Pat Schroeder: A Woman of the House

Joan A. Lowy

The leading feminist in Congress for nearly twenty-five years, Pat Schroeder was elected in 1972. Beloved by the left and despised by the right, she was at the forefront of a new wave of assertive women lawmakers who refused to play by the old rules. This is the first biography of the outspoken Colorado Democrat, who has remained in the limelight since leaving public office.

Schroeder's political career began at a time when many congressional committees were still controlled by a southern gerontocracy. She quickly established a reputation for speaking out in support of left-of-center causes that few of her colleagues would take on. Her razor wit and a talent for creating sound bites endeared her to the media (she coined the phrase "the Teflon president" to describe Ronald Reagan). But she proved equally adept at wielding influence in the vanguard of change. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, she was instrumental in passing legislation to end sexism in the military despite vicious personal attacks following the U. S. Navy Tailhook scandal. She was in the forefront of exposing gender bias in medical research and was an architect of the family leave bill.

Author Joan Lowy covered Schroeder's congressional career for ten years and was given unlimited access to Schroeder's staff for this biography.

"Pat Schroeder is the best match between a quotable subject and a capable writer. Lowy's well paced work is enlivened because Schroeder would 'wield political ridicule like a whip' and her sallies don't date."--The Women's Review of Books

"Author Joan Lowy provides a fairly balanced perspective, and does not gloss over mistakes and missteps. . . And it's good reading, too."--Colorado Central Magazine

"Like her or not, agree with her or not, Schroeder is a brilliant woman with a superb sense of humor, and that comes across in Lowy's narrative."--The Boulder Daily Camera

"Lowy has done an excellent job delineating the ups and downs of the congresswoman's long career."--Rocky Mountain News

"This biography is a must-read for us all. . . . It is a fly-on-the wall perspective of a quarter of a century of Schroeder's ground-breaking work on feminist issues in the most powerful male bastion of the world, but also author Penny Lowy's intrepid research and insightful perspective. . . . Read Schroeder's biography whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or an independent or a member of the Green Party. Or a total cynic about politics."--Colorado Woman News

Joan A. Lowy is a national reporter for Scripps Howard News Service. She lives in Vienna, Virginia.

Women's Biography Series

6 x 9 224 pages 25 halftones