Hissing Cousins? Rivalry Among the Roosevelts

Hissing Cousins: The Untold Story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth by Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer, has been called a joint biography by some reviewers. It’s more an examination of their relationship with each other and the ways in which each wielded (or tried to wield) power in Washington.

Alice was Theodore Roosevelt’s first-born. Her mother died a few hours after her birth and Teddy promptly sent her to live with an aunt while he decamped for parts West to grieve. Only when he married again was the