DOCSLIB.ORG

Linda Melconian Oral History Interview Final Edited Transcript

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Linda Melconian Oral History Interview Final Edited Transcript Linda Melconian Assistant Counsel and Legislative Assistant, Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill of Massachusetts Oral History Interview Final Edited Transcript June 7, 2018 Office of the Historian U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. “One time, we were talking to other female Members and maybe there were three or four of us— two staff people and one or two Members. Male Members would come over to us and say, ‘Oh, what are you girls cooking up? Are you conspiring against us?’ . Three or more women . on the floor congregating—chatting—would cause concern among the male Members. Were we conspiring against them? What I found so fascinating about this experience is that years later, when I served in the Massachusetts senate [during] my freshman year, I was talking to two other female members. I had male state senators come up to us and say, ‘Are you three conspiring against us?’ I thought, ‘I can’t believe this. It’s happening here in Massachusetts years later—the same thing that happened on the House Floor in Washington.’” Linda Melconian June 7, 2018 Table of Contents Interview Abstract i Interviewee Biography ii Editing Practices iii Citation Information iii Interviewer Biography iv Interview One 1 Notes 55 Abstract Linda Melconian was a recent college graduate when Congressman Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill of Massachusetts hired her in 1971. During the next decade, she worked closely with O’Neill as he moved up the leadership ladder from Majority Whip, to Majority Leader, and, finally, to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. As one of the first women to hold floor privileges in all three House leadership offices, Melconian offers a unique perspective on floor proceedings, leadership initiatives, and the role of women staff members in the House. In this oral history, Melconian recalls her path from her hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, to Capitol Hill, where she started as a legislative assistant working on the House Floor for Majority Whip O’Neill. She outlines the structure of the Democratic whip operation, including the role of congressional staff in counting votes and crafting and conveying the message of leadership. She recounts her observations in O’Neill’s office during the Watergate investigation, offering a first-hand account of the way the crisis unfolded on the House Floor. Melconian also discusses her roles as a speechwriter, researcher, and assistant counsel for O’Neill during his terms as Majority Leader and Speaker. Reflecting on Speaker O’Neill’s efforts to shape the Democratic Party’s agenda during the 1970s, she provides insight into his legislative priorities, leadership style, and his relationship with President Jimmy Carter. She highlights O’Neill’s focus on ethics reform and his foreign policy efforts, from his involvement in the Camp David Accords to his interest in finding a peaceful solution to the political violence in Northern Ireland. She also chronicles her experience on a congressional delegation to Europe in April 1979, where she joined Speaker O’Neill as he visited the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ i Biography In 1971, Linda Melconian began her career on Capitol Hill working for Congressman Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill of Massachusetts. Over the next 10 years, she worked as a legislative assistant and assistant counsel as O’Neill served as Majority Whip, Majority Leader, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In doing so, she became one of the first women to hold floor privileges in all three House leadership offices and gained valuable political experience that formed the foundation of her own political career. Linda Melconian was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Virginia Melconian, a homemaker, and George Melconian, a line-type machinist for the local newspapers. She attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she secured an internship on Capitol Hill with Massachusetts Representative Edward Boland. She also worked as an intern for Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine before graduating from college in 1970. As part of then-Majority Whip O’Neill’s staff, Melconian learned the workings of the institution from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. She represented Whip O’Neill on the House Floor and was educated in the finer points of legislating through her interactions with Members of Congress. She participated in vote-counting and the behind-the-scenes dialogue that shaped important legislation. When O’Neill became Majority Leader in 1973, Melconian added speechwriting and research to her duties on the House Floor. She also worked to build connections between the Speaker and the Democratic Caucus in anticipation of O’Neill’s future campaign for Speaker by planning district visits and serving as a liaison between Members and the Speaker on legislative matters. During O’Neill’s Speakership, Melconian was involved in the Speaker’s effort to implement ethics guidelines and revise the seniority system and the committee selection process. She also assisted the Speaker in his forays into U.S. foreign policy, providing information and accompanying him during meetings with visiting dignitaries in Washington, DC, and abroad. After completing law school at George Mason University, Melconian served as assistant counsel to Speaker O’Neill before returning to Springfield to run for a vacant seat in the Massachusetts state senate in 1981. The following year she won election to the first of 11 terms in the Massachusetts legislature, rising to become the first woman to hold the title of majority leader in the state senate. She resides in Springfield and teaches courses in government and politics at Suffolk University in Boston. http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ ii Editing Practices In preparing interview transcripts for publication, the editors sought to balance several priorities: • As a primary rule, the editors aimed for fidelity to the spoken word and the conversational style in accord with generally accepted oral history practices. • The editors made minor editorial changes to the transcripts in instances where they believed such changes would make interviews more accessible to readers. For instance, excessive false starts and filler words were removed when they did not materially affect the meaning of the ideas expressed by the