Lindy Boggs

When former Rep. Lindy Boggs (D-La.) won a special election in 1973 to represent Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District, the circumstances were far from ideal.

Months earlier, her husband, former House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-La.), had been declared dead after his plane vanished over Alaska. At the urging of Democratic leaders in Louisiana, Lindy made a run for his seat and won, becoming the first woman to represent Louisiana in the House.

Despite the circumstances that led to her election, Lindy Boggs was uniquely prepared for life on Capitol Hill. She had served for years as a political strategist and confidant to her husband, and entered Congress already having developed personal relationships with many of her fellow lawmakers.

During her nearly 18 years in the House, she earned a reputation as a champion of women’s rights, pushing to expand economic opportunities for women, including equal pay in government jobs. 

In 1997, six years after she left Congress and at the age of 81, she was named ambassador to the Vatican by President Clinton, a post she would serve in for the next three years and into the first months of the George W. Bush administration. 

Boggs died in 2013 at the age of 97. 

— Max Greenwood