Edward Heath

 NAME Sir Edward Richard George Heath

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974; leader of the Conservative Party; led Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973.

BIRTH Edward Heath was born on July 9, 1916 at 54 Albion Road, Broadstairs, Kent, England. He was the firstborn of two sons.​

FAMILY BACKGROUND  Heath came from modest working-class origins, breaking the patrician mould of previous Conservative leaders. His father, William George Heath (1888-1976), was a carpenter who built airframes for Vickers during World War I and subsequently became a builder. He later successfully established his own business as a local builder and decorator after taking over a building and decorating firm. Heath's mother, Edith Anne Heath (née Pantony; 1888-1951), worked as a lady's maid before her marriage.​

Heath's paternal grandfather had run a small dairy business, and when that failed, worked as a porter at Broadstairs Station on the Southern Railway. Heath's forebears, originally from the West Country, had moved to Kent at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Edward was four years old when his younger brother John was born. There was "no question that Edward was the 'favoured brother.'" His mother's death on October 15, 1951 was, in Heath's own words, "a devastating blow for me, the first I had sustained in my family life and one that I hardly knew how to handle."​ (1)

CHILDHOOD Heath grew up in Broadstairs, Kent, where he was known as "Teddy" as a young man. 

He grew up in a small semi-detached house in Kent and showed early signs of ambition and intellect.

Heath had a lifelong interest in music, which was strongly encouraged by his mother, who taught him the piano. While still young, he started conducting the annual Broadstairs Christmas carol concert, which he continued for many years.​

EDUCATION Heath attended a free primary school and, at age ten, won a scholarship to Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate, the area's leading grammar school. For his final year, he attended the King's School, Canterbury, where he was chosen as head boy. 

As a student, Heath was serious-minded and hardworking, though not exceptional academically. His reputation was based primarily on personal character and diligence. At Chatham House, he received the school's most prestigious prize in his final year, awarded for personal character. He was a distinguished music scholar, member of the school orchestra, secretary of the debating society, and played the archangel Gabriel in the school play.​

With the aid of a county scholarship, Heath went up to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1935. A talented musician, he won the college's organ scholarship in his first term (having previously tried for organ scholarships at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and Keble College, Oxford), which enabled him to stay at the university for a fourth year. He eventually graduated in 1939 with a Second Class Honours BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE).​

At Oxford, Heath became active in Conservative Party politics while simultaneously opposing the Conservative-dominated government's appeasement policy. 

CAREER RECORD 1941–1946: Served in the Royal Artillery during World War II, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

1946-1950 After brief periods working in the Civil Service and as news editor of the Church Times, Heath went to work for the finance house of Brown, Shipley and Company in 1948

1950 Elected for Bexley in 1950, serving in the House of Commons for 51 years until 2001 (later for Bexley Sidcup).

1955–1959 Chief Whip

1959-1960: Minister of Labour

1960-1963: Lord Privy Seal and chief EEC negotiator. Led the first (unsuccessful) negotiations for Britain to join the EEC.

1963-1964: President of the Board of Trade

1965-1975: Leader of the Conservative Party: Elected July 27, 1965, he was the first Conservative leader chosen by ballot of MPs.

1970-1974: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 

1974-2001 Heath remained in the House of Commons until his retirement in 2001, serving as Father of the House from 1992 to 2001. 

APPEARANCE Heath's physical appearance was distinctive. In his younger years at Oxford and during his military service, he maintained a conventional appearance. As he aged, Heath gained considerable weight. Marcia Williams, political secretary to Harold Wilson, described Heath's "clean and shining silver hair, well-tended and suntanned face, immaculate blue suit and tie." His silver hair became one of his most recognizable features. (2)

In his later years, he made very few public appearances due to deteriorating health, and by 2003 he was frail and confined to a wheelchair.​

Heath was short-sighted and too vain to wear glasses, which led to him famously misreading "facet" as "face" when commenting on the Lonhro scandal in the House of Commons in 1973, describing it as "the unacceptable face of capitalism" instead of "facet."​

Edward Heath by Allan Warren  

FASHION Heath dressed conservatively and formally, typically wearing well-tailored three-piece suits appropriate to his position. He favoured traditional business attire with ties, and in his prime ministerial years maintained an immaculate appearance in blue suits. His style was conventional and understated, reflecting the formal political standards of his era rather than making any particular fashion statement.​

CHARACTER Edward Heath was a complex and often contradictory character. Colleagues and contemporaries described him as difficult, troubled, rude, curmudgeonly, and possessed of a legendary capacity for nursing grievances. He was socially awkward, often monosyllabic, with a disconcerting habit of leaving long silences between sentences—one staff member once timed a silence at six minutes. He was known for his titanic rudeness and would often ignore dinner companions, particularly women, or relapse into morose silence.​

However, there was also a warmer side to Heath. He could be very funny, and his distinctive shoulder-heaving laugh became endearing in his later years. The eloquent testimony of Denis Healey and Roy Jenkins at his 80th birthday celebrations showed he had genuine friends and admirers. His staff generally adored him, and many accounts attest to his personal kindness. He showed remarkable solicitousness to Mary Wilson, Harold Wilson's widow, despite loathing Wilson himself.​

Heath was a man of serious-mindedness, hard work, vision, and integrity. He was decisive and fair, keeping friends for life from his army days and sailing crew, who spoke of "the skipper" with great affection. He demonstrated personal courage in dealing summarily with Enoch Powell after his 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech and in bringing Ugandan Asians fleeing Idi Amin to Britain.​

SPEAKING VOICE Heath's speaking voice was highly distinctive and became the subject of satire. His biographer John Campbell speculated that his speech must have undergone "drastic alteration on encountering Oxford," although retaining elements of Kent speech, unlike his father and younger brother who both spoke with Kent accents. His voice was clipped and strangled, contributing to his somewhat awkward public persona.

In later years, his "peculiar accent" featured "strangulated" vowel sounds combined with non-standard pronunciation of "l" as "w" and "out" as "eout." 

Despite this, he was a competent if not inspiring public speaker, with a blunt forcefulness in the House of Commons when on form.​

SENSE OF HUMOUR Though often perceived as dour and humourless, Heath possessed a genuine sense of humour that became more evident in his later years. His distinctive shoulder-heaving laugh became a national treasure on the celebrity circuit in his post-political years. He could be very funny in private settings and enjoyed social gatherings where he felt comfortable. 

RELATIONSHIPS Heath never married, becoming one of the few British Prime Ministers to remain a lifelong bachelor. He had been expected to marry childhood friend Kay Raven, but she reportedly tired of waiting and married an RAF officer she met on holiday in 1950. In his memoirs, Heath devoted only four sentences to this, claiming he had been too busy establishing a career after the war and had "perhaps... taken too much for granted." In a 1998 TV interview with Michael Cockerell, Heath said he had kept her photograph in his flat for many years, becoming visibly emotional when discussing her.​

Heath's status as a bachelor led to extensive speculation about his private life. His official biographer Philip Ziegler noted Heath was "apt to relapse into morose silence or completely ignore the woman next to him and talk across her to the nearest man." 

MONEY AND FAME Heath came from a modest background without the private income typical of Conservative politicians of his era. He worked as an investment banker even after establishing himself in politics to support himself financially. Upon becoming Prime Minister, he installed a Steinway grand piano in 10 Downing Street, bought with his £450 Charlemagne Prize money awarded in 1963 for his efforts to bring Britain into the EEC.​

After leaving office, he earned income from writing and public speaking. Fame brought him both admiration and isolation, particularly after leaving office.

Heath was known for being penny-pinching despite his substantial political career. 

FOOD AND DRINK Heath had refined tastes and particularly enjoyed lobster thermidor in two wine sauces, which he often requested at private dinners.

Heath's preferred drink was Port, particularly enjoyed at social gatherings and official functions. His preference illustrated his refined tastes and appreciation for finer things, though he wasn't particularly concerned about vintage. Bruce Anderson recounted an anecdote about serving an outstanding Port at a meal in the 1980s—when asked what it was, Heath looked blank-eyed and replied simply: "Glass of port."​

His social entertaining at his Arundells home in later years featured formal dinners with quality wines and serious meals including lamb with serious claret and fine Port.​

MUSIC AND ARTS Music was central to Heath's life from childhood. He won organ scholarships that enabled his Oxford education and was responsible for all on-campus music—church and concert—at Balliol College. He conducted from age 15 and maintained this passion throughout his life. Heath played the organ regularly, and as a Cabinet Minister would visit cathedrals, town halls, and churches throughout the country to play their organs. At one cathedral, Evensong was put back an hour to accommodate his schedule—only the second time in 200 years.​

As Prime Minister, Heath famously installed a Steinway grand piano in 10 Downing Street. He led the London Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Elgar's "Cockaigne" Overture in 1971, later released by EMI. He founded and occasionally conducted the European Community Youth Orchestra and conducted orchestras throughout Europe, the USA, and Japan. He continued conducting Robert Mayer children's concerts and appeared as guest conductor with London's Whitehall Choir alongside Sir David Willcocks and Christopher Herrick.​

Heath conducted Christmas carol concerts in Broadstairs every year from his teens until old age. Richard Rodney Bennett's carol "What Sweeter Music" was composed especially for this event. In 1987, he organized the first gala benefit concert held in the People's Republic of China, which raised $1.25 million for the disabled and was televised to approximately 400 million viewers.​

His music recordings include Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Boccherini's Cello Concerto in G with the Zingara Trio and English Chamber Orchestra.  Heath's extensive collection of recorded music was housed in the Library at Arundells.​

LITERATURE Heath was well-read, and his father maintained a bookshelf that included works by Herbert Spencer and reflected broad intellectual curiosity.​

Heath wrote several books during his life. His non-political works included Sailing (later Sailing: A Course of My Life), Music, Travels: People and Places in My Life, and The Joy of Christmas: A Collection of Carols (1978, published by Oxford University Press), which featured music and lyrics to various Christmas carols, each accompanied by religious art reproductions and Heath's short introductions.​

His autobiography, The Course of My Life (1998), was a long time in production—a decade overdue and requiring numerous researchers and writers (some of whom he never paid) over many years. The memoir was an impersonal, emotionless book that provided a satisfactory odyssey through the era's politics but revealed little personal feeling. The only exception was his description of his mother's death, which he called "a devastating blow for me, the first I had sustained in my family life and one that I hardly knew how to handle."​

Heath book-signing in 1977 by Rob Croes / Anefo 

NATURE Heath loved the sea and open skies, finding peace in sailing and the outdoors.

PETS While Prime Minister, Heath did not personally own a pet that lived at 10 Downing Street. However, a cat named Peta served as Chief Mouser during Heath's term (as well as during Alec Douglas-Home's and Harold Wilson's terms) and was known for keen hunting skills. Another cat, Wilberforce, was adopted from an RSPCA shelter as a kitten in 1973 near the end of Heath's premiership and became famous as the "Office Manager's cat," seeing four prime ministers (Heath, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, and Margaret Thatcher) through to 1987.​

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Sailing was Heath's great passion outside music and politics. He bought his first yacht, Morning Cloud, in 1969 and won the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race that same year—the first British boat to achieve this. As Prime Minister in 1971, he captained Britain's winning team for the Admiral's Cup, an achievement of which he was extremely proud. He was a member of the Sailing Club in his home town, Broadstairs.​

Heath owned five yachts named Morning Cloud between 1969 and 1983. Tragedy struck on 2 September 1974 when Morning Cloud III was hit by massive waves off Sussex, leading to the deaths of two crew members, Christopher Chadd (Heath's godson) and Nigel Cumming. Heath was not aboard at the time. The loss deeply affected him, but he was determined to share details so the sailing community could learn from the tragedy. A memorial featuring the salvaged bow section is displayed at Arundells.​

Despite these setbacks, Heath continued sailing, captaining the British team in the 1979 Fastnet race. His sailing crews spoke of "the skipper" with great affection, and he was one of the boys with them—displaying the teamwork ability evident in his military service.​

Heath was also a supporter of the Lancashire football club Burnley, unusual for someone living in South England.​

SCIENCE AND MATHS Heath studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford, which provided him with quantitative analytical skills. 

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Heath's religious beliefs were influenced by his Methodist upbringing. He was influenced by the political and religious ideas of A.D. Lindsay and William Temple while at Balliol College, Oxford. His beliefs informed his commitment to community and his vision for a cohesive society. However, his approach to christianity was more moderate and less publicly demonstrative than some of his contemporaries. His faith in reason and cooperation guided his politics more than religious doctrine.

He often played the organ for services at Holy Trinity Church Brompton in his early years.​

PRIME MINISTER  Edward Heath was, in many ways, the unlikeliest of Tory leaders—a grammar-school boy who barged his way into a club that had previously required a double-barrelled surname and a decent tweed collection just to get past the door. When he won the Conservative leadership in 1965, he broke the party’s time-honoured habit of choosing men who looked as if they had been raised by a nanny and spoke to their gardeners through a closed window.

His years in Downing Street, from 1970 to 1974, were nothing if not eventful—four years that felt, depending on your perspective, like either a bold experiment or a slow-motion car crash.

Take economics. Heath came in promising lean, flinty, free-market discipline—the so-called “Selsdon Man,” all about letting market forces work their mysterious magic. But when unemployment hit one million in 1972, he executed what might be called the mother of all U-turns, suddenly deciding that Keynes might have been onto something after all. His chancellor, Anthony Barber, launched a massive £1.2 billion tax-cutting spree designed to fire up the economy, and for a brief, heady moment Britain boomed. Then, inevitably, it all went pear-shaped—growth overshot, inflation shot through the roof, and by 1974 prices were rising by 10%.

On the industrial front, Heath tried to tame the trade unions with the Industrial Relations Act, which went down about as well as a weasel in a henhouse. The miners, in particular, were in no mood to cooperate. By early 1974, after strikes and the oil crisis, Britain was literally running out of steam. The government responded with the Three-Day Week—a policy as grimly literal as it sounds, limiting electricity use to three days and even sending television off to bed at 10:30 each night.

His crowning glory, though, was Europe. Heath believed in it with the zeal of a convert, having seen the ruins of Germany in 1937 and concluded that unity was preferable to mutual destruction. Against formidable opposition, he steered Britain into the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973—a bureaucratic phrase that actually meant something momentous at the time: Britain had joined Europe.

Northern Ireland, however, was a darker chapter. As The Troubles spiralled, Heath imposed direct rule from London in 1972, suspending the Stormont Parliament and introducing internment without trial—an idea that was as controversial as it sounds. The subsequent attempt at peace, the Sunningdale Agreement, briefly flickered in 1973 before being snuffed out by strikes in 1974.

On the home front, he decimalised Britain’s currency in February 1971, a move that caused mild national bewilderment but, in retrospect, was one of the more sensible things to happen that decade. He also reorganised local government in 1972, redrawing the map and creating new metropolitan counties that nobody quite knew what to do with.

And on social issues, Heath could be surprisingly decisive. After Enoch Powell’s inflammatory “Rivers of Blood” speech in 1968, Heath sacked him on the spot and never spoke to him again. When Uganda’s Idi Amin expelled the country’s Asian population, Heath welcomed thousands of refugees to Britain—an act of compassion that would have scandalised some of his predecessors.

All told, Edward Heath’s premiership was a curious mix of bold vision, economic whiplash, and dogged conviction—a reminder that leadership, like sailing (his other great passion), often involves steering straight into a storm and hoping your compass is right.

POLITICS Heath was a One Nation Conservative who believed in state intervention when necessary to achieve social cohesion.

After losing power in March 1974 and the Conservative leadership in 1975 to Margaret Thatcher, Heath became "The Incredible Sulk," never forgiving Thatcher for challenging him. He remained a vocal critic of Thatcherism and the Conservative Party's rightward shift for the next 30 years, describing himself upon hearing of her resignation as crying "Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice!"​

Heath maintained a central role in international affairs after leaving office, particularly fostering relations with China (visiting nearly 30 times) and serving on the Brandt Commission on International Development. He remained an MP until 2001, becoming Father of the House from 1992.​

SCANDAL The major scandal associated with Heath occurred posthumously. Operation Conifer, launched by Wiltshire Police in 2015, investigated historical child sex abuse allegations against him. The £1.5 million investigation concluded in October 2017 that Heath would have been questioned under caution over seven claims (including alleged rape of an 11-year-old boy) had he been alive, but stressed that no inference of guilt should be drawn from this conclusion.​

The investigation was highly controversial. Chief Constable Mike Veale, who led Operation Conifer, was quoted in a newspaper as saying he was "120 per cent" certain Heath was guilty. Veale was later barred from policing for life due to gross misconduct in a different case in Cleveland. The investigation's methods were criticized as "deeply flawed" by members of the House of Lords. In three cases, police found individuals were "genuinely mistaken" in naming Heath, and two cases involved people who "intentionally misled" police, with one cautioned for wasting police time.​

Heath's friends and colleagues vigorously defended his reputation. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said it would investigate whether there was any knowledge within Westminster institutions and what actions were taken. The government rejected pleas to intervene, and supporters of Heath continue to view Operation Conifer as having unjustly "tarnished" his reputation.​ (4)

During his lifetime, Heath faced no scandals of personal impropriety. His bachelor status led to speculation and rumours, with homophobic chants heard outside Downing Street during trade union protests against his Industrial Relations Bill. Private Eye made innuendos about his private life, but no substantiated allegations emerged during his political career or lifetime.​

MILITARY RECORD Heath served with distinction in World War II. Called up to the British Army in August 1940, he received training at Storrington in Sussex and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in March 1941. He was posted to the 107 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment based in Chester.​

Following the D-Day landings, Heath's regiment arrived in France on 6 July 1944, just a month after the initial invasion. Over the following months, he was involved in heavy fighting across Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. He participated in Operation Veritable, the Allied action to capture the land between the rivers Rhine and Maas. His service earned him the Military Division of the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1946 King George VI Honours List and he was mentioned in dispatches.​

Heath was demobilised as a lieutenant-colonel in 1947, having risen significantly through the ranks. He kept friends for life from his army days and seemed happiest during his military service in what he described as the classless ethos of the army, where he was a decisive and fair leader.​

After the war ended, Heath remained in Germany and attended the Nuremberg Trials in 1946, witnessing firsthand the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, reinforcing his lifelong opposition to fascism and tyranny.​

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS  For most of his life, Heath maintained reasonable health, with his active sailing providing physical exercise well into his later years. He won competitive sailing races including the Sydney to Hobart and the Admiral's Cup while in his fifties and continued sailing through the 1970s.​

In August 2003, Heath suffered a pulmonary embolism while being treated for a minor stomach upset at Salzburg's main hospital. After this, he was frail and confined to a wheelchair but remained mentally active until four months before his death. He made very few public appearances in his final two years due to deteriorating health.​

HOMES Heath was born at 54 Albion Road, Broadstairs, Kent—a semi-detached house that became his birthplace. For most of his parliamentary career, he maintained residences appropriate to his political position but did not own property.​

His permanent home was Arundells, located at 59 Cathedral Close, Salisbury, Wiltshire—a Grade II* listed house with two acres of garden. He purchased Arundells in February 1985 at age 69, initially for a nine-year lease costing an astonishing £120,000. In 1992, he secured the freehold through a legal loophole, much to the annoyance of the cathedral authorities. It was, as Heath liked to say, the only home he ever owned.​

Arundells has its origins as a medieval canonry from the thirteenth century, with the first recorded occupant being Henry of Blunston, Archdeacon of Dorset (1291-1316). Sir Richard Mompesson rebuilt much of the property in 1609 in the classic style. The house acquired its name from James Everard Arundel, son of the sixth Lord Arundel of Wardour, who married into the property in 1752.​

Heath fell in love with Salisbury in 1938 when he first visited with the Oxford University Balliol Players. He chose Arundells partly because of its proximity to the Solent where he sailed, though it had no sea view as originally desired. He engaged renowned interior designer Derek Frost (whose partner was Jeremy Norman) to modernize and redecorate the house. The interior housed Heath's Steinway grand piano (top covered in dozens of photographs of Heath with the powerful and famous), extensive collections of recorded music, artwork, cartoons, and gifts from prominent leaders worldwide.​

Upon his death, Heath bequeathed Arundells to the Edward Heath Charitable Foundation. The house opened to the public as a museum and is preserved largely as Heath left it when he died in 2005. The room where he died (corner room at top left of the façade) is the only one not maintained as he left it, having temporarily become hospital-like during his final illness.​

Front of Arundells from the Close by Mike Searle,

TRAVEL Heath travelled extensively throughout his life. As an Oxford undergraduate, he travelled across Europe, witnessing the Nuremberg rally in 1937, visiting Republican-held Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War in 1938, and journeying to Danzig and Poland in summer 1939 just before war broke out.​

His military service took him across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany during 1944-1947. His political career required constant travel throughout Britain and internationally.​

Heath's sailing took him across oceans, most notably his 1969 Sydney to Hobart race victory. As Prime Minister and in later years, he traveled globally for political purposes, state visits, and conducting engagements.​

His relationship with China was particularly significant. Heath visited China on nearly 30 occasions between 1974 and 2001. He met with Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping multiple times, developing genuine friendships with Chinese leaders. His 1974 visit was warmly received—Mao watched his arrival on television and insisted Heath receive treatment befitting a foreign head of state despite no longer being Prime Minister. Upon leaving that trip, Mao gave him two giant pandas (Chia Chia and Ching Ching) for London Zoo. Heath was awarded 'People's Friendship Envoy,' the highest honour of people-to-people diplomacy China gives to foreigners. He was the last foreign politician to have met Mao, Zhou, and Deng.​

In October 1990, Heath flew to Baghdad for controversial negotiations with Saddam Hussein to secure the release of British hostages held after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. He successfully negotiated the release of British citizens, building on his 1990 mission when he secured the release of some hostages. Heath explained his success: "He trusts me. He knows I tell him the truth... He realises I told him the truth about the war three years ago, that the Americans and British would go to war against him if he didn't get out of Kuwait."​​ (5)

DEATH Sir Edward Heath died on Sunday, July17, 2005, at 7:30 pm at his home Arundells aged 89. The cause of death was not officially reported, though he died of pneumonia according to some sources. He had been in failing health since suffering a pulmonary embolism in August 2003, after which he was frail, confined to a wheelchair, but remained mentally active until four months before his death.​

His funeral took place at Salisbury Cathedral on July 28, 2005. Tributes poured in from across the political spectrum. Prime Minister Tony Blair called him "a man of great integrity and beliefs" and said "he will be remembered by all who knew him as a political leader of great stature and importance." Margaret Thatcher stated: "In every sense [he] was the first modern Conservative leader. We are all in his debt."​

Heath was cremated, and his remains are interred at Salisbury Cathedral. Flags flew at half-mast at institutions including Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate, where he had been a distinguished student. His death marked the end of an era for British politics—he had been Britain's longest-serving MP from 1992 to 2001 and represented his constituency from 1950 to 2001, a span of 51 years.​

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Heath appeared in numerous television programs and documentaries throughout and after his political career. Notable appearances included:

Michael Cockerell's documentary interviews with Heath, particularly a 1998 TV interview where Heath discussed his relationship with Kay Raven, becoming visibly emotional. Cockerell described Heath as one of the most challenging encounters of his career.​

BBC Omnibus (1970): Featured the new Prime Minister demonstrating the organ at Oxford University that he had helped design while a student.​

Heath's yacht Morning Cloud and his political career were referenced in various British films and television productions about 1970s Britain.​

Heath appeared in season 3 of the Netflix series The Crown, portrayed during his time as Prime Minister interacting with Queen Elizabeth II.​

His 1971 performance conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in Elgar's "Cockaigne" Overture was released by EMI. Recordings of his conducting various orchestras exist, including the Robert Mayer children's concert released on CD.​

ACHIEVEMENTS Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1970–1974).

Secured the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) on January 1, 1973.

Led the Conservative Party to victory in the 1970 General Election.

Successful international yachtsman, winning the Admiral's Cup (1971).

Accomplished conductor of classical music.

He was made a Knight of the Garter (KG) in 1992.

Sources: (1) The Course Of My Life by Edward Heath (2) Spectator Australia (3) The Drinks Business (4) Alistairlexden.org (5) Independent

Rita Hayworth

NAME Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino)

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Rita Hayworth was one of Hollywood’s most iconic film stars of the 1940s, celebrated for her roles in musicals and film noir classics such as Gilda (1946). Known as “The Love Goddess,” she became an enduring symbol of glamour and sensuality.

BIRTH Rita Hayworth was born on October 17, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York City. Some sources also reference Manhattan as her birthplace. She was the eldest of three children born to dancer parents Eduardo Cansino and Volga Hayworth.​

FAMILY BACKGROUND Rita's father, Eduardo Cansino, was a Spanish-born dancer from Castilleja de la Cuesta, a town near Seville, Spain, and was of Romani (Calé) descent. He emigrated to the United States in 1913. 

Her mother, Volga Margaret Hayworth, was an American of Irish and English descent who had performed with the Ziegfeld Follies. The couple married in 1917. 

Rita had two younger brothers: Eduardo Jr. (born 1919) and Vernon (born 1922), both of whom served in World War II.​​

Her paternal grandfather, Antonio Cansino, was renowned as a classical Spanish dancer who popularized the bolero, and his dancing school in Madrid was world-famous. Her maternal uncle, Vinton Hayworth, was an actor.​

CHILDHOOD Rita's childhood was marked by rigorous training and performance from an early age. From the time she was three and a half years old, she was given dance lessons. She recalled, "I didn't like it very much... but I didn't have the courage to tell my father, so I began taking the lessons. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, that was my girlhood". She attended dance classes daily at a Carnegie Hall complex under the instruction of her uncle Angel Cansino.​ (1)

At age eight, she appeared in her first film, the 1926 short La Fiesta, an uncredited appearance with her family. As a child, she also performed in a Broadway production called The Greenwich Village Follies as one of the Four Cansinos.​

When Rita was twelve years old, her family moved to Los Angeles, where her father established a dance studio and trained stars like James Cagney and Jean Harlow. After the Great Depression affected his business, Eduardo formed a dance act called "The Dancing Cansinos" with his twelve-year-old daughter. Since California law prohibited Rita from working in nightclubs and bars due to her age, Eduardo took her to perform in Tijuana, Mexico, a popular tourist destination, where child labor laws were less restrictive..​

Photograph of Rita Haywood age 12 The American Magazine

Tragically, Rita's childhood was marred by severe abuse. According to her biographer Barbara Leaming, Rita confided to her second husband Orson Welles that her father had sexually abused her during their touring years as the Dancing Cansinos. Her mother Volga reportedly knew about the abuse and slept in the same bed as Rita when they were home to try to protect her. This childhood trauma would profoundly affect Rita's relationships and mental health throughout her life.​

EDUCATION Rita attended the Carthay School in Los Angeles and later spent her first and only year of high school at Hamilton High School. Her formal education was cut short as she was taken out of school at age twelve to become her father's dancing partner. Throughout her school years, she continued taking acting and dancing lessons alongside her academic studies.​

CAREER RECORD Rita Hayworth's professional career spanned from 1926 to 1972, encompassing 61 films over 37 years.​

1926-1937: She began in Spanish-language films in the mid-1930s.

1937-1939: fter being signed to Columbia Pictures, studio head Harry Cohn rebranded her. She changed her hair color from black to red and adopted her mother's maiden name, Hayworth.

1939-1941: Roles in films like Only Angels Have Wings (1939) and The Strawberry Blonde (1941) established her.

1941-1946: Her image as a glamorous pin-up girl was cemented by her role in Blood and Sand (1941) and especially the musical Cover Girl (1944).

1946: Gilda made Haywood a global phenomenon. Her performance of "Put the Blame on Mame" became legendary.

1946-1972: Other notable films include The Lady from Shanghai (1947), directed by her then-husband Orson Welles, and Miss Sadie Thompson (1953). Her career gradually declined in the 1950s and 1960s, marred by personal problems and health issues.

APPEARANCE Hayworth was known for her striking beauty—especially her red hair, which was not natural. Her hair was originally black, but studio executives dyed it auburn and raised her hairline through years of painful electrolysis to make her look more “glamorous” by Hollywood standards.

Standing 5'6" tall, Rita had what costume designer Jean Louis described as "a good body" with "very thin-limbed" legs and arms, "long and thin," with "beautiful hands," though "the body was thick". He noted she had "a belly" after pregnancy, which his costume designs helped conceal.​ (2)

Photographs and film footage show Haywood with soft, watchful eyes, a captivating smile, and a magnetic presence. Her physical transformation from Margarita Cansino to Rita Hayworth involved not just the hair changes but also makeup techniques that changed her from what studio executives considered too "ethnic" to a more conventional Hollywood beauty standard.​

Hayworth on the cover of Stardom magazine, March 1942

FASHION Rita Hayworth's fashion legacy is inextricably linked with costume designer Jean Louis, who became her primary collaborator at Columbia Pictures through nine films from 1945 to 1959.​

Jean Louis created some of cinema's most iconic gowns for Rita, most famously the strapless black satin gown she wore in Gilda (1946) for the "Put the Blame on Mame" scene. This dress, inspired by John Singer Sargent's painting Portrait of Madame X, was "a marvel of engineering" featuring an internal harness "like you put on a horse" with grosgrain under the bust, darts, three stays, and molded plastic shaped around the top to ensure it never fell down. The dress was valued at approximately $60,000 in 1946 and has become universally recognized as an icon of fashion and cinema. ​(1)

Other memorable Jean Louis creations included the elaborate costumes for Tonight and Every Night (1945), the two-piece backless "Amado Mio" gown in Gilda with high side slits, and numerous other glamorous ensembles that showcased Rita's figure while cleverly concealing any perceived imperfections.​

Off-screen, Rita preferred a more casual style, reportedly favoring jeans and sweaters. However, for public appearances and photoshoots, she embodied Hollywood glamour with elaborate gowns, fur stoles, elbow-length gloves, and pin-waved locks.​

CHARACTER Haywood was often described as being shy, reserved, and insecure, a stark contrast to her confident, sensual on-screen persona. She was known to be quiet and deeply desired a stable, normal family life, often struggling with the overwhelming demands of her fame.  Fred Astaire's co-star James Cagney remembered that once work was done, Rita would "simply go back to her chair and sit there and not communicate". 

She was also reportedly sweet and kind to crew members on set.

Despite her shyness, Rita could display a strong will and fierce independence. She fought against Harry Cohn and Columbia Pictures over contracts, script approval, and her personal life. One colleague noted, "She hated them all. She didn't pull many punches with Cohn as to what she thought of him".  (3)

Hayworth also had an explosive temper, particularly evident in her later marriages when she would fly into rages, throw objects, and become irrational—behavior that may have been early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.​

SPEAKING VOICE Rita Hayworth's speaking voice had a low, soft, slightly husky quality that suited her on-screen presence. In interviews from the 1970s, her voice comes across as warm but somewhat reserved. She spoke both English and Spanish, reflecting her bilingual heritage.​​

While Rita was considered "a capable vocalist," her singing voice was consistently dubbed by other singers in all of her musical films. Among the ghost singers who provided vocals for her were Martha Mears (who dubbed 38 films total and worked with Rita multiple times), Anita Ellis (who dubbed "Put the Blame on Mame" in Gilda), and Jo Ann Greer. This was something Rita reportedly resented, as the public was unaware of the dubbing.​​

SENSE OF HUMOUR Rita Hayworth possessed a sense of humor that emerged especially during happier periods of her life. In a 1970 interview, she stated, "That's why the most important thing you have to have in this business is a sense of humor".​

An anecdote from the filming of The Lady from Shanghai reveals her playful side: Orson Welles asked her to direct him in a scene and watch to tell him if he was doing it right or wrong. After watching, when Welles asked "Well, mama, what did you think of it?" Rita replied, "You overacted." She later noted, "Imagine me telling him that," but added that Welles "wanted the truth" and "was very, very pleased that I was honest with him".​

RELATIONSHIPS Rita Hayworth married and divorced five times within twenty-four years and had numerous affairs throughout her life.​

First Marriage - Edward C. Judson (1936-1942): At age eighteen in 1936, Rita married Edward Judson, an oilman-turned-promoter who was more than twice her age and had been previously married twice without telling her. 

