Boggs, Lindy, 1916-2013

Marie Corinne Morrison "Lindy" Claiborne Boggs (March 13, 1916 – July 27, 2013) was a United States politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as United States Ambassador to the Holy See. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana. She was also a permanent chairwoman of the 1976 Democratic National Convention, which met in New York City to nominate the Carter-Mondale ticket. She was the first woman to preside over a major party convention.

Born Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, she was educated by a series of private tutors before graduating from Newcomb College, the women's college at Tulane University in New Orleans in 1935. A history and education major, she was an editor of the student newspaper, and in that capacity met her future husband, Hale Boggs, who was then the paper’s general editor. She married Boggs on January 22, 1938, a short time before he graduated from law school. After Hale Boggs embarked on his political career, Lindy Boggs served as his chief political adviser. She set up her husband’s district office in New Orleans, orchestrated his re-election campaigns, canvassed voters, arranged for her husband’s many social gatherings, and often acted as his political surrogate as demands on his time became greater the further he climbed in the House leadership.

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