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

Heckler, Margaret Mary O’Shaughnessy (b. 1931)

Republican Margaret Heckler of Massachusetts served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 1967 to January 3, 1983. Heckler was Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1983 to 1985 and ambassador to Ireland from 1985 to 1989. As a member of Congress, Heckler worked for federal funding of child day care for low-income families, sought to protect the pension rights of employed women on maternity leave, and advocated establishing shelters for victims of domestic violence. A leading proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment, she co-sponsored the measure to extend the deadline for its ratification. With Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman (D-NY), she founded the Congresswoman’s Caucus, later known as the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, in 1977 and served as its co-chair for five years. Heckler lost the race for a ninth term.

President Ronald Reagan appointed her Secretary of Health and Human services in 1983. In that office, Heckler established new guidelines for Social Security disability programs, campaigned to increase funding for research and patient care for people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and Alzheimer’s disease, and supported tax credits for day care.

Reagan appointed her ambassador to Ireland in December 1985; she held the position through October 1989.

Born in Flushing, New York, Heckler studied at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in 1952, earned her bachelor’s degree from Albertus Magnus College in 1953, and received her JD from Boston College Law School in 1956. Heckler entered politics as a member of the Wellesley Town Meeting, serving from 1958 to 1966.

See also: Abortion; Cabinets, Women in Presidential; Congress, Women in; Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues; Equal Rights Amendment; Holtzman, Elizabeth

References: H. W. Wilson, Current Biography Yearbook, 1983 (1983); Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, Women in Congress, 1917-1990 (1991).

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"Heckler, Margaret Mary O’Shaughnessy (b. 1931)." 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_0440.
APA 7th
Heckler, Margaret Mary O’Shaughnessy (b. 1931). 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_0440.
CMOS 17th
"Heckler, Margaret Mary O’Shaughnessy (b. 1931)." 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_0440.