He became her manager and helped launch her career but was domineering and controlling. Rita later said, "I married him for love, but he married me for an investment. For five years he treated me as if I had no mind or soul of my own". Judson forced her to undergo painful electrolysis, controlled her career, and allegedly encouraged her to sleep with studio executives to advance her career. (3)

Rita filed for divorce in 1942, citing cruelty, claiming Judson compelled her to transfer considerable property to him under threats of "great bodily harm". After the divorce she said, "He helped me with my career and helped himself to my money".​ (4)

Second Marriage - Orson Welles (1943-1948): Rita married director and actor Orson Welles on September 7, 1943. They had a daughter, Rebecca, in December 1944. 

Wedding of Orson Welles and Hayworth, with best man Joseph Cotten, 1943

Welles pursued Rita after seeing sultry photographs of her but found her to be clinging and insecure rather than the sex goddess he expected. Within two years, Welles was romancing other women, including Judy Garland, and frequenting sex workers. 

Rita filed for divorce, stating Welles "showed no interest in establishing a home" and "told me he never should have married in the first place; that it interfered with his freedom". The divorce was granted on November 10, 1947 and finalized in 1948. Despite everything, Rita later called Welles "the great love of her life", and Welles said of their brief happiness, "If this was happiness, imagine what the rest of her life had been".​ (4)

Third Marriage - Prince Aly Khan (1949-1953): After a failed relationship with Howard Hughes that resulted in an abortion, Rita met playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1948 in France. Their scandalous courtship began while both were married to others—Rita was divorcing Welles while Khan was still married to Joan Yarde-Buller. Rita became pregnant, and they married on May 27, 1949, in Vallauris, France, in both civil and Muslim ceremonies. Their daughter, Princess Yasmin, was born in December 1949. 

Hayworth and Aly Khan at their wedding reception in the garden of the Château de l'Horizon

Rita found the lifestyle of a princess unfulfilling and became unhappy with Khan's womanizing and endless high-society parties. She would lock herself in her room, drinking and dancing alone to Spanish records, and had explosive fights with Khan where she threw objects and once flung orange juice in his face. Rita filed for divorce on September 2, 1951, on grounds of "extreme cruelty, entirely mental in nature," rejecting Khan's offer of $1 million if she would raise Yasmin as a Muslim. A bitter custody battle followed.​

Fourth Marriage - Dick Haymes (1953-1955): Rita married big band singer Dick Haymes on September 24, 1953, at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. Haymes was experiencing career and financial difficulties, and Rita ended up paying most of his debts, including child support owed to his ex-wives. The marriage was troubled and abusive. After two tumultuous years, Haymes struck Rita in the face in public at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles in 1955. Rita immediately packed her bags and left, never returning. She later said she "could hardly believe I could be a princess one minute and be treated like that the next".​ (3)

Fifth Marriage - James Hill (1958-1961): On February 2, 1958, Rita married film producer James Hill, who helped her secure a role in Separate Tables. The marriage was troubled from the start, with Rita exhibiting sudden rages and violent outbursts—likely early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. She once hurled a candelabra at Hill, narrowly missing his head. 

James Hill and Hayworth obtaining their marriage license in Santa Monica, 1958

Rita filed for divorce on September 1, 1961, alleging extreme mental cruelty. Charlton Heston described witnessing Hill heap "obscene abuse" on Hayworth at a restaurant dinner in Spain, reducing her to "a helpless flood of tears," calling it "the single most embarrassing evening of my life" and a "marital massacre".​ (4)

Rita had affairs with several of her leading men, most notably Victor Mature during the filming of My Gal Sal in 1942. She was also briefly involved with Howard Hughes.​​

MONEY AND FAME Rita Hayworth achieved considerable wealth during her peak years, though much of it was controlled or taken by others. At the time of her death in 1987, she had a net worth of $10 million, equivalent to approximately $30 million in today's dollars.​

During her career, Columbia Pictures paid her increasingly substantial salaries. By 1944, she negotiated a new contract that gave her a portion of the profits from her films. However, studio head Harry Cohn exercised iron control over her career, bugging her dressing rooms and soundstages, and making her professional life difficult when she refused his sexual advances.​

Rita's financial situation was complicated by her marriages. Her first husband Edward Judson helped himself to her money, forcing her to transfer considerable property to him. Her fourth husband Dick Haymes had severe financial problems, and Rita ended up paying most of his debts, including $3,800 in alimony to one ex-wife and $4,800 in child support to another. After her marriage to Haymes, Rita was short of money and even sued Orson Welles for back payment of child support, though unsuccessfully.​

As "The Love Goddess," Rita's fame was enormous during the 1940s. She appeared on the cover of Life magazine four times, a record equaled only by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Her famous 1941 pin-up photograph in a negligee became the second most popular pinup of World War II, with over five million copies distributed. The negligee she wore in that photo sold at Sotheby's in 2015 for almost $27,000.​

Iconic 1941 photograph of Hayworth for Life magazine

However, Rita struggled with the burden of fame. She famously said, "Every man I've ever known has fallen in love with Gilda and awakened with me", expressing her frustration with being confused for her on-screen persona. She wanted Harry Cohn to allow her to protest when her image was affixed to the atomic bomb tested at Bikini Atoll in 1946 (nicknamed "Gilda"), but Cohn refused, saying it would be "unpatriotic".​​

FOOD AND DRINK Haywood enjoyed simple meals and was not known for indulgence. Later in life, when her health declined, she reportedly lost much of her appetite, but her relationship with alcohol worsened.

Rita Hayworth's most famous beverage association was with the margarita cocktail. As one of the most popular actresses of her day, Hayworth reportedly greatly enjoyed margaritas when it was time to relax or socialize. There are competing stories that the drink may have been invented especially for her—one claiming bartender Enrique Bastante Gutierrez created it for her during Hollywood's Golden Age in the 1940s, another that a hotel waiter invented it to gain her favor by mixing lemon and orange with tequila. The drink's name also coincidentally matches Rita's birth name, Margarita Carmen Cansino.​

A Spanish finger food called "Gilda" was named after Rita's character in the 1946 film. Created at Casa Valles bar in San Sebastián in the 1940s, this pintxo consists of olives, an anchovy, a pickled green guindilla pepper, and sometimes a gherkin pickle or sundried tomato, all on a toothpick. It was named after the character as being "bold and a little spicy".​

Rita was not known for cooking. According to her biographer Caren Roberts-Frenzel, "I never heard Orson Welles say anything about her cooking. I mean I guess it's possible she did a little bit but it certainly was not her forte". During her peak years as a starlet and star, she didn't have time to cook and likely never learned.​

MOVIE CAREER Rita Hayworth’s film career was the sort of thing that made studio publicists lose sleep trying to find new ways to describe perfection. Over four decades and more than 60 films, she evolved from a teenage dancer in sequined shoes to the embodiment of Hollywood glamour. She could smolder, sparkle, or soft-shoe across a soundstage with equal grace—and all while looking as though she’d just casually wandered in from the cover of Life magazine.

In the mid-1930s, Rita—then still going by her birth name, Rita Cansino—began showing up in movies the way parsley shows up on dinner plates: decorative, brief, and not always noticed. She appeared in films like Cruz Diablo (1934), Under the Pampas Moon (1935), and Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935), though you’d be forgiven for missing her in the credits. But in Only Angels Have Wings (1939), opposite Cary Grant, she finally had a role with a pulse—and audiences noticed. She wasn’t just beautiful; she was luminous, the sort of person you couldn’t look away from even if the room caught fire.

The 1940s were Rita’s decade, and she seized it with both perfectly manicured hands. In The Strawberry Blonde (1941), she played the kind of woman men fought over and women secretly wanted to be. Her pairing with Fred Astaire in You’ll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) was a revelation—Astaire called her his favorite dance partner, which, coming from him, is rather like being told by Einstein that you do a decent bit of math. Cover Girl (1944), with Gene Kelly, cemented her as a bona fide musical star.

Then came Gilda (1946), and everything changed. When she tossed back her hair and purred through “Put the Blame on Mame,” moviegoers everywhere seemed to forget to breathe. She became “The Love Goddess,” a title that would follow her forever—though she often remarked, with wry humor, that men fell in love with Gilda and woke up with her.

Post-Gilda, Rita continued to prove she was more than a poster on a barracks wall. She worked again with Orson Welles, her then-husband, in The Lady from Shanghai (1947)—a film that was both brilliant and, like their marriage, a bit of a beautiful wreck. Other standout performances came in The Loves of Carmen (1948), Affair in Trinidad (1952), Miss Sadie Thompson (1953), Pal Joey (1957) with Frank Sinatra, and Separate Tables (1958). Her final screen role, in The Wrath of God (1972), showed that even after decades in the spotlight, the camera still adored her.

Hayworth danced, sang, schemed, and smoldered her way through musicals, dramas, noir thrillers, and romantic comedies with a versatility that modern stars can only envy. Her transformation from dark-haired Spanish dancer to flame-haired Hollywood icon was not just a makeover—it was a reinvention of what a movie star could be. She became the model for a certain kind of woman: magnetic, mysterious, and slightly untouchable.

Rita Hayworth didn’t just define an era of Hollywood—she was the era, all crimson lips and satin gowns, a reminder that glamour, when done properly, is not just surface sparkle but a kind of magic that lingers long after the spotlight fades.

MUSIC AND ARTS Rita Hayworth was fundamentally a dancer before becoming an actress. She trained extensively from age three and a half in both classical dancing and Spanish dancing, learning from her uncle Angel Cansino and later her father. By age twelve, she was dancing professionally as part of the Dancing Cansinos.​

Her dancing abilities were her greatest artistic strength. Fred Astaire said of her, "She learned steps faster than anyone I'd ever known. I'd show her a routine before lunch. She'd be back right after lunch and have it down to perfection. She apparently figured it out in her mind while she was eating". Astaire cited her as his favorite dance partner.​ (3)

A natural dancer with great stamina and rhythm, Rita showcased her dancing talent in numerous films, including the Astaire musicals You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Cover Girl (1944) with Gene Kelly, and various production numbers in Gilda (1946) and other films. She was described as "a natural dancer with great stamina and rhythm".​

Regarding music, while Rita sang in many films, her voice was always dubbed by professional singers. She reportedly resented this substitution, which the public was initially unaware of.​​

In her private life, during her troubled marriage to Prince Aly Khan, Rita would lock herself in her room "drinking and dancing alone to her Spanish record collection", suggesting music and dance remained a personal solace.​ (3)

Rita also had an extensive art collection displayed in the paneled walls of her home's entry gallery. 

