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LINDY BOGGS: A DEMOCRAT FOR ALL SEASONS
Author(s) -
Haydel Judith,
Ferrell Thomas H.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
southeastern political review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 0730-2177
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.2000.tb00114.x
Subject(s) - democracy , politics , political science , public administration , political economy , law , gender studies , sociology
Lindy Boggs achieved a number of firsts in her political career. Most notably, she was the first woman elected to the House of Representatives from Louisiana, as well as the first woman and first southerner to serve as ambassador to the Holy See. The keys to understanding her career are her family background, her Catholicism, and her relations with the various factions of the Democratic Party. This analysis examines the influences of these three variables on Boggs' career. It uses the pattern of Democratic factionalism identified by Nicol C. Rae to argue that Boggs was effective and influential among her Democratic congressional colleagues at least partially because she possessed characteristics of all of the party's major factional groups.