The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-04-09

I His triumphs were those of a per- 1 sonality which cut through the fact l that he was a son-in-law of the dy-
 ramic Theodore Roosevelt, the hus- band of the glamorous Alice Roose- velt.i rich mans son, an epicure, ! fond of spats, an artist on the viO- | lin. piano and pipe organ, in appear ance 6 natty clubman type, in taste almost Iilettante-the whole load
 enough to blight the average po1iti- cal career. 1 Yet he fought his way up in mans game where the rough and tumble goes to the strongest and
 quickest. He not only won the speakership but promptly made it ls.gain by force of his personality,
 much the same powerful office it
 was in the days of Reed and Can
 ron. though without the aid of the | ld-time rules which made their
 Had Longworth been a more som-
 Der character this achievement | would have been most prominently
 Linked with him. But the good-fel-
 low in him, the playboy singing, | telling stories, playing the organ and the piano in the drawing rooms of; | Washington the endless anecdotes these so fascinated the capital by | their contrast with the dull run of l hack politicians that Longworth | probably will have to wait for his- l :orians to fix his rank as a parla. 1 .Eentary figure.
 In the elections last November 1 I.ongworth had his troubles in the l first Ohio district and like some other republican leader of congress fe came through, bu. without the 1 customary comfortable margin. But | his personal popularity constantly 1 :s,creased.
 Longworth had behind him as Cincinnati youth the tradition of wealth. He was graduated from liar ward university, attended Harvard law school for year and was grad uated from the Cincinnati law school in 1894. Four years later he became member of the Cincinnati school board. He arrived in the United States house of representatives by way of brief service in the Ohio house and senate.
 On February IF. 1906, .Longworth was married at the White House to Alice Lee Roosevelt, daughter of the I president It was a glamorous oc- casion for the whole nation. They went honeymooning with the good wishes of q nation among their gifts, which included costly trinkets from crowned heads of the world over Since that day they have been Nick and Alice" to the American people and they were a combination which figured largely in the life of the na- tion and the capital
 Recently LongWorth spoke at the dinner of the Carabao, society of veterans of the Philippine iRsurrec- tion. The dinner was on St. Valen-
 tines night, his daughters sixth
 birthday.
 ''I went to the Philippines for
 high purpose, but not to fight iLongworth explained. My daughters birthday to-day is the fruit of that | mission .sl Longworth courted Alice Roose- welt while they were guests of then Secretary of War Taft oi1 tour to the islands. Longworth was Nick" in Wash : ington, in Aiken, Cincinnati or wherever he might go. For 25 years he and his brilliant wife played a
 merry game of society and politics and on Massachusetts avenue they were master and mistress of the
 most cosmopolitan home in Washing | ton. Their salons were brilliant.
 their parties original and their at
 tendance was sought by many. Nicholas Longworth was perhaps
 the foremost present-day example Of
 man born with a golden spoon in
 his mouth who became a statesmen
 and good fellow. His bitterest po- litical enemies were among his best l personal friends.
 Starting as a precinct worker in Cincinnati, he rose to the speaker 1 ship of the house of representatives
 "a place held by many to be the
 second most powerful in the federal lgovernment.
 l Longworth was a stalwart regular republican, and conscientious about l 1t. He refused to leave his party in 1 1912, when his longtime political leader and father-in-law, Theodore | Roosevelt, bolted.
 His service in the house dated
 from 1903 straight through to the
 end. with the exception of two years following the 1912 election.
 He served three two-year terms as
 speaker, starting in 1925, and was
 unanimously nominated by a repul!-
 lican house conference in February
 as his party's candidate to succeed himself in the 72nd congress meet ing in December.
 l Born November 5, 1869, of n
 wealthy old family in Cincinnati, he
 was educated in Harvard, receiving 1 an A. E. and taking a law course
 there and receiving his law degrce
 from Cincinnati law school, in 1894. He was admitted to the bar the
 same year. He joined a precinct
 republican club, and marched in
 torchlight parades.
 One of his favorite stories was
 that in one of them he complained
 to a graybeard marching that he couldn't even hear the band live been marching in these pa-
 rades for 20 years, and never have
 heard the band, young feller," was the reply.
 Longworth headed the parade. on legislative matters, for nearly decade.
 He was named to the board of education in Cincinnati in 1898. The next year he was elected to the Ohio
 house, and two years later to the state senate. Tn 1902 he was elect ed to the house of representatives from the first Ohio district.
 His affable personality made him a popular figure. He was enter tained at the White House hy his