Edith Carow Roosevelt

6/18/2025

Edith and Sagamore Hill Sand Tarts

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First Ladies - 1900 to 2000

Edith Carow Roosevelt*

President Teddy Roosevelt*

Edith on Bench*

First Lady Edith and President Theodore Roosevelt
First Lady - 1901 - 1909
Quotes from Edith -

"I think imagination is one of the greatest blessings of life."
"Not one of my children ever wants to be told or directed about anything whatever!"

Factoid - Edith started the tradition of hanging the President and First Lady's portraits in the White House.
Bio -

Edith Carow and Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt were neighbors and played together as children and even had a teenage romance! After Teddy's first wife, Alice, died, they had a chance meeting at the home of his sister and rekindled their romance. They married in 1886. Edith took on the role of mother, to Teddy's young daughter, Alice, and they had five children together. As Teddy built his political career, Edith was supportive, but family came first for her and she an the home and raised the children.
Teddy was President William McKinley's Vice President. He was vacationing when he received the news that William had died after being shot. Teddy was now President and the family had little time to prepare for their transition to the White House.
Edith realized she needed help and became the first to hire a White House social secretary to help with schedules, planning events, and correspondence. Together, she and her secretary oversaw a record-breaking number of White House receptions, musicals, dinners, etc.
Edith was also passionate about renovating and expanding the West Wing of the White House. She updated much of the furniture and established a China Room with cabinets built for displaying china pieces of the former Presidents and First Ladies. The China Room is still there today!
All of these social and domestic activities filled most of Edith's time, but she always made time to listen to and advise Teddy on political matters.
Teddy once said, "Whenever I go against her judgment, I regret it."

About Teddy - Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th president after the assassination of William McKinley. He quickly established himself as a progressive reformer. Teddy championed the "Square Deal" domestic program, emphasizing conservation and labor rights. Internationally, he expanded U.S. influence through the Panama Canal and he won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War.

Sagamore Hill Sand Tarts

Teddy had a voracious appetite. He loved coffee and reportedly drank it in large cups with up to 7 lumps of sugar! He was known to eat huge quantities of food on occasion. These Sand Tarts were a favorite of Teddy's. Edith wrote on the inside cover of one of her cookbooks. Sand Tarts were often served to guests at the Roosevelt's private home, Sagamore Hill.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, divided
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups sifted flour
For topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Steps

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cookie sheet by greasing.
Cream butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and cream until light and fluffy.
Add two of the eggs, one by one, beating after each addition. Separate the third egg, reserve the egg white, and add the yolk to the butter and sugar mixture. Add the vanilla.
Add the flour and stir until well incorporated, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
Roll out the dough thin, 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thick. Cut in 2 & 1/2-inch rounds.
Brush the cookies with the reserved egg white and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.

Portrait Credits*
Edith Roosevelt - on bench - Théobald Chartran, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; sepia photo - Schloss, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Theodore Roosevelt - Sigismund De Ivanowski, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Dixon Stroud
Roosevelt Family - Solis-Cohen, Myer, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons