Helen Gahagan Douglas
Helen Gahagan Douglas | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 14th district | |
In office January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1951 | |
Preceded by | Thomas F. Ford |
Succeeded by | Sam Yorty |
Personal details | |
Born | Helen Mary Gahagan November 25, 1900 Boonton, New Jersey, U.S. |
Died | June 28, 1980 New York City, U.S. | (aged 79)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Parents |
|
Alma mater | Barnard College (did not graduate) |
Occupation |
|
Helen Gahagan Douglas (born Helen Mary Gahagan; November 25, 1900 – June 28, 1980) was an American actress and
In politics, she was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California; her election made California one of the first two states (along with Illinois) to elect female members to the House from both parties. In the 1950 United States Senate election in California, she unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate, losing to Republican Richard Nixon. The campaign became symbolic of modern political vitriol, as both Gahagan's primary opponent Manchester Boddy and Nixon referred to her as "pink right down to her underwear", suggesting Communist sympathies.
She was married to fellow actor Melvyn Douglas, and they had two children, Peter and Mary.[1]
Early life
Helen Mary Gahagan was born in
Gahagan gained admittance to Barnard College of Columbia University, class of 1924.[9] To the dismay and shock of her father she left after two years, without finishing her degree, to pursue an acting career.[7]
Acting career
Gahagan found great success and became a well known star on
In 1927, at the age of 26, Gahagan set out to forge a new career as an opera singer, and, after two years of voice lessons, she found herself touring across Europe and receiving critical praise, unusual for an American at the time.[6] In 1930, she returned to Broadway to star in a production of Tonight or Never, where she co-starred with actor Melvyn Douglas.[11] The two married in 1931, Gahagan keeping her maiden name.[6][12]
Gahagan Douglas went to Los Angeles in 1935, starring in the
While in Vienna in 1938, performing in opera (which was a dream come true for Gahagan Douglas), she found herself having coffee with a Nazi sympathizer. The experience sickened her to such a degree that she immediately flew back to Los Angeles, determined to fight Nazism publicly.[16]
Political career
Introduced to politics by her husband,[6] Gahagan Douglas joined the Democratic Party shortly after the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. The Roosevelts and the Douglases would develop a close friendship,[17] with Eleanor Roosevelt serving as a political mentor to Gahagan Douglas.
She largely disliked the atmosphere of Hollywood; following the birth of her daughter, Mary Helen, in 1938, Gahagan Douglas took to learning about the plight of
Appointments and activities
The Douglases joined the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League; in 1939, they joined others in calling for a United States boycott against goods produced in Nazi Germany.[6][19]
Gahagan Douglas was a member of the national advisory committee of the
In 1946, she was among those honored by the National Association of Colored Women for her role in interracial cooperation for advancing race and gender equality. Douglas had been a colleague of the organization's founder, Mary McLeod Bethune, on the National Youth Administration.[22]
House of Representatives
In 1943,
Her love affair with Lyndon B. Johnson was an open secret on Capitol Hill.[27]
1950 campaign for U.S. Senate
In 1950, Gahagan Douglas ran for the
Fellow Representative John F. Kennedy quietly donated money to Nixon's campaign against Gahagan Douglas, the two sharing similar views on the threat of communism.[29][30][18]
In the primary race, Boddy had referred to Gahagan Douglas as "the Pink Lady" and said that she was "pink right down to her underwear", a suggestion that she sympathized with the Soviet Union. During the general election, Nixon reprised Boddy's line of attack. Nixon's campaign manager, Murray Chotiner, had 500,000 flyers printed on sheets of pink paper. Chotiner explained, "The purpose of an election is not to defeat your opponent, but to destroy him."[31]
In a race that was remembered as one of the most vicious in California political history, Nixon's charges were intentionally directed towards the
Nixon won the election with more than 59% of the vote, and Gahagan Douglas's political career came to an end, but she remained an activist, continuing to advocate for the
Douglas would later say that Nixon's harsh campaign tactics were "completely unnecessary" and that she was probably going to lose the election anyway. Young, Republican-inclined voters in the state could feel a closer personal connection to Nixon, a thirty-something man with a young family much like themselves.They perceived her as too liberal and stuck in the New Deal era.[33] Further, money from oil companies was pouring into the state to tilt the balance in favor of Nixon.[34]
Later life
It was rumored that Douglas would have been given a political appointment in the Truman administration, but that the Nixon–Douglas race had made such an appointment too controversial for Truman.[35] Democratic National Committee vice-chair India Edwards, a Douglas supporter, remarked that Douglas could not have been appointed dogcatcher.[36]
She returned to acting in 1952,[18] and later campaigned for John F. Kennedy, who ran successfully against Nixon in the 1960 presidential race.[35]
Gahagan Douglas was mentioned in the 1965 song "George Murphy" by satirist Tom Lehrer. The song begins, "Hollywood's often tried to mix / show business with politics / from Helen Gahagan / to Ronald Reagan ..."
