Betsey Roosevelt Whitney (May 18, 1908, Baltimore, Maryland – March 25, 1998, Manhasset, New York), was an American philanthropist, the ex-wife of James Roosevelt (the eldest son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt), and later wife of American millionaire and U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James's, John Hay Whitney.
Betsey Maria Cushing was the middle daughter of the prominent neurosurgeon Dr. Harvey Cushing and his wife Katharine Crowell C...
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Betsey Roosevelt Whitney (May 18, 1908, Baltimore, Maryland – March 25, 1998, Manhasset, New York), was an American philanthropist, the ex-wife of James Roosevelt (the eldest son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt), and later wife of American millionaire and U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James's, John Hay Whitney.
Betsey Maria Cushing was the middle daughter of the prominent neurosurgeon Dr. Harvey Cushing and his wife Katharine Crowell Cushing, who hailed from a socially prominent Cleveland family. Dr. Cushing was descended from Matthew Cushing, an early settler of Hingham, Massachusetts. Dr. Cushing served as professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Yale Universities, and the family established itself in Boston.
Though Betsey had two brothers, she and her two sisters became well-known in the social world as the "Cushing Sisters", heralded for their charm and beauty from their debutante days onward. She and her sisters were schooled by their social-climbing mother...
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