Grand dame of Washington society, whose Georgetown dinner parties epitomized the nexus of political power and social prestige. She was always called by her full name, Susan Mary.
Henry Kissinger once remarked that more agreements were concluded in the living room of Susan Mary Alsop than in the White House. A descendant of founding father John Jay, Susan Mary was an American aristocrat whose first marriage gave her full access to post-war diplomatic social life in Paris. There, her circle of friends included Winston Churchill, Isaiah Berlin, Evelyn Waugh, and Christian Dior, among other luminaries, and she had a passionate love affair with British ambassador Duff Cooper. During the golden years of John F. Kennedy's presidency — after she had married the powerful journalist Joe Alsop—her Washington home was a gathering place for everyone of importance, including Katharine Graham, Robert McNamara, and Henry Kissinger. Dubbed "the second lady of Camelot," she hosted dinner parties that were the epitome of political power and social arrival, bringing together the movers and shakers not just of the United States, but of the world.
Daughter of Peter Augustus Jay and Susan Alexander McCook.
Married William Samuel Patten in October 1930 on Long Island, NY; two children. He died in 1960. Married Joseph Alsop in February 1961 in Chevy Chase, MD (divorced 1978).
Her son, William S. Patten, whose biological father was Duff Cooper, wrote in his memoir "My Three Fathers":
"Today I spend more of my time in ... Shirley, a few miles across Route 2 from the cemetery in Lancaster where Bill Patten and my mother are buried ..."
Some of her ashes were also scattered over the ocean off the coast of Maine, according to the biography, "American Lady" by Caroline de Margerie.
Henry Kissinger once remarked that more agreements were concluded in the living room of Susan Mary Alsop than in the White House. A descendant of founding father John Jay, Susan Mary was an American aristocrat whose first marriage gave her full access to post-war diplomatic social life in Paris. There, her circle of friends included Winston Churchill, Isaiah Berlin, Evelyn Waugh, and Christian Dior, among other luminaries, and she had a passionate love affair with British ambassador Duff Cooper. During the golden years of John F. Kennedy's presidency — after she had married the powerful journalist Joe Alsop—her Washington home was a gathering place for everyone of importance, including Katharine Graham, Robert McNamara, and Henry Kissinger. Dubbed "the second lady of Camelot," she hosted dinner parties that were the epitome of political power and social arrival, bringing together the movers and shakers not just of the United States, but of the world.
Daughter of Peter Augustus Jay and Susan Alexander McCook.
Married William Samuel Patten in October 1930 on Long Island, NY; two children. He died in 1960. Married Joseph Alsop in February 1961 in Chevy Chase, MD (divorced 1978).
Her son, William S. Patten, whose biological father was Duff Cooper, wrote in his memoir "My Three Fathers":
"Today I spend more of my time in ... Shirley, a few miles across Route 2 from the cemetery in Lancaster where Bill Patten and my mother are buried ..."
Some of her ashes were also scattered over the ocean off the coast of Maine, according to the biography, "American Lady" by Caroline de Margerie.
Grand dame of Washington society, whose Georgetown dinner parties epitomized the nexus of political power and social prestige. She was always called by her full name, Susan Mary.
Henry Kissinger once remarked that more agreements were concluded in the living room of Susan Mary Alsop than in the White House. A descendant of founding father John Jay, Susan Mary was an American aristocrat whose first marriage gave her full access to post-war diplomatic social life in Paris. There, her circle of friends included Winston Churchill, Isaiah Berlin, Evelyn Waugh, and Christian Dior, among other luminaries, and she had a passionate love affair with British ambassador Duff Cooper. During the golden years of John F. Kennedy's presidency — after she had married the powerful journalist Joe Alsop—her Washington home was a gathering place for everyone of importance, including Katharine Graham, Robert McNamara, and Henry Kissinger. Dubbed "the second lady of Camelot," she hosted dinner parties that were the epitome of political power and social arrival, bringing together the movers and shakers not just of the United States, but of the world.
Daughter of Peter Augustus Jay and Susan Alexander McCook.
Married William Samuel Patten in October 1930 on Long Island, NY; two children. He died in 1960. Married Joseph Alsop in February 1961 in Chevy Chase, MD (divorced 1978).
Her son, William S. Patten, whose biological father was Duff Cooper, wrote in his memoir "My Three Fathers":
"Today I spend more of my time in ... Shirley, a few miles across Route 2 from the cemetery in Lancaster where Bill Patten and my mother are buried ..."
Some of her ashes were also scattered over the ocean off the coast of Maine, according to the biography, "American Lady" by Caroline de Margerie.
Henry Kissinger once remarked that more agreements were concluded in the living room of Susan Mary Alsop than in the White House. A descendant of founding father John Jay, Susan Mary was an American aristocrat whose first marriage gave her full access to post-war diplomatic social life in Paris. There, her circle of friends included Winston Churchill, Isaiah Berlin, Evelyn Waugh, and Christian Dior, among other luminaries, and she had a passionate love affair with British ambassador Duff Cooper. During the golden years of John F. Kennedy's presidency — after she had married the powerful journalist Joe Alsop—her Washington home was a gathering place for everyone of importance, including Katharine Graham, Robert McNamara, and Henry Kissinger. Dubbed "the second lady of Camelot," she hosted dinner parties that were the epitome of political power and social arrival, bringing together the movers and shakers not just of the United States, but of the world.
Daughter of Peter Augustus Jay and Susan Alexander McCook.
Married William Samuel Patten in October 1930 on Long Island, NY; two children. He died in 1960. Married Joseph Alsop in February 1961 in Chevy Chase, MD (divorced 1978).
Her son, William S. Patten, whose biological father was Duff Cooper, wrote in his memoir "My Three Fathers":
"Today I spend more of my time in ... Shirley, a few miles across Route 2 from the cemetery in Lancaster where Bill Patten and my mother are buried ..."
Some of her ashes were also scattered over the ocean off the coast of Maine, according to the biography, "American Lady" by Caroline de Margerie.
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