Heckler, Margaret

Margaret Mary Heckler was born Margaret Mary O'Shaughnessy on June 21, 1931, in Flushing, New York. Her undergraduate studies began at the University of Leiden in Holland in 1952. She received a B.A. from Albertus Magnus College in 1953 and a LL.B. from Boston College Law School in 1956 and was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts. She was editor of the Annual Survey of Massachusetts Law. She married John Heckler and they divorced in 1984. From 1962 to 1966, Heckler served as an elected Governor's councilor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1964 and 1968 and elected as a Republican to the Ninetieth through the Ninety-Seventh Congresses as a representative from Massachusetts, serving from January 3, 1967 to January 3, 1983. She won her first term in 1966 by defeating incumbent Republican Joseph W. Martin, Jr., in the primary. She was defeated in the 1982 congressional election by freshman Democratic Rep. Barney Frank. In 1978, she launched and became co-chair of the Congresswoman's Caucus, a bipartisan group of 14 members focused on equality for women in Social Security, tax laws, and related areas. She was also an outspoken advocate for and co-sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment. She served as Secretary of Health and Human Services from March 9, 1983 to December 13, 1985. As Secretary, she presided over staffing cuts in the department as part of the administration's spending reductions and was a dispatched as a frequent spokesperson on a wide array of public health issues, including the then-emerging AIDS crisis. She also encouraged President Reagan to support an AIDS awareness initiative, new child support standards, and softer standards for Social Security disability requirements. She was confirmed as Ambassador to Ireland on December 17, 1985 and served until August 1989. While Ambassador, she was credited as the driving force behind a $120 million U.S. grant to the International Fund for Ireland, an economic development organization.