The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post: A Novel

“These commanders in chief keep changing every four to eight years, but I remain at my post to greet and host them all.”

Marjorie Merriweather Post is a stalwart figure in American history, who has a connection to almost every president from Abraham Lincoln to Gerald Ford. Even as they and their agendas change, Marjorie impresses each with her lavish galas and gatherings.

“‘It’s the healing power of the spirit that cures our feeble frames,’ she’d said on more than one occasion. She spoke long and boldly, warning us that ‘our ailments come not from the body but from the soul.’”

Religion has a lasting effect on Marjorie’s life. Her parents believe that the Christian Science faith of Mrs. Gregory in Battle Creek saves both Charles William and Marjorie from serious illness, and so they also become Christian Scientists—a religion that informs some of Charles William’s approach to business.

“I don’t hold with this idea that girls are any less capable than boys when it comes to schooling.”

Charles William’s assertion that Marjorie is just as capable as any boy sticks with her, even if he still does not do anything to provide her full access to power or resources as an adult woman. After marriage, her first husband Ed serves as her representative at the company, as socially expected.

“The bride, who has already attained a wide reputation for exquisite beauty, is probably the richest young woman in the United States, in addition to her dowry of youthful charm and grace.”

Marjorie’s wealth catapults her love life into the public eye; this newspaper commentary on her first marriage is the first of many journalistic reports discussing her personal life. She grows less willing to have her romantic relationships examined by the press as she gets older, given their judgments and rumors.

“It’s a question of having your affairs in hand. The greater the wealth, the greater the need for careful oversight.”

Charles William emphasizes to Marjorie the importance of maintaining her finances, teaching her a valuable lesson that will prepare her for a larger role in the family business. He also implores her to use their wealth responsibly and not to take it for granted, as “[f]ive cents is the difference between eating supper or going hungry to many a family” (100).

“It’s just not done.”

This is Ed Close’s regular refrain, which speaks to his condescending classism; he especially scorns new-money families like Marjorie’s. When he says this in response to Marjorie’s involvement with the women’s suffrage movement, it’s clear that he does not share her hope for a move away from traditional roles for women.

“I was still a mother, after all, and a wife. And a daughter. I settled back into those roles, not suspecting—not realizing—that it would all soon change again.”

During Marjorie’s first marriage, she is willing to accept the early 20th-century expectation that women belong in the domestic sphere. However, when Ed is sent off to WWI, she becomes more publicly involved in both business and advocacy for the first time—with the result that she refuses to give up this power in the future.

“The patrons of these locales and the company we kept at these events were largely what my husband called ‘new money,’ families that had made their millions in just the previous generation in railroads or the banks of Wall Street, or by finding gold or iron out west.”

Historically, the Post family is part of a wave of “new money” families—whose lack of generational wealth marks them as close to the merchant classes— whereas the Close family standing dates back to the early days of the United States. This is the source of great tension between Marjorie and Ed—he, like many old money families, sees the nouveau rich as unnecessarily flashy, provincial, and gauche.

“In those busy but meaningful days, I began to understand, truly, the fierce and formidable power of women. Though we could not enlist and take up arms, I felt that I, and the many women around me, could have a direct hand in supporting this war abroad and keeping this country free at home. Though I could not vote for the president, though I could not even sit on the board of the company that bore my family’s name, I began to hope that, by the time my girls were older, these facts might change.”

As a woman in the early 20th century, Marjorie’s opportunities are limited. Even as heir to the Post fortune with a seat on the company’s board, she is not able to run the company. Yet, through her involvement with various social organizations, she fosters a hope for more equal treatment of women.

“But it sure is a shame that you can’t tell them yourself. It’ll be your smarts, after all, that will keep us afloat.”

Marjorie’s Uncle Cal makes this comment to Marjorie after her advice about how to proceed during World War I pays off, helping the company to thrive at a time of economic instability. This quote illustrates the inequality between women and men, as Marjorie is unable to take on any sort of leadership role in Post Cereal Company—women are not seen as being able to handle business, no matter their actual ability or talent.

“But in my deepest core, buried as it might be under layers of grape-sized diamonds and custom silk, I still thought of myself as the Battle Creek girl who had grown up next door to a barn. The daughter of a man who had seen it as his mission not only to succeed but also to do good for other people.”

Marjorie desires strongly to help those in need, constantly hearing her father’s voice in her head asking how she will use the massive fortune he has left her. This thought connects her to her father’s initial desire to make life easier for women who spend the whole day cooking by inventing quick and healthy breakfast foods.

“And so I heard Papa’s voice as clear as if he stood there in the room with me: Time to put on your good head, Budgie.”

When the Great Depression strikes, Marjorie knows that she needs to get to work. Her father’s desire to aid those in need spurs her to action, becoming the reminder that informs Marjorie’s long legacy of charity.

