Pat Schroeder
Schroeder in 1993
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromColorado's1st district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Mike McKevitt
Succeeded by	Diana DeGette
Personal details
Born	Patricia Nell Scott (1940-07-30)July 30, 1940 Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Died	March 13, 2023(2023-03-13) (aged 82) Celebration, Florida, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	James Schroeder ​ (m. 1962)​
Children	2
Education	University of Minnesota (BA) Harvard University (JD)

Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder (July 30, 1940 – March 13, 2023) was an American politician who representedColorado's 1st congressional district in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997. A member of theDemocratic Party, Schroeder was the first female U.S. Representative elected from Colorado and ran for president in1988.

Patricia Nell Scott was born on July 30, 1940, inPortland, Oregon, the daughter of Bernice (Scott), a first-grade teacher, and Lee Combs Scott, a pilot who owned an aviation insurance company.^[1] She moved toDes Moines, Iowa, with her family as a child, and earned her airman certificate when she was fifteen.^[2] After graduating fromTheodore Roosevelt High School in 1958, she left Des Moines and attended theUniversity of Minnesota, where she majored in history.^[2] Schroeder was a member ofChi Omega sorority. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1961 and earned aJuris Doctor fromHarvard Law School in 1964.^[3]

On August 18, 1962, she married Jim Schroeder, a Harvard Law School classmate, and moved toDenver, Colorado, where Jim joined a law firm. They had two children, Scott William (born 1966) and Jamie Christine (born 1970).^[4][5] Schroeder worked for theNational Labor Relations Board from 1964 to 1966. She worked forPlanned Parenthood as a legal counsel, and taught in Denver's public schools.^[6]

In 1970, Schroeder's husband Jim ran for a seat in theColorado General Assembly and lost by only 42 votes. In the same election, 20-year Democratic incumbentByron Rogers ofColorado's 1st congressional district, based in Denver, lost a primary challenge to more liberal Craig Barnes, and RepublicanMike McKevitt won the general election. Ahead of the 1972 election, Jim had asked a man who had declined to run for Congress if his wife would run, to which the man had asked him back: "What about yours?" While intended as an unserious comment, it convinced Schroeder to consider a political career, and she decided to run for the seat on a platform of opposition to theVietnam War.^[4][7][8]

Considered a long-shot candidate, Schroeder received no support from theDemocratic National Committee and women's groups. Nevertheless, with overconfident McKevitt staying in Washington until the last week of the campaign, Schroeder's message of war, environment, and childcare led to her winning by just over 8,000 votes amidRichard Nixon's massive landslide that year.^[4] At age 32, Schroeder was the second youngest woman ever elected to Congress.^[9] McKevitt, previously the DenverDistrict Attorney, had been the firstRepublican to represent the district, regarded as the most Democratic in theRockies, sinceDean M. Gillespie in 1947. However, the district reverted to form, and she was elected 11 more times. She only faced one remotely close contest after her initial run, when she was held to 53 percent of the vote—the only time she would drop below 58 percent.

In 1984, Schroeder was mentioned as a possible running mate for former Vice PresidentWalter Mondale,^[10] but the nomination went to Rep.Geraldine Ferraro of New York, who had half Schroeder's tenure in the House.

Years later, Schroeder submitted aFreedom of Information Act request for herFBI file and discovered that she and her staff had been under surveillance during her first congressional campaign. She learned that the FBI had recruited her husband's barber as an informant, and paid a man named Timothy Redfern to break into her home and steal "such all-important secret documents as my dues statement from theLeague of Women Voters and one of my campaign buttons", demonstrating to her "how paranoidJ. Edgar Hoover and his agency were."^[11]

While in Congress, she became the first woman to serve on theHouse Armed Services Committee,^[12] where she advocated for arms control and reduced military spending.^[2] She was also a member of the originalSelect Committee on Children, Youth, and Families that was established in 1983.^[13] Schroeder was known during her early tenure in Congress for balancing her congressional work with motherhood, even bringing diapers to the floor of Congress.^[12] Her advocacy on work-family issues led Schroeder to become a prime mover behind theFamily and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the 1985 Military Family Act.^[12] Schroeder was also involved in reform of Congress itself, working to weaken the long-standing control of committees by their chairs,^[12] sparring with SpeakerCarl Albert over congressional "hideaways",^[14] and questioning why Congress members who lived in their offices should not be taxed for the benefit.^[15]

Schroeder styled herself as a "fiscally conservative liberal". In 1981, she voted against Reagan's tax cuts, as she thought the country could not afford it; she was against the 1986 tax-reform bill, favoring more progressive rates. In 1986 she had a 95% rating fromAmericans For Democratic Action and was also ranked by theNational Taxpayers Union as more fiscally conservative thanJack Kemp. In 1989, Schroeder voted againstGeorge H. W. Bush's administration more than any House member (79 percent), and often did not vote with fellow Democrats on "party unity" votes.^[4][5][16]

The Washington Post remarked that Schroeder was "known for her barbed wit", and many of her comments and quips were singled out for media attention during her career.^[6] She recalls that "John Wayne gave me a silver cigarette lighter during the Vietnam War that said 'Fuck Communism' on it. I didn't know how to do that. I still don't."^[17] She coined the phrase "Teflon President" to describeRonald Reagan and his popularity even amid scandal; the idea came to her when she was frying eggs in aTeflon pan.^[18] AuthorRebecca Traister has recalled that Schroeder responded to concerns about balancing political life with motherhood by saying "I have a brain and a uterus, and they both work."^[19] In a 1995 exchange, after Rep.Duke Cunningham told Rep.Bernie Sanders to "sit down, you socialist", during a debate in which Sanders and Schroeder both objected tohomophobic comments Cunningham made, Schroeder asked, "Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman—do we have to call the Gentleman a gentleman if he's not one?"^[20]

