Back More
Salem Press

Table of Contents

From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues

Fowler, Tillie Kidd (1942-2005)

Republican Tillie Fowler of Florida served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 1993 to January 3, 2001. She held the leadership positions of House deputy majority whip in the 104th and 105th Congresses (1995-1997 and 1997-1999) and vice chair of the Republican Conference in the 106th Congress (1999-2001). Fowler ran unopposed in the 1994, 1996, and 1998 general elections. She supported term limits and pledged to serve only eight years, which she honored. Despite being the highest-ranking woman in Congress, she did not seek re-election in 2000. An expert on military issues, her congressional priorities included a strong national defense, support for military personnel, transportation, improving the public works infrastructure, congressional reform, a balanced budget amendment, reproductive rights, and affordable health care.

When allegations of sexual harassment on several military training bases emerged in 1996, Fowler worked with Democrat Jane Harman and Republican Steve Buyer to find out why Army policies to prevent harassment had failed. Some members of Congress argued that men and women should not be trained together, but Fowler disagreed. She expressed concern that some of the sexual harassment victims had not reported the events and hoped to identify ways to encourage reporting.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appointed her to the Independent Panel to Review Department of Defense Detention Operations in 2004.

Born in Milledgeville, Georgia, Tillie Fowler earned her bachelor’s degree in 1964 and her JD in 1967, both from Emory University. A legislative assistant to a member of Congress from 1967 to 1970, she worked in the Nixon administration as counsel for the Office of Consumer Affairs in 1970-1971. She changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, moved to Florida, and married. A member of the Jacksonville City Council from 1985 to 1992, she also chaired the Florida Endowment for the Humanities from 1989 to 1991.

See also: Abortion; Congress, Women in; Military, Women in the; Sexual Harassment

References: Congressional Quarterly, Politics in America 1994 (1993), Politics in America 1998 (1997); The New York Times, March 3, 2005; “Tillie Kidd Fowler,” http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=78 (accessed January 21, 2013).

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"Fowler, Tillie Kidd (1942-2005)." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, edited by Suzanne O’Dea, Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0355.
APA 7th
Fowler, Tillie Kidd (1942-2005). From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, In S. O’Dea (Ed.), Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0355.
CMOS 17th
"Fowler, Tillie Kidd (1942-2005)." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, Edited by Suzanne O’Dea. Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0355.