Politics of Conscience - A Biography of Margaret Chase Smith (Hardcover, New)

A meticulous biography of one of this century's more influential female politicians. Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995) was the first woman to be elected to both houses of the US Congress and the first to make a bid for a major party's presidential nomination. Wallace's (US History/Baylor Univ.) account of her life seems excessively harsh at points but shows Smith's determination, hard-driving ambition, pettiness, hypersensitivity to criticism, and political independence. Smith is best known for her Declaration of Conscience; on the Senate floor, in a climate of intense political paranoia created by Senator Joe McCarthy's attacks on imagined communists, cold warrior Smith condemned red-baiting witch-hunts as antidemocratic. Wallace is never taken in by such moments; her Margaret Chase Smith is opportunistic, seeing power and headlines as ends in themselves, rather than as means to advance causes dear to her heart. Wallace provides convincing evidence to support this slant, but at times overstates the case, as she does Smith's hostility to feminism. Smith often said she hoped that her success would inspire other women, yet she refused to call herself a feminist or work with feminist groups. To call her a "professional anti\feminist," though, seems an exaggeration. Smith cosponsored the Equal Rights Amendment at one point and throughout her career fought to improve women's access to military jobs and service. Wallace also examines Smith's close connection to William Lewis, her longtime aide and speechwriter. Lewis and Smith shared a house and spent all their time together, leading to speculation that they were lovers; the truth of this has never been established, and Wallace judiciously leaves the question open. Though at times her tone is too judgmental, Wallace has done sound research and has an admirably skeptical approach to evidence. (Kirkus Reviews)

Margaret Chase Smith was the most influential woman in the history of American politics. Her goal was to be a United States senator, not a woman senator, and she succeeded by overcoming gender, not by championing it. Smith began her political career as Maine's daughter and demonstrated nationally the New England virtues of honesty, hard work, frugality, and reticence. She became America's heroine when she courageously confronted Senator Joe McCarthy at the height of his power with her Declaration of Conscience speech. In her statement she championed the American right to criticize, to hold unpopular beliefs, and to practice free speech. Associating herself with the politics of conscience, Smith won three more terms in the Senate and sat on the powerful Armed Services, Appropriations, Space, Government Operations, and Intelligence committees. Altogether, she was in Congress 32 years and by the time her career ended she had established an enduring prototype for female and minority politicians. This biography of Margaret Chase Smith is the first historical treatment of Smith to use her voluminous private papers as well as extensive interviews with Smith and her colleagues in Congress. As Maine's daughter, Smith was frugal, hard-working, reticent, and caustic. At age thirty-two she married, in scandal, state-politician Clyde Smith with whom she had been involved since she was sixteen and who was twenty-one years her senior. Smith came to Washington when Clyde was elected to Congress and, against his wishes, she became his secretary. When Clyde died in office in 1940, Smith played the widow's game and successfully ran for his seat. In the House during World War II, Smith sat on the powerful Naval Affairs Committee and, tutored by committee counsel Bill Lewis, developed a national constituency, the military, which in turn allowed her to better serve Maine's interests. Lewis directed Smith's first Senate campaign in 1948 when she won an upset victory by an astonishing margin. Overnight she became the darling of the Republican party, the heroine of women everywhere, and the only woman in the United States Senate. Immediately, she became embroiled with Joseph McCarthy and courageously confronted him with her Declaration of Conscience speech four years before a Senate majority censored him. Associating herself with politics of conscience, Smith was elected to three more terms and sat on the powerful Armed services, Appropriations, Space, Government Operations, and Intelligence committees. America's heroine was a political icon by the time she was defeated in 1972 at the age of seventy-four.

General

Imprint:	Praeger Publishers Inc
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	September 1995
First published:	September 1995
Authors:	Patricia Ward Wallace
Dimensions:	235 x 156 x 15mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	272
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-275-95130-6
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > General
LSN:	0-275-95130-8
Barcode:	9780275951306

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