LITERATURE Although not an avid reader by reputation, Hayworth enjoyed poetry and romantic fiction, which reflected her own longing for love and idealism. She maintained a cherished book collection in custom built-ins in her library

Rita's legacy in literature is notable: she inspired Stephen King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which was later adapted into the acclaimed film The Shawshank Redemption. In the story, Rita's famous pin-up image serves as a symbol of hope for the imprisoned protagonist.​

Her fifth husband, James Hill, wrote Rita Hayworth: A Memoir after their divorce, in which he suggested their marriage collapsed because he wanted Hayworth to continue making movies while she wanted them both to retire from Hollywood.​

NATURE Hayworth enjoyed the outdoors and a quieter life away from the Hollywood machine. Her marriage to Prince Aly Khan involved living in the French Riviera and traveling to exotic locations, offering a temporary escape.

PETS Rita Hayworth was a pet owner who had several dogs throughout her life. The most documented was her cocker spaniel named Pookles (also spelled "Pookie"), whom she was photographed with in 1949. Images show Rita enjoying the companionship of this dog, with one caption reading "Actress Rita Hayworth enjoys the companionship of her cocker spaniel, Pookles".​

Rita Hayworth at home with her dog Pookles, 1947. Source Reddit

Rita was also photographed with a Doberman at various points in her life.​

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Hayworth loved dancing, swimming, and horseback riding—activities she pursued both on and off-screen.

She enjoyed golf as a recreational activity. Her fifth husband James Hill reportedly wanted Rita to continue making movies instead of her preference to "play golf, paint, tell jokes and have a home." (5)

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Rita Hayworth was raised as a Roman Catholic and maintained this faith throughout her life, especially in her later years as she faced illness.

Her religious background became particularly relevant during her custody battle with Prince Aly Khan over their daughter Yasmin. Khan, as the son of Aga Khan III (the leader of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam), wanted Yasmin raised as a Muslim from age seven. Hayworth adamantly wanted their daughter raised as a Christian and rejected Khan's offer of $1 million if she would rear Yasmin as a Muslim and allow her to visit Europe for two or three months each year.​

POLITICS Rita Hayworth was a lifelong Democrat. She was active in the Hollywood Democratic Committee and supported President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.​

Her participation in the war effort during World War II, including USO tours, Hollywood Canteen volunteering, war bond sales, and scrap metal drives, demonstrated her patriotic engagement during that critical period.​

SCANDAL Rita Hayworth's life was marked by several major scandals that captivated public attention.  The most sensational scandal was Rita's courtship and marriage to Prince Aly Khan. Their relationship began in 1948 while both were married to others—Rita was undergoing divorce from Orson Welles, while Khan was still married to Joan Yarde-Buller. The "well-publicized intercontinental courtship" faced "intense media scrutiny due to the cultural and moral standards of the late 1940s". When they married on May 27, 1949, Rita was two months pregnant with their daughter Yasmin, "a fact that added fuel to the already volatile scandal". The wedding featured both civil and Muslim ceremonies and highlighted "the clash of public perceptions, religious considerations, and personal desires".​

The marriage itself became scandalous as Khan's womanizing became public. He was spotted with dancer Katharine Dunham and other women, and the subsequent divorce in 1951 involved a bitter custody battle over Yasmin, with public discussions about the child's religious upbringing. Rita's departure from Khan and Hollywood royalty to return to America shocked many, as did her rejection of his million-dollar settlement offer.​​

Perhaps Rita's most tragic scandal involved her public decline before her Alzheimer's diagnosis was known. In 1976, she became agitated on a plane trip to London, and "photos of the disheveled actress were broadcast worldwide". For years, her erratic behavior, memory problems, and public spectacles were attributed to alcoholism by doctors, colleagues, and the media. Her nephew Richard Cansino later recalled, "It's upsetting that we all thought that she was drinking and we attributed all of her behavior to her being an alcoholic. I feel guilty I perceived it that way".​ (6)

While not public during her lifetime, Barbara Leaming's 1989 biography revealed allegations that Rita had been sexually abused by her father Eduardo Cansino during their years touring together as the Dancing Cansinos. This revelation, based on what Rita reportedly told Orson Welles, recontextualized understanding of her troubled life and relationships.​

MILITARY RECORD Rita Hayworth never wore a uniform, but few Hollywood stars did more for the morale of American servicemen during World War II. Though a civilian entertainer, her contribution to the military effort was immense — and deeply personal.

Hayworth’s brothers, Eduardo Jr. and Vernon Cansino, both served in the U.S. Army, while she became a pin-up legend back home. Her famous photograph in a black lace negligee, shot by Bob Landry and published in Life on August 11, 1941 (months before Pearl Harbor), became an emblem of hope and desire for millions of troops overseas. By war’s end, more than five million copies of the image had been distributed to servicemen, and the U.S. Navy affectionately dubbed her “The Redhead We’d Most Like to Be Shipwrecked With.” Only Betty Grable’s iconic swimsuit photo eclipsed Hayworth’s popularity among GIs.

Rita threw herself into wartime service with remarkable energy. She volunteered tirelessly at the Hollywood Canteen — the celebrated club where stars served and danced with enlisted men — often staying until dawn. She joined a USO tour in 1942 that took her to six military camps, where the crush of adoring soldiers led to exhaustion and, according to reports, a brief nervous breakdown. She appeared frequently on morale-boosting radio programs such as Bob Hope’s broadcasts and Armed Forces Radio shows including Command Performance, GI Journal, and Mail Call.

Her patriotism went beyond performance. She promoted war bonds, collected scrap metal, and even donated her car’s bumpers to the war effort — replacing them with wooden ones. She also volunteered with the Naval Aid Auxiliary, offering comfort and connection to the troops. On one occasion, she gave a serviceman a lock of her hair as a keepsake. Those who worked with her later described her wartime efforts as “intense, crowded, and deeply appreciated by the servicemen.” (7)

One postwar episode left her shaken. In 1946, Hayworth was horrified to learn that a photograph of her — from Esquire magazine’s June 1946 issue — had been pasted on the first atomic bomb tested at Bikini Atoll. The bomb had been nicknamed Gilda after her recent film. “Rita almost went insane, she was so angry,” Orson Welles recalled. “She wanted to go to Washington to hold a press conference, but Harry Cohn wouldn’t let her, saying it would be unpatriotic.” (3)

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Rita Hayworth experienced what was reported as a "nervous breakdown" in 1942 during her USO tour, attributed to "over enthusiasm" from servicemen. During her pregnancy with daughter Rebecca in 1944, costume designers had to cleverly conceal her condition while filming Tonight and Every Night.​

Rita maintained her dancer's physique through much of her career. She engaged in golf as exercise and recreation, and her demanding dance rehearsals and performances kept her physically active throughout her peak years.​

Rita Hayworth began showing symptoms of Alzheimer's in the 1960s while in her 40s, experiencing trouble remembering her lines. During the 1970s, her mental status worsened, and she experienced several distressing public incidents, including the 1976 plane trip to London where she became agitated and photos of the disheveled actress were broadcast worldwide.​

For years, her symptoms were misdiagnosed. Her colleagues, friends, and doctors largely attributed her problems to alcoholism. Despite increasing confusion and memory loss, Rita remarkably rose to the challenge on occasion, successfully playing a role in the 1972 film The Wrath of God.​

Finally, in 1979, New York psychiatrist Ronald Fieve made the correct diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The diagnosis was made public in 1981, making Rita one of the first celebrities to publicly share she had Alzheimer's. This brave disclosure "increased awareness at a time when very little was known about dementia and very little was discussed, and helped start a national conversation around the disease".​ (8)

The disease progressively robbed Rita of her speech and memory. By 1987, she had "lapsed into a semi-coma" before her death. Her public disclosure of Alzheimer's helped ensure that future patients did not go undiagnosed and helped destigmatize the condition. Federal funding for Alzheimer's research dramatically increased from $146 million in 1990 to more than $650 million, thanks in large part to Hayworth and later Ronald Reagan.​​

HOMES Rita Hayworth lived in several notable residences throughout her life in the Los Angeles area:

In 1942, Rita rented her first home on her own after divorcing Edward Judson—a storybook-style house built in 1934 at approximately 3,000 square feet with four bedrooms and four baths. This period was described as possibly "one of the happiest times of her life" as she enjoyed personal freedom for the first time, dating Victor Mature. 

Rita owned a four-bedroom, four-bathroom Tudor-style dwelling in Los Angeles built in 1934 by architect Allen Siple. This delightful abode featured a stone courtyard, tower, leaded glass windows, soaring beamed ceilings, a cozy fireplace in the living room, a Jack-and-Jill bathroom, independent guest accommodations, formal dining room, breakfast area with yellow-and-white striped walls, an atrium, balcony, stone front porch, and quaint interior stone courtyard with outdoor fireplace. The property was listed for sale in 2021 for $3.95 million, marking the first time in half a century it was on the market.​

Rita lived with Orson Welles in a Cape Cod-style estate at 8545 Franklin Ave in the Hollywood Hills, originally built in 1928 by Sidney Toler. The nearly 3,000 square foot property sat atop Sunset Boulevard on its own 15,000 square foot private knoll and featured a lagoon pool with jacuzzi, outdoor deck with views of Hollywood, four bedrooms including a master suite, and a pool table. After Welles, the house was later inhabited by Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, and David Bowie.​

One of Rita's later homes was in Beverly Hills, which had also previously been the home where Jean Harlow was living when she died.​

Rita had a home in Westwood, Los Angeles, that was sadly demolished in mid-2024.​

Rita also spent significant time at Villa d'Este on Lake Como, Italy, with Orson Welles while he worked on the screenplay for The Lady from Shanghai. They enjoyed the elegant retreat, took day trips on a Riva yacht around the lake, and had long dinners at the Veranda Restaurant.​

Rita Hayworth died at the New York residence of her daughter, Princess Yasmin Khan Embiricos, on Central Park West in Manhattan.​

TRAVEL Rita fled to Europe in 1948 after a failed relationship with Howard Hughes resulted in an abortion. It was there she met Prince Aly Khan. Her marriage to Aly Khan took her into royal circles and across the Mediterranean. She was often photographed in Cannes, Monaco, and Paris during the height of her fame.