Kennedy's successor Lyndon Johnson appointed her to be "Special Ambassador" to the inauguration of Liberian President William Tubman.[37] However, Douglas's subsequent opposition to the Vietnam War angered Johnson, estranging him from her.[38] She also campaigned for George McGovern in his unsuccessful bid to prevent Nixon's 1972 re-election, and she called for Nixon's removal from office during the Watergate scandal.[39]
During and after the Watergate scandal, bumper stickers featuring the legend "Don't blame me, I voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas" cropped up on cars in California.[40] In October 1973, Gahagan Douglas was among the first women featured on the cover of Ms. magazine.[12][41] At its 1979 commencement ceremonies, Barnard College awarded Gahagan Douglas its highest honor, the Barnard Medal of Distinction. She died the following year from breast and lung cancer, with her husband Melvyn by her side.[10]
Legacy
Senator Alan Cranston of California eulogized her on the floor of the Senate, on August 5, 1980, saying, "I believe Helen Gahagan Douglas was one of the grandest, most eloquent, deepest-thinking people we have had in American politics. She stands among the best of our 20th-century leaders, rivaling even Eleanor Roosevelt in stature, compassion and simple greatness."[42]
A collection of Helen Gahagan Douglas's papers spanning her life and career are held by the Carl Albert Center.[43]
Electoral history
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic
|
Helen Gahagan Douglas | 65,729 | 51.6 | |
Republican
|
William D. Campbell | 61,767 | 48.4 | |
Total votes | 127,496 | 100.0 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Democratic hold
|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic
|
Helen Gahagan Douglas (Incumbent) | 53,536 | 54.4 | |
Republican
|
Frederick M. Roberts | 44,914 | 45.6 | |
Total votes | 98,450 | 100.0 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Democratic hold
|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic
|
Helen Gahagan Douglas (Incumbent) | 89,581 | 65.3 | |
Republican
|
W. Wallace Braden | 44,611 | 32.5 | |
Progressive
|
Sidney Moore | 2,904 | 2.2 | |
Total votes | 137,096 | 100.0 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Democratic hold
|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Richard Nixon | 2,183,454 | 59.23 | |||
Democratic | Helen Gahagan Douglas | 1,502,507 | 40.76 | |||
Write-ins | 334 | 0.01 | ||||
Total votes | 3,686,315 | 100.00 | ||||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | 73.32 | ||||
Republican gain from Democratic |
See also
References
- ^ "Helen Gahagan Douglas". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1980-06-28. Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- ^ a b Asbury, Edith Evans (June 29, 1980). "HELEN GAHAGAN DOUGLAS DIES AT 79; ACTRESS LOST TO NIXON IN SENATE RACE". The New York Times. New York. p. 20.
- ISBN 9780684808529.
- ^ a b Denton, Sally. The Pink Lady: The Many Lives of Helen Gahagan Douglas, Bloomsbury Press (2009), p. 9
- ISBN 0-679-41621-8. Archivedfrom the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- ^ a b c d e f barnardarchives (2002-08-13). "Helen Gahagan Douglas". Barnard Archives And Special Collections. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- ^ a b "DOUGLAS, Helen Gahagan | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Archived from the original on 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- ^ Archives, Barnard; Collections, Special (2002-08-13). "Helen Gahagan Douglas". Barnard Archives And Special Collections. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ "Commencement Archives | Barnard College". barnard.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
- ^ from the original on 2019-01-01. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-7685-5.
- ^ a b c d e f Willens, Michele (2022-06-21). "Helen Gahagan Douglas is Especially Relevant Today". NextTribe. Archived from the original on 2022-11-05. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
- ^ "The Wonderful World of WALT: Walt Disney and the Villain | Disney Insider". Blogs.disney.com. 3 September 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ "Disney Villains: Queen". Disney.go.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ "D23′s Dateline Disney: 1935 (Evil Queen) « Disney D23". D23.disney.go.com. December 10, 2012. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Denton, Sally (2009). The Pink Lady: The Many Lives of Helen Gahagan Douglas. Bloomsbury Press. p. 52.
