The matriarch of Louisiana’s most powerful political dynasty, Lindy Boggs, died today at the age of 97 in her Chevy Chase home.
Boggs, a champion of women’s rights, succeeded her husband in the House of Representatives after he died in a plane crash in Alaska. She went on to serve nine terms on Capitol Hill.
In 1973, Boggs became the first Louisianan woman elected to the House. Three years later she made history again by becoming the first female to preside over the Democratic National Convention.
Boggs began her political career running her husband’s Washington office, managing his campaigns, then going on to work for the Democratic National Committee and chairing inaugural committees for President John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Her 1973 election to Congress came about under the most unusual of circumstances. She campaigned to directly succeed her husband, Hale, a 28-year veteran of the House and a majority leader of Congress. Hale was presumed dead when his plane disappeared while he was campaigning in Alaska during the fall of 1972, although his body was never found.
Once elected to represent New Orleans’ French Quarter in Washington, Boggs quickly became an advocate for women. One of her first victories in Congress made it easier for women to obtain credit cards without their husbands’ permission.
Boggs’ raised a very politically savvy family. Her son, Thomas Boggs, is one of the most influential lobbyists in Washington D.C. today, as a founding partner of Patton-Boggs. Her daughter, Cokie Roberts, currently works as a journalist, and can be regularly seen on-air with ABC News. Boggs’ other daughter, Barbara Boggs Sigmund, died while serving as the mayor of Princeton, N.J in 1990.