Rita traveled to Africa with Prince Aly Khan, where she witnessed his serious interactions with his Moslem followers, which disturbed her as she "couldn't comprehend how he could be such a god for them, and such a fun loving playboy in France".​ (9)

Rita visited Spain on multiple occasions, filming there and visiting her father's homeland. She had dinner in Spain with Charlton Heston, director George Marshall, and actor Rex Harrison during filming of The Happy Thieves. Andalusia in particular served as a filming destination for movies featuring Rita.​

DEATH Rita Hayworth died on May 14, 1987, at age 68 (though her daughter Yasmin said she was 69). She died from complications of Alzheimer's disease at the New York residence of her daughter, Princess Yasmin Khan Embiricos, on Central Park West in Manhattan.​​

In her final days, Rita had "lapsed into a semi-coma" as the disease had progressively robbed her of speech and memory during her last years.​​

A funeral service was held on Monday, May 18, 1987, at 10 a.m. at the Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. More than 500 mourners attended, including film greats, fans, relatives, and friends.​​

Jane Withers, a child actress from the 1930s and friend of Rita's, gave a eulogy describing Rita as a "sweet, kind, gentle lady" who was actually shy away from the cameras. Withers recalled Rita "trembling with nervousness" before filming their first movie together in 1935, and said she told Rita, "Lord, this is Rita and she's afraid... Please be with her because she's special".​

Present at the services were Rita's daughters: Rebecca Welles of Tacoma, Washington, and Princess Yasmin Khan.​

Pallbearers included actors Glenn Ford (with whom she had teamed in films in the 1940s), Tony Franciosa, Ricardo Montalban, and Cesar Romero; choreographer Hermes Pan; and family friend Phillip Luchenbill.​ (10)

Following the church service, Rita was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Her gravesite is located at the Grotto, beneath a statue. The grave marker reads:​​

Margarita Carmen Cansino

Rita Hayworth

October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987

"To yesterday's companionship and tomorrow's reunion"​

Rita's death came just three days after the second annual "Rita Hayworth Gala," a black-tie affair at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel hosted by her daughter Yasmin that raised $1.3 million for the Alzheimer's Disease Society. These annual galas have continued and raised millions of dollars for the Alzheimer's Association over the years.​

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Her famous pin-up photograph became one of the most iconic images of World War II​.

The atomic bomb tested at Bikini Atoll in 1946 was nicknamed "Gilda" and featured her photograph​

Stephen King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was named after her and later adapted into the film The Shawshank Redemption​.

She appeared as a character in Salvador Plascencia's novel The People of Paper​

Jessica Rabbit's performance in Who Framed Roger Rabbit was modeled after Rita's "Put the Blame on Mame" scene from Gilda​

The character in the 2012 film Skyfall referenced Rita's iconic black dress scene​.

Immortalized in song, notably in the line "Rita Hayworth gave good face" from Madonna's "Vogue."

The subject of numerous biographies and documentaries, including the 2008 documentary Prodigal Sons, which featured her grandson Marc McKerrow.

ACHIEVEMENTS Cultural Icon: One of the quintessential Hollywood sex symbols of the 1940s, nicknamed "The Love Goddess."

Dance: An accomplished and highly trained dancer, famously performing with Fred Astaire in You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942).

Alzheimer's Advocate: Her daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, became a dedicated advocate for Alzheimer's awareness and research after her mother's diagnosis, making a significant impact on public understanding of the disease.

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Motion Pictures).

Source (1) Historical Snaps (2) GlamAmor (3) Vanity Fair (4) Past Hollywood History (5) Encyclopedia.com (6) LA Times (7) Taking Up Room (8) Alzheimer's Association (9) Vintage Paparazzi (10) LA Times 

Rutherford B. Hayes

NAME Rutherford Birchard Hayes

WHAT FAMOUS FOR 19th President of the United States (1877–1881); known for ending Reconstruction, beginning civil service reform, and restoring integrity to the presidency after the scandals of the Grant era.

BIRTH Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born on October 4, 1822, in Delaware, Ohio. His birth occurred in tragic circumstances, as his mother Sophia had recently lost both her husband and a daughter.​

FAMILY BACKGROUND Hayes descended from New England colonists on both sides of his family. His earliest immigrant ancestor came to Connecticut from Scotland around the 1680s. His father, Rutherford Ezekiel Hayes Jr., was a Vermont storekeeper who moved the family to Ohio in 1817, where he operated a farm and whiskey distillery. His father died of a fever in July 1822, leaving Sophia Birchard Hayes pregnant with their fifth child.​

His mother, Sophia Birchard Hayes, was a religious, independent, and energetic woman who faced her hardships with remarkable ability. She never remarried and raised Hayes and his sister Fanny Arabella, the only two of four children to survive to adulthood. 

Sophia's younger bachelor brother, Sardis Birchard, became a surrogate father to Hayes, living with the family and later becoming a successful businessman and merchant in Lower Sandusky (later Fremont), Ohio. Sardis played a crucial role in financing Hayes's education and eventually left him the Spiegel Grove estate.​

CHILDHOOD Hayes had a difficult early childhood marked by illness and tragedy. He was often sick as an infant and remained frail through his early years. When he was only two years old, his nine-year-old brother Lorenzo drowned while ice-skating, leaving him with only his sister Fanny as a sibling.​

Because of Hayes's sickly nature and these early tragedies, his mother Sophia was extremely protective, not allowing him to play outside the family until he was seven or engage in rough sports until nine years of age. This sheltered upbringing resulted in an exceptionally close relationship between Hayes and his sister Fanny, who became his constant companion, playmate, and later his closest confidante.​

Fanny served as both protector and intellectual stimulator for her younger brother, who was called "Rud". Through her, Hayes became acquainted with Shakespeare's plays and Sir Walter Scott's poetry. Despite his mother's protectiveness, Hayes eventually developed physically and enjoyed hunting, fishing, swimming, and skating. He once broke through ice where the water was eight feet deep and later walked forty miles home from college in twelve hours.​

As a young man, Hayes struggled with lyssophobia, the fear of going insane—a condition that caused him significant anxiety but never prevented him from pursuing his ambitions.

EDUCATION Hayes received his early education from his mother Sophia, who taught him to read, write, and spell. From 1830 to 1835, he attended common schools in Delaware, Ohio.​

In 1836, at his uncle Sardis's insistence, Hayes entered Norwalk Seminary, a Methodist boarding school in Norwalk, Ohio. After spending a year there, he transferred in 1837 to Isaac Webb's preparatory school (the Webb School or Maple Grove Academy) in Middletown, Connecticut, where he studied Latin and Ancient Greek.​

In 1838, Hayes attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He enjoyed his time there immensely and was successful scholastically. While at Kenyon, he joined several student societies, became interested in Whig politics, and developed many important lifelong friendships with classmates including Stanley Matthews, Guy M. Bryan of Texas, and John Celivergos Zachos. He played "ball" (an early form of baseball) most mornings from 7-9 am when weather permitted. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with the highest honors in 1842, delivering the valedictory address at commencement.​

After briefly reading law in Columbus, Ohio, Hayes moved east to attend Harvard Law School in 1843. He studied under distinguished professors including Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story and received his LL.B. degree in 1845. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1845.​

CAREER RECORD 1845-1861: Began his law practice in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio, and later moved to Cincinnati in 1850, where he "flourished" as a young Whig and later Republican lawyer, gaining a reputation as a staunch abolitionist who defended refugee slaves.

1858-1861: City Solicitor of Cincinnati

1861-1865: Union Army Officer: Served in the Civil War, rising to brevet major general.

1865-1867: U.S. House of Representatives: Elected while still in the army.

1868-1872; 1876-1877: Governor of Ohio: Served three two-year terms.

1877-1881: 19th President of the United States 

1881-1893: Post-Presidency: Dedicated his time to advocating for universal education, veterans' pensions, and prison reform

APPEARANCE Hayes was a robust, broad-shouldered, handsome figure who stood 5 feet 8.5 inches tall and usually weighed 170-180 pounds. He had a large head with a high forehead, deeply set blue eyes, a straight nose, firm lips, and sound, straight teeth. The auburn hair of his youth turned dark brown and then white. 

From his Civil War service until his death, he wore a full beard. His beard became part of his recognizable image as president.

Portrait of Rutherford B. Hayes by Eliphalet Frazer Andrews, 1881

FASHION Hayes dressed simply and without pretension. His clothing choices reflected Victorian-era men's fashion of the 1870s, typically wearing suits with coats, waistcoats, and the standard high collars and neckties of the period. 

His mother had once written about his dress during his college years, noting that "plain, decent dress is as much respected at New Haven as anywhere else; and a dandy is as much despised, and as great an object of ridicule and contempt, as he is in Ohio". This simple, unpretentious approach to dress continued throughout his life.​

CHARACTER Hayes possessed a character marked by honesty, decency, and moral integrity. Biographer H.J. Eckenrode wrote: "Hayes was never a solitary, a boy of moods. He had no seasons of exaltation followed by depression... All his life he liked society and shone in it in a modest way – not sparkling, not brilliant, but pleasing, satisfying. He had a gift of friendship and most of those he loved in youth he loved in age".​ (2)

As a young man, Hayes went through a period of great inner tension, which he attributed to a fear that he would one day lose his mind, as some relatives on both sides of his family had done. Overcoming this fear, he matured into a relaxed, easy-going fellow, a good conversationalist, and a keen observer of human nature. He genuinely loved people and was interested in their thoughts and problems. When travelling by train, he invariably sat in the smoking car, eager to strike up a conversation. He had a remarkable memory for the names and faces of casual acquaintances.​

Hayes was known for his integrity, honesty, dignity, and moderate reform efforts. He was a patient and gradual reformer, believing that sweeping changes were often not lasting. He had an intense and ferocious demeanor on the battlefield that earned him respect. 

Hayes was known for respecting the opposition and welcoming constructive criticism as a politician. He did not drink, smoke, or gamble, and has been described as having an ENTP personality type—outgoing, gregarious, relaxed, and straight-laced. (3)

SPEAKING VOICE Although not regarded as a great orator in his day, Hayes delivered well-planned, reasoned addresses in a clear, pleasant voice. Contemporary accounts suggest he spoke in a calm, measured manner typical of educated men of his era. One biographer noted that while he wasn't a brilliant speaker, he was effective and spoke with clarity.​

As a young man at Harvard Law School, Hayes wrote observations about various speakers he heard, demonstrating his interest in oratory and public speaking.​

There is a historical claim that Hayes's voice may have been recorded by Thomas Edison in 1877, which would make it the first presidential voice recording, but sadly that recording has been lost to time. 

SENSE OF HUMOUR Though outwardly reserved, he possessed a quiet, self-deprecating wit. Friends noted that his humor was often understated but genuine

His diary entries and letters reveal a person who could appreciate life's ironies and maintain good humor even in difficult circumstances. 