She chaired the1988 presidential campaign ofGary Hart in 1987 until his withdrawal, at which point she strongly considered entering the race, before announcing she would not in a tearful press conference on September 29, 1987.^[21] Schroeder's emotional demeanor sparked backlash from across the political spectrum, with conservatives dismissing her behavior, and feminist commentators feeling it made women politicians look less serious.^[2] In 2007, twenty years later, Schroeder said that she still received hate mail about the press conference, mostly from women, and said that it exposed adouble standard for men and women in politics. She remarked, "Guys have been tearing up all along and people think it's marvelous", she said, citing episodes dating back toRonald Reagan; but for female candidates, it remains off-limits.^[22]

In 1989, she wrote a book titledChampion of the Great American Family: A Personal and Political Book that discussed her own personal story and legislative efforts to enact policy on family issues such as parental leave, child care, family economics, and family planning.^[23]

Schroeder did not seek re-election in 1996, citing dissatisfaction with the House's Republican majority.^[6] She was succeeded by Colorado state house minority whipDiana DeGette, a fellow Democrat. In her farewell press conference, she joked about "spending 24 years in a federal institution",^[14] and titled her 1998 memoir,24 Years of House Work...and the Place Is Still a Mess.^[3]

Schroeder was named president and CEO of theAssociation of American Publishers in 1997 and served in that post for 11 years.^[24] She advocated for strongercopyright laws, supporting the government inEldred v. Ashcroft, and opposing Google's plan to digitize books and post limited content online.^[2] She also criticized libraries for distributing electronic content without compensation to publishers, writers, and others in the publishing industry, tellingThe Washington Post, "They aren't rich ... they have mortgages."^[25] She was a member of the National Leadership Advisory Group for Braille Literacy, encouraging publishers to make books more accessible to blind people and people with other reading difficulties.^[26] She also sat on the panel of judges for thePEN / Newman's Own Award.^[27]

Schroeder narrated a children's story, "The House that Went on Strike", which was released as a smartphone app in 2012.^[28] She wrote about her experience narrating the story and offered her perspective about kids book apps in a July 24, 2012, column inThe Huffington Post.^[29] Additionally, Schroeder and the book were featured in a profile onWired.^[30]

Following her tenure at AAP, Schroeder and her husband relocated toCelebration, Florida, amaster-planned community built bythe Walt Disney Company. She was an acquaintance of former Disney CEOMichael Eisner, who helped facilitate the move.^[24] In 2010, the city was within the state's8th congressional district, and Schroeder endorsed Democratic Rep.Alan Grayson for re-election to Congress, citing his stance on women's issues.^[31] Grayson lost his re-election campaign. She subsequently endorsed him again ahead of the 2012 congressional elections. Grayson won that re-election campaign.

Schroeder sat on the board of theLeague of Women Voters of Florida. She was also a supporter of theCampaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organization which advocates for democratic reformation of the United Nations.^[32]

On March 13, 2023, Schroeder died from complications of a stroke at a hospital in Celebration, Florida, at age 82.^[6] She once quipped that she wanted a brick to be made from her cremated remains to hold doors open for other women,^[33] but her remains were interred at the historicCongressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.^[34]

In 1979, theSupersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Schroeder's name and picture.^[35]

Schroeder was inducted into theColorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985.^[36] She was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.^[37]

In 1988, Schroeder was parodied in aSaturday Night Live skit in which she was portrayed byNora Dunn as the moderator of a Republican Primary debate. At the start of the skit the character makes a humorous reference to Schroeder's tearful withdrawal as a Democratic candidate for president in 1987. Along with Dunn in the skit wereDana Carvey (portrayingGeorge Bush),Dan Aykroyd (Bob Dole),Phil Hartman (Jack Kemp),Al Franken (Pat Robertson) andKevin Nealon (Pete du Pont).^[38][39]

During the 1995 budget debates, after Democrats claimed thatSocial Security payments would leave seniors with no choice but to eat dog food,Rush Limbaugh said in jest that he was going to get his mother a can opener. Schroeder denounced Limbaugh's remark on the floor of the House.^[40][41]

Schroeder contributed the piece "Running for Our Lives: Electoral Politics" to the 2003 anthologySisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited byRobin Morgan.^[42]

She was honored by theNational Research Center for Women & Families in 2006 for her lifetime of achievements with a Foremother Award.^[43]

She was elected to theCommon Cause National Governing Board in 2010.

In April 2015, the visitor center at theRocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge was named in honor of Schroeder for her relentless work in Congress investigating theRocky Mountain Arsenal's nerve gas stores and fighting for their clean-up.^[44][45]

Schroeder was portrayed by Jan Radcliff in the 2016HBO filmConfirmation.^[46][47]

• Schroeder, Pat.24 Years of Housework...and the Place Is Still a Mess: My Life in Politics. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1998.
• Schroeder, Pat. (with Andrea Camp and Robyn Lipner)Champion of the Great American Family: A Personal and Political Book. New York: Random House, 1989.

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

• Biography maintained by the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Lowy, Joan A.,Pat Schroeder: a woman of the House (University of New Mexico Press, 2003),ISBN 978-0-8263-3098-7
• The Association of American Publishers^{[permanent dead link]}

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1940 births
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• 20th-century American memoirists
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• Women in Colorado politics

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