“Gone were my banquets of gold and mahogany; now I fixed my exacting hostess’s eyes on every detail in that canteen.”

Marjorie is unafraid to involve herself in the work of hosting, whether planning an event for the wealthiest New York elite or easing the day-to-day struggle of women experiencing homelessness during the Great Depression. She focuses her attention entirely on the task at hand.

“If I was to live amid such splendor and enjoy such wealth, I would use it for good. That had always been the point of our Post wealth, and that philosophy was needed now, perhaps more than ever before. As Papa had taught me to do as a young girl returning home from school to a white barn that smelled of wheat and molasses, I would roll up my sleeves and I would get to work.”

Marjorie believes firmly in using her wealth for good, and she undertakes extraordinary acts of charity throughout the novel. She believes that she has had an impact on everyone’s life by the time she enters her sixties, having lived out this mission.

“How my husband would feel about having a wife who wielded such power and independence. But even more, how my husband would feel about his wife taking those powers and responsibilities away from him in the process, since my representation on the General Foods board has always been by proxy, with my husband holding the Post family member’s place at that table.”

Marjorie finally gets her chance to serve on the board of her father’s company in a historic move for General Foods. The moment is distinctly different from when her husbands held this role; Marjorie has won more flexibility for herself—and possibly other women by proxy, though this is harder to prove given her extraordinary position because of her wealth. Still, in the wake of the Great Depression, more and more women are working outside the home.

“As Joe and I went room by room, unloading luggage and surveying the quarters and directing the household staff in arranging our items, I rolled up my sleeves and looked around the place with my keen hostess’s eye and a fervent determination to scrub and decorate and improve as if our mission depended on it. To my mind, it did.”

Marjorie sees her calling as hosting, and her time in the USSR as the US ambassador’s wife affords her the opportunity to put her skills to the test. She redoes the embassy residence at Spaso House, a challenge that allows her to forge positive relationships with several Soviets. Despite her best efforts, however, diplomacy does not often depend on the charm of peripheral players, so the USSR initially allies with Germany in World War II, only switching sides when Hitler betrays their agreement.

“Those of us who believe in freedom, who believe in opportunity, who believe in the innate goodness of the human race, we will not allow the conditions that would crush our rights, that would bring an end to self-respect and liberty for all, and especially for women.”

Marjorie’s fame hits a new level when she is asked to speak about American-Soviet relations and America’s place in the world in 1940. She ultimately brings this topic to the role of women, arguing that being American means believing in equal treatment for women.

“I would never again make myself small in order to allow a man to feel big. I would never again root my home in another’s name, or put my own name aside to take up a man’s. I had been a leader, mother, businesswoman, and philanthropist all along. There was going to be no more denying that.”

After her heated divorce from Joe and his ability to hold onto many of her treasures because his name is on the deed to the house, Marjorie is ready to reclaim the Post name. She has come to believe in herself as an autonomous and self-possessed individual apart from her husbands.

“As I looked at this woman, once so opposed to my entry into Washington society, so critical of my decisions, I realized that I now considered her a genuine friend—like so many others in this place. Perhaps I did not need to feel like a failure, even if all of my marriages had been labeled thusly.”

Marjorie’s relationship with Betty Beale, a newspaper reporter who first lambasts her for marrying Joe Davies so soon after his divorce but eventually turns into a close friend, shows Marjorie’s skill at forging real relationships, ones she sees as incredibly valuable and fulfilling.

“My goal now is to do good for this world that has given me so much. Wealth is a great responsibility, more than it is a privilege.”

Marjorie’s roots in Battle Creek stay with her for the rest of her life, as do her father’s lessons about wealth. She works to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves, giving millions in donations, hiring formerly unemployed workers, and running charitable institutions.

“She’s America’s Hostess, known for throwing the best dinners and liveliest dances. Now she just needs to find her dancing partner.”

Marjorie’s personal life is always in the public eye; even in her sixties and seventies, she is seen as needing a husband. However, the media has brought her as much praise as it has shame, so at this point in the novel, Marjorie has long since stopped caring about their commentary on her life.

“I remembered how the press had buzzed around at every single one of my previous weddings, so we decamped to Adelaide’s house and had a small service with just the family in her drawing room.”

Marjorie views love as intense and magical; she falls in love quickly—if not prudently. Her last two weddings are distinctly different from her usual parties. They are small and intimate events with the people that she loves the most, rather than lavish parties. It shows how much she values keeping her relationships out of the public eye when she is able to do so.

“As a nation we’ve got our problems, sure. And we aren’t perfect. But I believe we could accomplish a lot more good by pulling together rather than tearing one another apart. Anyways, I’d like to do my part.”

Marjorie’s decision to donate Mar-a-Lago to the American government shows that she sees her properties as a way of serving the United States—but the fact that she wants the mansion to be a second White House is quite conceited as well. She has schmoozed with political and business leaders at this estate, so she believes it is logical to bequeath the property to her country.