RELATIONSHIPS Hayes married Lucy Ware Webb on December 30, 1852, in Cincinnati. She was the youngest daughter of Dr. James and Maria Cook Webb and a graduate of Cincinnati's Wesleyan Women's College, making her the first wife of a president to graduate from college. Lucy was twenty-one years old at the time of marriage; Hayes was thirty.​

Rutherford and Lucy Hayes on their wedding day

Hayes first met Lucy in 1847 on the Ohio Wesleyan campus when she was fourteen and he was twenty-three. They reconnected in 1850 at a wedding where they were both members of the wedding party, and Hayes was so taken with her that he gave her the prize (a gold ring) he had found in the wedding cake. In 1851, Hayes wrote in his diary: "I guess I am a great deal in love with L(ucy).... Her low sweet voice... her soft rich eyes". He also praised her intelligence and character.​

After the wedding, the couple honeymooned at the home of Hayes' sister and brother-in-law in Columbus, Ohio.

The couple had an extraordinarily happy marriage that lasted until Lucy's death in 1889. Hayes wrote shortly after their wedding: "A better wife I never hoped to have. This is indeed the life... Blessings on his head who first invented marriage". 

They became the parents of eight children: Birchard Austin (1853-1926), Webb Cook (1856-1934), Rutherford Platt (1858-1927), Joseph Thompson (1861-1863), George Crook (1864-1866), Fanny (1867-1950), Scott Russell (1871-1923), and Manning Force (1873-1874). Three sons died in early childhood, with five children surviving to adulthood.​

Lucy's strong antislavery views and her Methodist faith deeply influenced Hayes, changing his "lukewarm stand on abolition" and leading him to take cases involving runaway slaves. She was a fervent abolitionist and prohibitionist.​

Hayes's most important relationship outside his marriage was with his sister Fanny Arabella Hayes Platt. As the only two Hayes children to survive to adulthood, they were exceptionally close. Fanny served as his childhood protector, intellectual mentor, and lifelong confidante. She encouraged him to pursue academic success and was described as exceptionally bright, excelling at her studies. When Fanny died in 1856 after complications from childbirth, Hayes was devastated, writing: "My dear only sister, my beloved Fanny, is dead! The dearest friend of childhood...the confidante of all my life, the one I loved best, is gone".​

MONEY AND FAME Hayes came from a comfortable but not wealthy background. His uncle Sardis Birchard was a successful merchant who helped finance his education and later left him the Spiegel Grove estate. Hayes's estimated peak net worth was approximately $3.1 million in modern terms. He was a debtor himself thanks to large investments in real estate.​

As president, Hayes earned a salary of $50,000 per year. Despite being in debt, he advocated for hard money policies and supported the gold standard. He believed in living simply and modestly, reflecting middle-class American values rather than ostentatious wealth.​

Hayes never sought fame for its own sake. He focused on public service and doing what he believed was right, even when it made him unpopular. After his presidency, he continued to work on social causes without seeking recognition.​

Despite his public service, Hayes has been noted as a relatively obscure and "lost figure" among American presidents, with many Americans only recalling the disputed 1876 election.

FOOD AND DRINK Hayes and his wife Lucy made the White House an alcohol-free zone during his presidency, earning Lucy the nickname "Lemonade Lucy". While the president did not mind an occasional drink, he saw political possibilities in solidifying the support of temperance advocates and supported Lucy's strong Methodist beliefs against alcohol consumption. Mrs. Hayes stated: "I have young sons who have never tasted liquor. They shall not receive from my hand, or with the sanction of their father, the first taste of what might prove their ruin".​ (5)

Despite the absence of alcohol, White House entertainments under the Hayeses were lavish affairs. Hayes promoted simple American fare in the family's private dining, but state dinners were executed and served in the French style. During Hayes's term, state dinners were served à la Russe—in the Russian style of bringing prepared plates and bowls from a separate serving area.​

MUSIC AND ARTS Hayes had a genuine love for music and the arts. Lucy Hayes, a superb contralto who accompanied herself on the guitar, filled the White House with music. Vocalists and instrumentalists performed popular, folk, and classical music regularly. On Sunday evenings, Lucy led "sings" in the upstairs library, with cabinet members and friends including General William T. Sherman joining in gospel songs, often with Carl Schurz playing piano.​

President Hayes hosted Marie Selika Williams, who may have been the first Black opera singer to perform at the White House, on November 13, 1878 (see below). Frederick Douglass introduced her to the audience, and her program included works by Giuseppe Verdi, Thomas Moore, and Harrison Millard.​

The Hayes White House also featured Thomas Edison demonstrating his phonograph until 3:30 A.M. for the President, Lucy, and their guests. 

The couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at the White House on December 30, 1877, in a memorable social event.​

LITERATURE Hayes was a ravenous reader throughout his life, amassing more than 8,000 books in his personal library. As a young man, he was a founding member of the Cincinnati Literary Club. He read widely across many genres, from the tales of Charles Dickens and Mark Twain to the poetry of Lord Byron to the writings of Thomas Jefferson.​

Hayes set out to read Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes in the original language. He wrote in his diary on October 10, 1873: "I today formed the purpose to study the Spanish language enough to read Don Quixote". 

His library included Hayes's own copies of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens novels, and works covering issues of the day such as slavery, Chinese immigration, tariffs, and prison reform.​

Hayes corresponded with most of the Fireside Poets (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell), as well as with famous contemporaries like Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass. 

His sister Fanny introduced him to Sir Walter Scott's poetry during childhood. In his youth, Hayes and Fanny even attempted to dramatize The Lady of the Lake.

NATURE Hayes had a lifelong love of nature and trees. His estate, Spiegel Grove in Fremont, Ohio, reflected that affection - it  was a 25-acre wooded property that he meticulously developed and cherished. The name "Spiegel Grove" (German for "mirror grove") came from the reflective pools of water that collected on the property after rain showers.​

Hayes kept a detailed horticulture diary titled "Our Home" beginning in 1873, which enumerated the wide variety of plants—trees, flowers, vines, and shrubs, both wild and domestic—existing in the Grove. The diary reveals how Hayes carefully developed and changed Spiegel Grove over the years, planting evergreens, flowering shrubs, and creating "jungles" (thickets) for screening and beauty.​

In 1880, President Hayes toured California's Yosemite in an open carriage, becoming one of the early presidents to visit what would become part of the national park system. 

PETS Hayes and Lucy loved animals and came to Washington with several pets. Their favorite by far was a dog named Grim, a two-year-old greyhound given to Mrs. Hayes by Mrs. William DuPont of Wilmington, Delaware. The president noted in his diary that the dog "took all our hearts at once". Grim was devoted to Lucy and would howl whenever she sang "The Star Spangled Banner". Grim later died when he was struck by a train—the president concluded that Grim expected "the train to turn out for him" because wagons and carriages always had.​ (6)

The Hayes White House housed numerous other animals including: several other dogs (Jet, a mutt; Duke, an English mastiff; Hector, a Newfoundland; Dot, a cocker spaniel; two shepherd dogs named Hector and Nellie; and two hunting dogs named Juno and Shep); several cats, including Siam, said to be the first Siamese cat brought to America (a gift from U.S. diplomat David B. Sickels in Bangkok); four canaries and a mockingbird; carriage horses; Jersey cows; and a goat (probably for milking).​

Hayes and Duke Presidential Pet Museum

When Siam became ill, the president's own physician was summoned to provide care, attempting to nurse the cat back to health with fish, chicken, duck, cream, and oysters, though the cat ultimately died. The president sent Siam's remains to the Department of Agriculture to be preserved by a taxidermist, but the body was misplaced.​

Hayes's Civil War horse, "Old Whitey," who served as mascot of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was described as "A Hero of Nineteen Battles 1861-1865," was buried at Spiegel Grove upon his death in 1879.​

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Hayes enjoyed various recreational activities throughout his life. He loved hunting and fishing, both of which he pursued actively. As noted earlier, he was an excellent marksman with a rifle. He also enjoyed swimming and skating, once breaking through ice where the water was eight feet deep and emerging unscathed.​

At Kenyon College, Hayes played an early form of baseball, participating in games most mornings from 7-9 am when weather permitted. At Harvard Law School in 1844, he continued playing baseball, which was his preferred leisure activity over attending theater. He wrote: "I consider one game of ball worth about ten plays. I am now quite lame, from scuffing, and all my fingers stiffened by playing ball. Pretty business for a law student. Yes, pretty enough; why not? Good exercise and great sport".​ (7)

Hayes also played croquet, which was popular in his era. 

He was an avid walker—as a college student, he once walked forty miles home to Delaware in twelve hours, and after Christmas walked back to Gambier in four inches of snow.​

Hayes maintained an intense intellectual life, reading voraciously, corresponding with literary figures, and keeping detailed diaries from age twelve until his death at age 70. He was one of only three presidents to keep a diary while in office.​

SCIENCE AND MATHS Hayes embraced scientific progress and new technology. He was the first president to have a telephone installed in the White House in 1877, barely 14 months after Alexander Graham Bell's invention. When Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone to Hayes in June 1877, the President's reaction was enthusiastic (see below). According to a newspaper account from June 29, 1877, Hayes listened through the device and "a gradually increasing smile wreathed his lips and shone in his eyes." He eventually exclaimed, "That is wonderful".​ (8)

Hayes was also the first president to have a typewriter in the White House, quickly acquiring one after it became available. 

On his 1880 trip to the West Coast, Hayes became the first sitting president to travel to the West Coast, utilizing the transcontinental railroad. His willingness to adopt new technologies reflected his forward-thinking nature and his belief in progress.​

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Hayes came from a Presbyterian family background but attended Methodist schools as a youth. He married Lucy, a devout Methodist, whose religious views deeply influenced him. Throughout his adult life, however, Hayes repeatedly said he was not a Christian in the formal sense. He wrote in 1890: "I am not a subscriber to any creed. I belong to no church". Yet in the same entry he wrote: "I try to be a Christian, or rather, I want to be a Christian and do Christian work".​

During his presidency, Hayes and his cabinet began each day by praying together and reading the Bible. Many cabinet members joined the Hayes family on Sunday nights in singing hymns. He attended church every Sunday with his wife and children and studied the Bible, yet never joined a church.​

Hayes struggled with the idea of faith throughout his life. At one point, he said he was reading the Bible not as a Christian but as a scholar who wanted to be informed, writing: "The literature of the Bible should be studied as one studies Shakespeare".​

Politically, Hayes opposed blending religion and government. He was opposed to sectarian interference in schools, whether by Catholics or any other religion, believing that creating factions of schools would prevent the nation from becoming unified.​

POLITICS Hayes began as a Whig but joined the Republican Party in the 1850s due to his growing opposition to slavery. He was a moderate Republican who believed in civil rights for African Americans and supported the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.​

As governor of Ohio (three terms between 1867 and 1877), Hayes campaigned for equal rights for black Ohioans, oversaw establishment of schools for the deaf and for girls, and proposed tax reductions and prison reform.​

PRESIDENCY In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes found himself at the center of what may still be the most spectacularly muddled election in American history. His Democratic opponent, Samuel Tilden, had clearly won the popular vote by a quarter of a million ballots—a margin no one could sneeze at—and appeared to have captured the Electoral College as well. But then came the disputed returns from four states—Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida, and, for some reason known only to political fate, Oregon.

