Selections from Theodore Roosevelt's Diary


The selections reproduced here focus on Theodore Roosevelt's relationship to his first wife, Alice Lee. The entries from 1880 record his feelings in the months before their marriage in October of that year. The later entries reveal the great personal loss Roosevelt felt on February 14, 1884, the day when both his wife and mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, died.

February 3, 1880
Travelling by sleigh to see Alice Lee at her home in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.


July 4, 1880
A walk in the woods with Alice Lee and a statement of Roosevelt's affection for her.


February 14-17, 1884
Three entries from the time of the deaths of Alice Lee Roosevelt and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt.


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