MINNESOTANS MOURNED THE DEATH OF FORMER VIKINGS COACH AND UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA GRADUATE BUD GRANT.
FOR THE NEXT FEW MINUTES, WE ARE GOING TO FOCUS ON THE PASSING THIS WEEK OF ANOTHER U OF M GRADUATE, A DEATH THAT GARNERED MUCH LESS COVERAGE.
FORMER COLORADO CONGRESSWOMAN PAT SCHROEDER WAS A GOPHER GRAD, CLASS OF 1961.
SHE WENT ON TO A PIONEERING CAREER IN CONGRESS AND CONSIDERED A RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN THE LATE '80S.
PAT SCHROEDER LEFT CONGRESS IN 1996 AND DIED MONDAY AT AGE 82.
HERE TO TALK ABOUT SCHROEDER'S LEGACY, KATHRYN PEARSON.
THE U OF M POLITICAL SCIENTIST IS AN EXPERT ON THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN POLITICS.
KATHRYN WAS ALSO A CONGRESSIONAL STAFFER WHEN SCHROEDER WAS THERE.
YOU DID NOT KNOW THAT.
SHE WAS ONE OF US?
>> YES, SHE MOVED ALL OVER AS A CHILD AND THEN SHE WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL AND IOWA AND SHE CAME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AS SHE GRADUATED AS A HISTORY MAJOR.
INTERESTINGLY, WHILE SHE WAS A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, SHE WROTE ABOUT THIS IN HER BOOK, 4 YEARS OF HOUSEWORK AND THE PLACE IS STILL A MESS.
IT'S A GREAT BOOK, VERY FUNNY, SHE WAS VERY FUNNY.
SHE WRITES ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, SHE LOVED BEING A HISTORY MAJOR, SHE WAS INVOLVED IN STUDENTS GOVERNMENT, AND SHE HAD A PILOT'S LICENSE AND SO SHE EARNED MONEY BY FLYING TO CRASH SITES AND SSESSING AVIATION LOSSES.
SO SHE GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, WENT TO HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, MET HER HUSBAND AND MOVED TO DENVER AND IN 1972, RAN FOR THE U.S. CONGRESS.
>> Eric: WHEN YOU ARRIVE IN THE U.S. HOUSE IN 1973 AS A WOMAN, I'M GUESSING IT WASN'T THE MOST WELCOMING PLACE.
>> IT WAS REALLY HOSTILE.
SO SHE WAS ONE OF 14 WOMEN DID THE.
TODAY THERE ARE 125, SO A TOTALLY DIFFERENT INSTITUTION AND, YOU KNOW, SHE WAS A LIBERAL DEMOCRAT AND DEMOCRATS GAVE HER A LOT OF PROBLEMS.
SO SHE WANTED TO BE ON THE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE BECAUSE THAT COMMITTEE HAS SO MUCH JURISDICTION OVER DISCRETIONARY SPENDING AND SHE KNEW THAT'S WHERE HE ACTION WAS SO SHE GOT HERSELF ON THE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF THE DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN, EBER, AND HE WAS ERY HOSTILE TO HER AND THIS IS QUITE A WELL-KNOWN STORY, FOR AN ENTIRE CONGRESS, HE HAD CONGRESSWOMAN SCHROEDER AND CONGRESSMAN RON DELMS, A SECOND-YEAR MEMBER OF CONGRESS, A BLACK MEMBER OF CONGRESS REPRESENTING BERKELEY SHARE A CHAIR BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANTS EITHER OF THEM ON HIS COMMITTEE, TO SHOW THEM HIS DISDAIN.
THERE WAS NO WOMEN'S BATHROOM NEAR THE FLOOR AND PLANE OF HER COLLEAGUES DID NOT TAKE HER SERIOUSLY, EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE 14 WOMEN, MANY OF THE OTHER WOMEN, NOT ALL, HAD BEEN ELECTED AFTER THE DEALT OF THEIR SPOUSE AND NO OTHERS HAD YOUNG CHILDREN AT THE TIME, WHICH SHE DID.