To untangle this civic hairball, Congress created a special Electoral Commission made up of fifteen sober-looking men: five senators, five representatives, and five Supreme Court justices. After weeks of high drama and chin-stroking, the commission voted strictly along party lines, 8 to 7, to hand every last disputed vote to Hayes. That gave him a total of 185 electoral votes to Tilden’s 184—victory by a single vote. The decision came just two days before the inauguration, prompting one can imagine, some hurried suit fittings in Columbus. Outraged Democrats dubbed him “Rutherfraud” and “His Fraudulency,” nicknames that must have taken the shine off inauguration day considerably.

Once in office, Hayes proved to be a rather earnest reformer with the luck of a man who had won a game of poker he didn’t know he was playing. He promptly ended Reconstruction, pulling the last federal troops out of South Carolina and Louisiana in a deal remembered as the Compromise of 1877. In exchange, Southern leaders vaguely promised to protect the rights of newly freed African Americans, which they almost immediately failed to do.

Hayes then turned his gaze to the federal bureaucracy, where jobs were doled out like party favors. Determined to clean up the “spoils system,” he issued an executive order forbidding government workers from being forced to fund political campaigns. His boldest stroke was firing Chester A. Arthur—then Collector of the Port of New York and a professional dispenser of patronage—and replacing him with a merit-based system. (Arthur, in a satisfying twist of history, later became president himself and took up the reform cause he once resisted.)

Hayes also championed “sound money,” a phrase that sounded prudent and made everyone feel virtuous. With Treasury Secretary John Sherman, he built up gold reserves to back the paper currency known as “greenbacks.” When Congress passed the inflationary Bland-Allison Act in 1878, Hayes vetoed it, though Congress, ever contrary, overrode his veto anyway.

On the West Coast, Hayes drew the ire of anti-Chinese activists by vetoing a bill that would have violated the Burlingame Treaty and effectively shut the door to Chinese immigration. He did, however, negotiate a new treaty with China that allowed the U.S. to “regulate, limit, or suspend” immigration—which it soon did, enthusiastically.

Hayes had promised to serve only one term, and for once in Washington, a promise was actually kept. His presidency showed him to be a man of principle, if not always of follow-through—a leader who talked bigger than he acted but managed, in his modest, slightly mustachioed way, to leave the office tidier than he found it.

SCANDAL The principal scandal of Hayes's career was the disputed 1876 election itself. Democrats believed that Hayes had used unfair means to steal the election, calling him "Rutherfraud" and "His Fraudulency". The election crisis nearly caused a constitutional breakdown, with the outcome uncertain until days before inauguration.​

In disputed states, Republican-controlled "returning boards" threw out enough Democratic votes to give Hayes victory, amid allegations of fraud, intimidation, and bribery on both sides. The compromise that resolved the crisis allegedly involved agreements that Hayes would end Reconstruction and withdraw federal troops from the South in exchange for Southern Democratic acquiescence to his presidency.​

Beyond the election controversy, Hayes's administration was relatively clean compared to the corruption of the Grant years. Hayes brought "dignity, honesty, and moderate reform" to the presidency after eight years of corruption in Washington. His personal integrity was never in question.​

MILITARY RECORD When the Civil War began, Hayes offered his services to Ohio. On June 27, 1861, he was commissioned a major in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He proved to be an inspirational leader in battle and saw extensive active service.​

Hayes in Civil War uniform in 1861

Hayes was wounded five times during the war. His most serious wound occurred on September 14, 1862, at the Battle of South Mountain. While leading his regiment in an attack against Confederate positions, a musket ball struck his left arm just above the elbow, fracturing it. He later wrote: "Fearing that an artery might be cut, I asked a soldier near me to tie my handkerchief above the wound. I soon felt weak, faint, and sick at the stomach. I laid down and was pretty comfortable". Despite being wounded and lying on the battlefield with bullets hitting the ground around him, Hayes maintained command and observed the battle's progress.​

Hayes returned to the regiment in December 1862 and suffered two more wounds during his subsequent service. He had several horses shot out from beneath him during battles. His wartime experiences actually helped improve his health, which had been fragile in his youth.​

Hayes rose through the ranks to become colonel of the 23rd Ohio, and was eventually brevetted to the rank of major general. His regiment, which also included future President William McKinley as a commissary sergeant, later became known as the "President's Regiment".​

In 1864, while still serving in the army, Cincinnati Republicans nominated Hayes for Congress. He accepted the nomination but famously refused to campaign or leave his post, stating: "an officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer... ought to be scalped". He was elected by a heavy majority and did not take his seat until after the Union victory.​

Hayes was mustered out of the army in 1865, having established a reputation for bravery in combat and honorable service.​

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Hayes suffered from poor health as an infant and young child, remaining frail through his early years. His mother was extremely protective due to his sickly nature. In 1847, when he was about 25, Hayes became ill with what his doctor thought was tuberculosis, leading him to seek a change of climate.​

However, Hayes's health improved significantly during adulthood. His Civil War service, despite five battle wounds, actually helped improve his overall physical condition. As an adult, he was described as "robust" and "broad-shouldered" with generally sound health.​ (2)

Hayes maintained an active lifestyle, enjoying outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, swimming, and walking. He ate heartily but practiced moderation, particularly after marriage when he gave up alcohol completely to support Lucy's temperance convictions.​

HOMES Hayes was born in a two-story brick house in Delaware, Ohio, on the northeast corner of William and Winter Streets.​

After marriage in 1852, Hayes and Lucy initially lived with Lucy's mother in Cincinnati before buying their first home in that city. They moved several times during their early married years, living in both Cincinnati and Columbus.​

In 1873, Hayes inherited Spiegel Grove, a wooded estate in Fremont, Ohio, from his uncle Sardis Birchard. The original house was built by Birchard between 1859 and 1863 as a two-story brick mansion with eight bedrooms and a wrap-around verandah. Hayes loved the estate, particularly the verandah, writing: "The best part of the present house is the veranda. But I would enlarge it. I want a veranda with a house attached!".​

Hayes spent the next twenty years planning additions and improvements to Spiegel Grove, much as Thomas Jefferson had with Monticello. In 1880, he added a substantial addition including a library to house his 12,000 books, a large reception room, three bedrooms, and indoor plumbing. The most spectacular improvement was a four-story walnut and butternut staircase leading to a rooftop lantern offering a 360-degree view of Spiegel Grove.​

In 1889, another addition was made, housing a large dining room, kitchen, servants' rooms, and three bedrooms. The house eventually had 31 rooms and over 10,000 square feet. Both Hayes and Lucy died in their beloved home at Spiegel Grove.​

The estate included 25 acres of wooded land, which Hayes meticulously developed with native and ornamental plantings documented in his horticulture diary "Our Home".​

Spiegel Grove by User:Shadow2700 

TRAVEL As president, Hayes made history by becoming the first sitting president to travel to the West Coast. In September 1880, Hayes, Lucy, and an entourage of ten (including General William T. Sherman) left Chicago and traveled via the transcontinental railroad through Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, reaching Sacramento and San Francisco. They continued through Northern California into Oregon and Washington state before boarding the steamship Columbia to return to San Francisco. From there, they toured Southern California and several southwestern states before returning to Washington on November 

Hayes took the trip to unify the nation in a demonstrable way and to build support for his Native American and Chinese immigration policies. On October 21, 1880, he toured California's Yosemite in an open carriage. He and his party were stunned by the western scenery and received lavish and enthusiastic welcomes everywhere.​

Throughout his life, Hayes traveled extensively within the United States. He made journeys to his ancestral New England home to trace his family lineage. As a young man, he and his uncle Sardis made a long journey to Texas in 1847 to visit his Kenyon classmate Guy M. Bryan.​

After leaving the presidency, Hayes continued to travel frequently, always carrying several pictures of Lucy, which he would place about his hotel room or ship cabin. He never traveled without these reminders of his beloved wife.​

DEATH Rutherford B. Hayes died at his home, Spiegel Grove, in Fremont, Ohio, at 11 p.m. on January 17, 1893. He was 70 years old. The cause of death was heart disease, described in contemporary accounts as "neuralgia of the heart" or complications from a heart attack.​

Hayes had worked steadily for social causes until the end of his life, but felt that "the soul" had left Spiegel Grove when Lucy died of a stroke in June 1889. His daughter Fanny became his constant companion in his final years, and he never traveled without pictures of Lucy.​

Hayes had been stricken at his son's home in Cleveland on Saturday, January 14, with a severe attack. He was taken home to Fremont but remained ill. President Benjamin Harrison issued an executive order announcing Hayes's death: "The death of Rutherford B. Hayes... at his home in Fremont, Ohio, at 11 p.m. yesterday, is an event the announcement of which will be received with very general and very sincere sorrow".​

Harrison ordered the Executive Mansion and Executive Departments in Washington to be draped in mourning with flags at half-staff for thirty days, and for all public business to be suspended on the day of the funeral.​

A long funeral procession wound through the snowy Ohio countryside, led by President-elect Grover Cleveland and Ohio governor William McKinley.​

Hayes was initially buried in Oakwood Cemetery next to Lucy, who had died in 1889. Following the gift of Spiegel Grove to the state of Ohio, their bodies were reinterred at Spiegel Grove in 1915, where they are buried at a memorial on the property.​

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Hayes has appeared in various historical documentaries and educational programs. He has been portrayed or referenced in several television productions, including American Experience (2012), Billy the Kid (2013), and The Presidents (2005). His disputed election has been the subject of numerous historical analyses and documentaries.​

Unlike more famous presidents, Hayes has not been extensively dramatized in major Hollywood films. He is primarily represented through historical documentation, museum exhibits at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums in Fremont, Ohio, and educational programming.​

His legacy is preserved at Spiegel Grove, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark on January 29, 1964, and added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.​

ACHIEVEMENTS First U.S. president to complete law school

First First Lady to be a college graduate

Only president wounded in the Civil War

Ended Reconstruction and restored the Union politically

Advocated for civil service reform

Promoted education and moral reform during and after his presidency

Left office voluntarily after one term, emphasizing integrity over ambition

Sources: (1) Life and Character of Rutherford B Hayes by William D Howells (2) The Presidential Ham  (3) American Historama (4) Ebsco (5) White House History (6) America Comes Alive (7) Reddit (8) New York magazine (9) Wikipedia