- ^ Boomer, Lee. "Life Story: Helen Gahagan Douglas". Women & the American Story. Archived from the original on 2022-11-05. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
- ^ a b c d e f Gilmore, Nicholas (2020-11-25). "The Would-Be First Madam President, Betrayed by Her Own Party". The Saturday Evening Post. Archived from the original on 2022-11-05. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
- ^ "Document, Declaration of Democratic Independence, circa 1939". digital-collections.csun.edu. Archived from the original on 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- ^ a b Longworth, Karina (2016-04-14). "The Hollywood Actress Who Lost a Senate Seat to Richard Nixon". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
- ^ a b "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". bioguide.congress.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-09-17. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- OCLC 1135569243.
- ^ "Gahagan speech 1944-07-20: Freedom Cannot Be Inherited "We Are the Conservative Party"". www.ibiblio.org. Archived from the original on 2022-11-05. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
- ^ Senator Alan Cranston speaking of Gahagan Douglas on the Senate floor on August 5th 1980; in the Congressional record
- ^ There Has Never Been A ‘Timber War’ humboldt.edu. Archived 2022-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Park Resolution Goes To Congress Archived 2020-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master of the Senate(2002) p. 144.
- ^ Kurz, Kenneth Franklin, Nixon's Enemies, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, 1998, p. 104.
- Stephen Ambrose, Nixon: The education of a politician, 1913–1962 (1987) pp. 210-211
- ISSN 0027-8378. Archived from the originalon 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- ^ from the original on 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- ^ Mitchell, Gregory (1998-01-01). "Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady: Richard Nixon vs. Helen Gahagan Douglas--Sexual Politics and the Red Scare, 1950". The New York Times. On the web. Archived from the original on 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2019-09-04.
- ^ Tanenhaus, Sam (1 February 1998). "Mud Wrestling". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
- ISBN 0394503813.
- ^ ISBN 0-8050-1834-4. Archivedfrom the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2009..
- ISBN 0-679-41621-8.
- ^ "DOUGLAS, Helen Gahagan | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". Archived from the original on 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- ^ Mallon, Thomas (8 January 2010). "Book Review | 'The Pink Lady: The Many Lives of Helen Gahagan Douglas,' by Sally Denton". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
- ^ Mitchell (1998), p. 258.
- from the original on 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
- ^ Douglas, Illeana. "She coined the phrase "Tricky Dick" and caused the catch phrase," Don't Blame Me I Voted For Helen Gahagan Douglas "". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
- ^ Congressional records
- ^ "Helen Gahagan Douglas Collection, 1922–1980 | Carl Albert Center Congressional and Political Collections". cacarchives.ou.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-11. [permanent dead link]
- ^ "1944 election results" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-06-13. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
- ^ "1946 election results" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-05-10. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
- ^ "1948 election results" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
- ^ Jordan & November 7, 1950, p. 11.
- ^ Graf 1951, p. 2.
Works cited
- Jordan, Frank (November 7, 1950). "General Election, November 7, 1950". State of California Statement of Vote. California State Printing Office.
- Graf, William (1951). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1950" (PDF). United States Government Printing Office. p. 2. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
Further reading
- Denton, Sally (2012). The Pink Lady: The Many Lives of Helen Gahagan Douglas. Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 978-1-60819-100-0.
- Mitchell, Greg (1998). Tricky Dick & the Pink Lady: Richard Nixon vs Helen Gahagan Douglas-Sexual Politics & the Red Scare, 1950. Random House. ISBN 0-679-41621-8.
- Scobie, Ingrid Winther (1995). Center Stage: Helen Gahagan Douglas. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-2195-5. – by a history professor
- Van Ingen, Linda (2012). "'If We Can Nominate Her, She is a Cinch to Elect': Helen Gahagan Douglas and the Gendered Politics of Accommodation, 1940–1944". Journal of Women's History. 24 (3): 140–63. S2CID 201749340.
Primary sources
- Douglas, Helen Gahagan (1982). A Full Life. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385110457. autobiography
External links
- United States Congress. "Helen Gahagan Douglas (id: D000454)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Women in Congress
- Biographical Sketch of Helen Gahagan Douglas Archived 2013-05-24 at the Wayback Machine at the Carl Albert Center
- Helen Gahagan Douglas Collection and Photograph Collection at the Carl Albert Center
- Helen Gahagan at IMDb