Millicent Fenwick : her way / Amy Schapiro ; foreword by Thomas H. Kean.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schapiro, Amy, 1970-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fenwick, Millicent.

United States. Congress. House--Biography.

United States.

Legislators--United States--Biography.

Legislators.

Women legislators--United States--Biography.

Women legislators.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (301 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, c2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Amy Schapiro has written the first biography of Millicent Fenwick, the popular and colorful New Jersey congresswoman. Affectionately remembered as the pipe-smoking grandmother who served as the model for Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury character Lacey Davenport, Fenwick defied such simplistic expectations to become, in the words of Walter Cronkite, "the conscience of Congress." Born in 1910 into comfortable circumstances, Fenwick faced tragedy at an early age when her mother was lost in the sinking of the Lusitania . Following an upper-class childhood and a failed marriage, she began a fourteen-year career at Vogue magazine. In the 1960s, Fenwick became involved in the civil rights movement and took part in local and state politics in New Jersey. Blessed with striking good looks and a sharp wit, she cut a glamorous figure, rising quickly through the ranks of the state Republican Party at a time when most of her peers were retiring. When this colorful, outspoken figure--one of only five New Jersey women ever elected to Congress-- went to Washington in 1974 at age sixty-four, her victory was portrayed by the media as a "geriatric triumph." Schapiro's extensive interviews with Fenwick's son, Hugh, who granted her exclusive rights to Fenwick's personal papers, oral histories, letters, and photographs, provide rare insight into the life and career of one of America's most memorable politicians.

Contents:

A gilded past

Battle cry

A blended family

Building character

Ambassador's daughter

Love, scandal, marriage

The Vogue years

Retreating to the country

Outhouse Millie

A geriatric triumph

The conscience of Congress

Pursuing human rights

Lacey Davenport

Seeking the Senate

A little bit useful

My way.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-269) and index.

ISBN:

0-8135-6627-4

0-8135-3449-6

OCLC:

53973231