>> Cathy: WHAT KIND OF A LAWMAKER WAS SHE?
>> AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS ND SUCCESSFUL LAWMAKER.
SHE REALLY PRIORITIZED BOTH HER ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE WORK, EVERYTHING FROM WOMEN ENTERING MILITARY ACADEMIES TO ACTUALLY GETTING BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BILL.
VERY CONFIDENTIALLY.
AND SHE ALSO WAS ONE OF THE WOMEN WHO FOUNDED THE WOMEN'S CAUCUS IN 1975 AND THEN WENT ON TO CHAIR IT FROM 1980 TO 1994.
AND IN THAT CAPACITY, SHE WAS EXTREMELY ACTIVE ON WOMEN'S HEALTH ISSUES, HELPING TO GET WOMEN IN CLINICAL TRIALS, THE OFFICE OF WOMEN'S HEALTH AT INI.H., FIGHTING AGAINST PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION, PASSING LAWS AGAINST THAT, WORKING ON THE PAID MEDICAL LEAVE ACT.
SHE WAS VERY ACTIVE.
>> Eric: IN THE 1988 CAMPAIGN CYCLE, SHE CONSIDERS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, DECIDES NOT TO DO IT AND CRIES SOME VERY FAMOUS TEARS.
>> YES.
>> Eric: TELL US ABOUT THAT.
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, SHE WAS NOT A CRYER, SHE WAS EXTRAORDINARILY SHARP, EXTRAORDINARILY FUNNY.
SHE HAD AN ACERBIC WITNESS AND THIS WAS A MOMENT OF VULNERABILITY SHE DIDN'T OFTEN SHOW AND IT WAS A LONG SPEECH BUT THAT WAS WHAT WAS COVERED.
I THINK BACK IN 1987, WHEN SHE ENDED HER VERY SHORT BID, THERE WAS JUST NO WAY THAT IT IS COUNTRY WAS READY FOR A WOMAN TO BE A MAJOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
>> Cathy: SO THAT WAS THAT MUCH OF A BACKLASH THAT SHE CRIED?
>> YES.
U.S. AND OTHER WOMEN, WERE THEY SUPPORTIVE?
>> IT WAS MIXED, ACTUALLY, SHE RECOUNTS THAT MANY WOMEN IN AMERICA WERE ALSO NOT READY AT THE TIME FOR A WOMAN PRESIDENT.
>> Eric: SO THE ATMOSPHERE IS, YOU SAID DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT.
DO YOU GIVE HER SKOE MARKS FOR BEING A PIONEER IN THIS AREA -- >> ABSOLUTELY.
ABSOLUTELY.
SHE SETS AN EXAMPLE, SHE LED BY EXAMPLE, AS THE CHAIR OF THE WOMEN'S CAUCUS, SHE WAS VERY LEVEL TO OTHER WOMEN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND SHE WAS ALSO VERY GOOD TO HER STAFF AND REALLY HELPED DEVELOP AN EXCELLENT STAFF THAT MENTORED OTHER STAFF.
SO SHE WAS VERY SMARTS, VERY LEGISLATIVELY ACTIVE, VERY FUNNY, A FIERCE PARTISAN, FROM ATTACKING PRESIDENT REAGAN, NIXON, FORMER SPEECH SNOUT GINGRICH SHE HAD A LOT OF ONE-LINERS BUT SHE PAVED THE WAY FOR WOMEN CANDIDATES, A WOMAN REPLACED HER FROM COLORADO AND PAVED THE WAY.
>> Cathy: DID YOU EVER MEET HER?
>> I DID ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.
I OBSERVED HER AS A STAFF MEMBER FOR TWO OTHER WOMEN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SO I WAS IN A LOT OF THE WOMEN'S CAUCUS MEETINGS AND GOT TO OBSERVE HER UPSCHLOSS AND PERSONAL SO THAT WAS A LOT OF FUN.