PATRICIA SCHROEDER
Name: Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder
Born: 30 July 1940 Portland, Oregon
Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder, popularly known as Pat Schroeder (born July 30,
1940), American politician, was a Democratic member of the United States House
of Representatives from Colorado, serving from 1973 to 1997. She was the first
woman elected to Congress from Colorado.
Born in Portland, Oregon, she moved to Des Moines, Iowa with her family as a
child. After graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1958 she left Des Moines
and attended the University of Minnesota where she served as a student senator,
before getting a law degree from Harvard University in 1964. Moving to Denver,
Colorado, she worked for the National Labor Relations Board from 1964 to 1966.
She later worked for Planned Parenthood and taught in Denver's public schools.
In 1972, she won election for Congress in Colorado's first district, based in
Denver, over freshman Republican incumbent James McKevitt. McKevitt, previously
the Denver district attorney, had been the first Republican to represent the
district, regarded as the most Democratic in the Rockies, since Dean M.
Gillespie in 1947. Schroeder won by just over 8,000 votes, but was re-elected
eleven times without a contest nearly as close.
While in Congress, she became the first woman to serve on the House Armed
Services Committee, and was a prime mover behind the Family and Medical Leave
Act. She ran for President of the United States in 1988, before announcing her
withdrawal in an emotional press conference on September 28, 1987. She was
lampooned on Saturday Night Live by Nora Dunn, acting as Schroeder, repeatedly
bursting into tears while moderating a Democratic primary debate.
She is perhaps best known, however, for saying, of Ronald Reagan, "He's just
like a Teflon frying pan: Nothing sticks to him." The characterization "Teflon
President" has entered the American political lexicon.[citation needed] She did
not seek a thirteenth term in 1996, and was succeeded by state house minority
whip Diana DeGette, a fellow Democrat.
Schroeder was named president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers
in 1997. She has been a vocal proponent of stronger copyright law, opposing
attempts like Eldred v. Ashcroft to put limits on copyright length and Google's
plan to digitize books and post limited content online. She has publicly
criticized libraries for distributing electronic content without compensation to
publishers, writers and others in the publishing industry, telling the
Washington Post "They aren't rich...they have mortgages." At the same time,
she has tried to make the publishing industry more socially responsible,
cooperating with organizations for the blind and others with reading
difficulties to help make materials more accessible to them, particularly by
encouraging publishers to release books so that nonprofit groups can transfer
them to electronic formats. She has also sat on the panel of judges for the PEN/Newman's
Own Award, a $25,000 award designed to recognize the protection of free speech
as it applies to the written word.
Schroeder recently stirred some controversy when she referred to liberals as
those reading more books than conservatives. Her statement was relatively
unflattering about conservative readers in her explanation: "The Karl Roves of
the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: 'No, don't
raise my taxes, no new taxes,'" she said in a recent interview. "It's pretty
hard to write a book saying, 'No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes' on every
page." Schroeder was commenting on an Associated Press-Ipsos poll that found
people who consider themselves liberals are more prodigious book readers than
conservatives.
She said liberals tend to be policy wonks who "can't say anything in less than
paragraphs. We really want the whole picture, want to peel the onion."
Name: Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder
Born: 30 July 1940 Portland, Oregon
Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder, popularly known as Pat Schroeder (born July 30,
1940), American politician, was a Democratic member of the United States House
of Representatives from Colorado, serving from 1973 to 1997. She was the first
woman elected to Congress from Colorado.
Born in Portland, Oregon, she moved to Des Moines, Iowa with her family as a
child. After graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1958 she left Des Moines
and attended the University of Minnesota where she served as a student senator,
before getting a law degree from Harvard University in 1964. Moving to Denver,
Colorado, she worked for the National Labor Relations Board from 1964 to 1966.
She later worked for Planned Parenthood and taught in Denver's public schools.
In 1972, she won election for Congress in Colorado's first district, based in
Denver, over freshman Republican incumbent James McKevitt. McKevitt, previously
the Denver district attorney, had been the first Republican to represent the
district, regarded as the most Democratic in the Rockies, since Dean M.
Gillespie in 1947. Schroeder won by just over 8,000 votes, but was re-elected
eleven times without a contest nearly as close.
While in Congress, she became the first woman to serve on the House Armed
Services Committee, and was a prime mover behind the Family and Medical Leave
Act. She ran for President of the United States in 1988, before announcing her
withdrawal in an emotional press conference on September 28, 1987. She was
lampooned on Saturday Night Live by Nora Dunn, acting as Schroeder, repeatedly
bursting into tears while moderating a Democratic primary debate.
She is perhaps best known, however, for saying, of Ronald Reagan, "He's just
like a Teflon frying pan: Nothing sticks to him." The characterization "Teflon
President" has entered the American political lexicon.[citation needed] She did
not seek a thirteenth term in 1996, and was succeeded by state house minority
whip Diana DeGette, a fellow Democrat.
Schroeder was named president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers
in 1997. She has been a vocal proponent of stronger copyright law, opposing
attempts like Eldred v. Ashcroft to put limits on copyright length and Google's
plan to digitize books and post limited content online. She has publicly
criticized libraries for distributing electronic content without compensation to
publishers, writers and others in the publishing industry, telling the
Washington Post "They aren't rich...they have mortgages." At the same time,
she has tried to make the publishing industry more socially responsible,
cooperating with organizations for the blind and others with reading
difficulties to help make materials more accessible to them, particularly by
encouraging publishers to release books so that nonprofit groups can transfer
them to electronic formats. She has also sat on the panel of judges for the PEN/Newman's
Own Award, a $25,000 award designed to recognize the protection of free speech
as it applies to the written word.
Schroeder recently stirred some controversy when she referred to liberals as
those reading more books than conservatives. Her statement was relatively
unflattering about conservative readers in her explanation: "The Karl Roves of
the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: 'No, don't
raise my taxes, no new taxes,'" she said in a recent interview. "It's pretty
hard to write a book saying, 'No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes' on every
page." Schroeder was commenting on an Associated Press-Ipsos poll that found
people who consider themselves liberals are more prodigious book readers than
conservatives.
She said liberals tend to be policy wonks who "can't say anything in less than
paragraphs. We really want the whole picture, want to peel the onion."