Eleanor Butler Alexander-Roosevelt

Who was Eleanor Butler Alexander-Roosevelt?

Eleanor Butler Alexander was a philanthropist, First Lady of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and a daughter-in-law of US President Theodore Roosevelt.

She was the only daughter of Henry Addison Alexander, a prominent New York lawyer, and Grace Green. She was a great-granddaughter of the late Theron Butler.

She married politician and general Theodore "Ted "Roosevelt III, the eldest son of President Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, Jr. and Edith Kermit Carow, on June 29, 1910 in New York City at the Presbyterian Church on 59th Street. Ted was the only general officer to land in the first wave on D-Day and was awarded the Medal of Honor.

During her husband's service as Governor of Puerto Rico and Governor-General of the Philippines, she served during three years as First Lady of Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

Throughout her life Eleanor not only supported her husband's career, but also proved a highly organized, socially conscious person in her own right. She helped improve the conditions of Puerto Rican women while her husband was governor of the island; she organized the first American women's committee for China Relief; and she directed the American Red Cross Club in England. Eleanor received citations and commendations from, among others, the French government, Gen. John J. Pershing, and the U.S. War Department. She also wrote an account of her life in her memoirs, Day Before Yesterday.