
About this episode
September 14, 1901. Midnight in the Adirondacks. A pounding knock at the door jolts Theodore and Edith Roosevelt awake. William McKinley is dead. Hours later, Theodore will be sworn in as the youngest president in U.S. history. But Edith barely flinches—her diary that day notes her children’s sniffles before her husband’s rise to power.
Who was this woman who grew up alongside Theodore, helped shape his presidency, reinvented the role of First Lady, and yet tried to erase her own story from the record?
Special thanks to Kathleen Dalton, author of Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life; and Edward O’Keefe, author of The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President. O'Keefe is also the CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, set to open next 4th of July.
Artwork: Studio portrait of Edith and Theodore Roosevelt seated together, by Walter Scott Shinn, 1916.
Get in touch: [email protected]
Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek
Follow on Facebook: HISTORY This Week Podcast
To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-this-week/id1493453604
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2YFm0ezrXmMqLXbxgZpkmd?si=9a84fadee11447d4
Audacy: https://www.audacy.com/podcast/history-this-week-71b4d
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Get every episode summarized
Each time HISTORY This Week publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from HISTORY This Week

Parting the Desert Between Two Seas
HISTORY This Week
Apr 27, 202636:10failed

One Eco-Arson After Another: The Earth Liberation Front
HISTORY This Week
Apr 20, 202634:02failed

Jefferson’s Trade War Shuts Down America
HISTORY This Week
Apr 13, 202628:30failed

A Good, Not Great Lake (from Points North)
HISTORY This Week
Apr 9, 202625:33failed