Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Ann Richards, Backwards and in High Heels

In 1982, the Texas electorate voted in Ann Richards as State Treasurer. She became the first woman elected to a statewide office in Texas since 1932, when Miriam A. Ferguson was elected governor. Richards eventually became the Governor of Texas as well, and shot to national fame when she gave the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1988.

The title of the post refers to what is probably Richards' most famous bon mot (which appears not to be original to her), which was on the subject of women's competence in office: "If you give us the chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."

Source: "Portraits of Texas Governors: Modern Texas, Part 3, 1991-Present, Ann W. Richards," Texas State Libraries & Archives Commission.

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