the age of 34 in 1894, making nine-year-old Eleanor an orphan, T.R. went out of his way to attempt to provide his young niece Eleanor with a father figure. For ten-year-old Alice, who already had developed the feeling that she did not have her father's complete attention, the perceived encroachment by little Eleanor, a girl of her same age, was a painful development. Alice carried a deep resentment of Eleanor for the rest of her life and, as only she could, made the gawky Eleanor's social life as uncomfortable as possible. While Eleanor would later dutifully invite Alice and husband Congressman Nicholas Longworth for dinner, Alice would reciprocate by inviting Franklin and his mistress Lucy Mercer to dinner at the Longworth house. She defended her actions by saying that Franklin "deserved a good time. He was married to Eleanor." The rift between Eleanor and Franklin and Ted and Alice would never fully be repaired and would simmer for decades. Alice Roosevelt Longworth would see to that.
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