Evalyn walsh mclean biography of michael

American socialite and owner of the Hope diamond. Father found gold ; moved to Washington, D. She also owned the storied Hope diamond, a Her father was an Irish immigrant and carpenter who bought and sold small abandoned mines in the West, hoping to strike it rich. He also spent. At age ten, McLean's life was changed forever when her father did indeed find gold quartz near Ouray; she detailed this rags-to-riches tale in her autobiography Father Struck It Rich.

McLean initially had a hard time making the transition to wealth; a notorious tomboy, she had little formal schooling even after her family moved to Washington, D. They frequently sailed to Europe, and on one occasion there her parents put her in a convent to restrict her troublemaking. She used it to buy a sports car. Her parents worked diligently, though unsuccessfully, to prevent her marriage to Edward Beale McLean, with whom she had a tempestuous relationship.

The scion of a newspaper family that owned both the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Washington Post"Ned," as he was called, had spending habits as lavish as her own. InMcLean was in an automobile accident in which her brother Vinson was killed. Her leg was seriously injured, then badly set, and as a result she underwent a dangerous operation that brought on an addiction to morphine for a time.

Evalyn and Ned eloped inafter which both sets of parents reconciled themselves to the situation and gave the newlyweds generous cash gifts. They spent the money on an extravagant European honeymoon, during which Ned bought her a famed jewel called the Star of the East. They also viewed the Hope diamond at Cartier in Paris; after their return to the United StatesMcLean bought that huge stone as well, although she knew of its reputation as a bringer of bad luck.

Raised a Catholic, she simply called a priest and had him bless the stone in a gesture to remove the alleged curse. Ned McLean drank and teetered on the edge of bankruptcy several times. McLean had her first child ina son she named after her late brother Vinson the boy would die in a traffic accident at the age of nine ; three more children followed.

The McLeans' life was further stabilized when Ned gained control of his family's newspapers inafter his father appeared to grow mentally unstable. Control of the Post placed the McLeans inside Washington's upper echelons of non-elected power-brokers, a position they relished. The family home was a rambling northwest D. How the Hope Diamond first came to Washington.

The stone is said to bring misfortune and death to anyone who owns it. She was an heiress to a gold mine fortune and in married the equally wealthy Ned McLean, whose father made his money in natural gas and owned The Washington Post. The rich young couple quickly became the stars of Washington society. His good looks and charm, coupled with an easy-going nature made him personally popular throughout his life.

Florence Harding was sixty when she became First Lady — and looked every day of it. She went to more fashionable hairdressers. If Evalyn wanted Florence invited, sobeit. She spent afternoons reading or playing cards with them, keeping them company. Of course, this new lease on life was a blessing to all. Warren G. Harding: The man who looked like a president ought to look!

Florence had always been a superstitious woman, and the new bond she would now form with Madame Marcia would be prophetic. The psychic predicted that Warren Harding would become president, but would not survive his term in office. This, of course, was ludicrous. Harding was only a mediocre first-term Senator with little national presence. How could he possibly become President of the United States?

But Madame Marcia predicted and the Duchess believed. The doormen knew to admit her whenever she showed up. When Florence suffered another near-fatal evalyn walsh mclean biography of michael blockage, her distraught husband, who had come to depend heavily on his politically-savvy wife, sent for Evalyn, who had been vacationing in Bar Harbor, Maine.

She took the next train to Washington to be near her dear friend. The Duchess recovered. The Duchess went to the McLean estate for consolation after the funeral. We can only guess what they contained. Upon her death, the principal of her estate and her jewelry, including the Hope Diamond, were left to her seven grandchildren, to be managed by four trustees until the five oldest grandchildren passed their 25th birthdays.

Her sons, however, received the proceeds of the Walsh Trust, which was established by her father Thomas Walshwho had died in If the home was sold by the Trustees, he was to receive the proceeds of the sale.

Evalyn walsh mclean biography of michael

In the NBC television miniseries Backstairs at the White Housein the midst of a score-settling rant Florence Harding mentions to White House maid and hairdresser Maggie Rogers that on the traditional day that the outgoing First Lady shows the incoming one the executive mansion and how things work there, outgoing First Lady Edith Wilson effectively told her that it would not be acceptable to bring McLean along with her; no doubt in her mind because Mrs.

Wilson looked down on them. Harding had not forgiven Mrs. Wilson for the perceived slight and for that and other perceived ones, she was going to make a point of inviting McLean over to the White House. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.

Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. American heiress and socialite — Leadville, ColoradoU. Washington, D.