⌠PARA ∞PAR@ ` |TEXT ` nSmith, Margaret Chase1897╨public officialBorn in Skowhegan, Maine, on December 14, 1897, Margaret Madeline Chase attended local public schools and after graduating from high school in 1916 taught school briefly and held a series of other jobs. During 1926╨1928 she served as president of the Maine Federation of Business and Professional Women╒s Clubs. In May 1930 she married Clyde H. Smith, a local political figure and co-owner of the Skowhegan Independent Reporter, for which she had earlier worked. From 1930 to 1936 she was a member of the state Republican committee, and after her husband╒s election to Congress in 1936 she worked as his secretary. He died in April 1940, and two months later she was chosen in a special election to complete his term. Almost immediately she displayed the independent judgment that became characteristic of her political career by breaking with her Republican colleagues to vote in favor of the Selective Service Act in September. In that month she was elected to a full term in Congress, and she was returned to her seat three more times. During her eight years in the House of Representatives Smith served on the Naval Affairs Committee and later on the Armed Services Committee and concerned herself particularly with the status of women in the armed forces. She played a major role in the passage of the Women╒s Armed Services Integration Act of June 1948 that gave women equal pay, rank, and privileges. In 1948 she ran successfully for a seat in the Senate, winning it by a record plurality in Maine. In service on the Armed Forces, Appropriations, Government Operations, and Rules committees, among others, she quickly established herself as an outspoken legislator of high integrity and considerable influence. She was generally liberal on domestic issues and a strong supporter of national defense and security. She was an early opponent of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, at a time when the majority of her Republican colleagues still considered him a great asset to the party. Reelected by large majorities in 1954, 1960, and 1966, she served in the Senate longer than any other woman. She received several votes for the presidential nomination at the 1964 Republican National Convention. Her defeat for reelection in 1972 by Rep. William V. Hathaway turned mainly on the question of her age and health; she had campaigned little. Among her many honors were several citations as woman of the year and the Newsweek magazine press poll rating as Most Valuable Senator for 1960. In 1968 she published Gallant Women, biographies of twelve Americans for young readers, with H. Paul Jeffers, and in 1972 she published Declaration of Conscience, on the United States government. From 1973 she served as visiting professor at many universities, as chair of the board of Freedom House, New York City, from 1970 to 1977, and as a director of the Lilly Endowment. Nstyl ` ! ¬ 5¬ 5¬ - !I ╞ !I ┌ !I D 5¬ E !I a 5¬ b !I ¼ !I ╡ !I
