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D R A M A++Q U E E N

Did a gorilla ever spit on your videocam? Send your worst outing tales to dramaqueen
@salonmagazine.com.

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T A B L E++T A L K

Do mothers love all their children the same? Or do they pick favorites. Join mothers and children in a discussion of the nuances of mother love in Table Talk

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R E C E N T L Y

Cracking down
By Jeff Stryker
Paying addicted mothers not to have children
(07/10/98)

The demise of discipline: Second of three parts
By Sallie Tisdale
It's not enough to pour love into children
(07/09/98)

Global baby warming
By Constance Matthiessen
Babies worldwide: a review of "Our Babies, Ourselves"
(07/08/98)

Mulan through the looking glass
By Katherine Kim and Andrea Quong
For young Asian-American women, Mulan is no mirror image, but at least she casts back a reflection
(07/07/98)

Boho/professional goddess seeks modern man
By Nicki Blake
A personal ad turns up a purple-haired sweetie
(07/03/98)

BROWSE THE FEATURE ARCHIVES

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Mamafesto
By Camille Peri
Why it's time
for Mothers Who Think

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Former Rep. Pat Schroeder talks about her 24-year stint in Congress, sharing a chair with Ron Dellums and why Monica Lewinsky is no victim.

BY LESLEY GOLD | Pat Schroeder was a novelty when she entered Congress in 1972: a 32-year-old mother with two young children. In her 24-year tenure as a U.S. Congresswoman representing Colorado, she became known as an unabashed liberal with a sharp tongue and a repository of killer one-liners. Once while campaigning she was asked why she was running as "a woman candidate." Her reply: "Like, what are my other choices?" And does the term "Teflon president" ring a bell? That's signature Schroeder. While scrambling eggs one morning in a no-stick pan she thought of Ronald Reagan and how nothing ever stuck to him -- despite Iran-contra and other controversies, his popularity never waned.

In her recently released memoir, "24 Years of Housework and the Place Is Still a Mess," Schroeder recounts the power plays and high-stakes games of parliamentary ping-pong she engaged in during her career. A masterful Machiavellian matriarch, Schroeder was the longest serving woman in congressional history. She drafted the nation's first sexual harassment laws, led the charge when Anita Hill came forward with allegations against Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas and sponsored the Violence Against Women Act, among dozens of other pieces of legislation that promoted the health and safety of women and children. Her book also describes her hectic home life -- how she raised two children and nourished a marriage while jetting between Washington and her home district.

Since leaving politics in 1996, Schroeder has taken over as the president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers. When I spoke with her recently at her Washington office, in some ways she was still the consummate politician -- prolific yet practiced. But she was also a real (read: harried) working woman. She rushed into our meeting a half hour late, apologized for her tardiness and then unwrapped her breakfast -- a chocolate nut brownie. Any woman who has a brownie for breakfast has my infinite respect. While Schroeder savored her brownie, she threw me a few interesting morsels.

Why did you decide to write a memoir?

It was a very nice way to close a 24-year career as a politician. I figured I should do it now because a year from now, or 10 years from now, it will all be a blur. I'm also just very frustrated that so many young people have an entirely different take on the system than I did at their age -- they don't want anything to do with politics because it's not perfect. When I was young, I knew it wasn't perfect but I wanted to get in there and fix it. At 57 years of age I haven't found anything that's perfect, or I would share it with everybody.

Why do you think young people have given up?

They think that you can't possibly be in politics without being indicted, put in jail or pegged as a sex maniac. Or they think that to be a politician you have to sacrifice a family life. My experience has been totally different.

How did Congress change in the 24 years you were there?

It depends on what you are measuring. You know my story about sharing the chair with Ron Dellums. [When Schroeder successfully lobbied for an appointment to the influential Armed Services Committee, its chairman, F. Edward Hebert, retaliated by forcing her and Dellums, the only African-American on the committee, to share one chair between them.] From that standpoint it is better. I don't think we would have to share a chair today because no chairman has that kind of autocratic power. But the ideology wars, the number of personal attacks -- that is not progress, I think that is retro.

In your book you mention an incident when Newt Gingrich tried to keep you off a congressional delegation. It just seems so petty.

It is petty, but he backed off. When that happened to me the first time [with Hebert], I had to pave my own way. This time Newt realized if I went to the press with it, he'd lose. With Hebert, I went to the press with it and people just said, "That's what chairmen do."

N E X T+P A G E: Do-nothing Democrats and gossipy journalists