interviewee. • In accord with standard oral history practices, interviewees were allowed to review their transcripts, although they were encouraged to avoid making substantial editorial revisions and deletions that would change the conversational style of the transcripts or the ideas expressed therein. • The editors welcomed additional notes, comments, or written observations that the interviewees wished to insert into the record and noted any substantial changes or redactions to the transcript. • Copy-editing of the transcripts was based on the standards set forth in The Chicago Manual of Style. The first reference to a Member of Congress (House or Senate) is underlined in the oral history transcript. For more information about individuals who served in the House or Senate, please refer to the online Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, http://bioguide.congress.gov and the “People Search” section of the History, Art & Archives website, http://history.house.gov. For more information about the U.S. House of Representatives oral history program contact the Office of House Historian at (202) 226-1300, or via email at [email protected]. Citation Information When citing this oral history interview, please use the format below: “Linda Melconian Oral History Interview,” Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives (7 June 2018). http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ iii Interviewer Biography Michael J. Murphy is a Historical Publications Specialist in the Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives. He earned his Ph.D. in U.S. history from Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, in 2013. Before joining the Office of the Historian, he was Visiting Associate Professor at the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies at the City University of New York. http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ iv — LINDA MELCONIAN — A CENTURY OF WOMEN IN CONGRESS MURPHY: This is Mike Murphy in the House Recording Studio on June 7th, 2018. Today, I’m happy to speak with Linda Melconian, a former staff member for Speaker Thomas P. [Philip] (Tip) O’Neill, who went on to a long career as a Massachusetts state senator, where she became the first woman to serve as a majority leader of that body. Thank you for joining us for this interview that will be part of the Office of the Historian’s women in Congress oral history project, A Century of Women in Congress. MELCONIAN: Well, thank you, Mike, for including me in this oral history project, A Century of Women in Congress. It’s an honor and a privilege to participate, just as it was an honor and a privilege to work here in the [U.S.] House of Representatives, which is the greatest elective body in the history of the world. In our national system of government, the House of Representatives is the only place where you have to be elected to serve. You can be appointed President. You can be appointed Vice President. You can be appointed to the Senate. But you have to be elected to get here. And this is really the People’s House. As Alexander Hamilton said, “It’s here, sir, the people govern.” So to work in this institution, this House of Representatives, the People’s House, as a professional staff person for 10 years with Speaker Tip O’Neill in the Majority Whip’s Office, the Leader’s Office, and the Speaker’s Office, was indeed an honor and a privilege. It was the most wonderful experience of my whole life.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio ______) Ohio A
    Case: 1:18-cv-00357-TSB Doc #: 1 Filed: 05/23/18 Page: 1 of 44 PAGEID #: 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO __________________________________________ ) OHIO A. PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE, ) LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF OHIO, ) LINDA GOLDENHAR, DOUGLAS BURKS, ) SARAH INSKEEP, CYNTHIA LIBSTER, ) KATHRYN DEITSCH, LUANN BOOTHE, ) MARK JOHN GRIFFITHS, LAWRENCE ) NADLER, CHITRA WALKER, RIA MEGNIN, ) ANDREW HARRIS, AARON DAGRES, ) COMPLAINT ELIZABETH MYER, ERIN MULLINS, TERESA ) THOBABEN, and CONSTANCE RUBIN, ) No. ) Plaintiffs, ) Three-Judge Court Requested ) Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2284(a) v. ) ) JOHN KASICH, Governor of Ohio, ) JON HUSTED, Secretary of State of Ohio, ) KIRK SCHURING, Speaker Pro Tempore of ) the Ohio House of Representatives, and LARRY ) OBHOF, President of the Ohio Senate, in their ) official capacities, ) ) Defendants. ) __________________________________________) Case: 1:18-cv-00357-TSB Doc #: 1 Filed: 05/23/18 Page: 2 of 44 PAGEID #: 2 INTRODUCTION 1. This case is a challenge to Ohio’s current United States congressional redistricting plan (the “plan” or “map”) as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander that violates the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and Article I of the United States Constitution. 2. The current Ohio map is one of the most egregious gerrymanders in recent history. The map was designed to create an Ohio congressional delegation with a 12 to 4 Republican advantage—and lock it in for a decade. It has performed exactly as its architects planned, including in 2012, when President Barack Obama won the state. In statewide and national elections, Ohio typically swings from Democrats to Republicans. In this decade, Republicans have secured 51% to 59% of the total statewide vote in congressional elections.
    [Show full text]
  • 2/1/75 - Mardi Gras Ball” of the Betty Ford White House Papers, 1973-1977 at the Gerald R
    The original documents are located in Box 2, folder “2/1/75 - Mardi Gras Ball” of the Betty Ford White House Papers, 1973-1977 at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Betty Ford donated to the United States of America her copyrights in all of her unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. A MARDI GRAS HISTORY Back in the early 1930's, United States Senator Joseph KING'S CAKE Eugene Ransdell invited a few fellow Louisianians to his Washington home for a get together. Out of this meeting grew 2 pounds cake flour 6 or roore eggs the Louisiana State Society and, in turn, the first Mardi Gras l cup sugar 1/4 cup warm mi lk Ball. The king of the first ball was the Honorable F. Edward 1/2 oz. yeast l/2oz. salt Hebert. The late Hale Boggs was king of the second ball . l pound butter Candies to decorate The Washington Mardi Gras Ball, of course, has its origins in the Nardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, which in turn dates Put I 1/2 pounds flour in mixing bowl.
    [Show full text]
  • Cenotaphs Would Suggest a Friendship, Clay Begich 11 9 O’Neill Historic Congressional Cemetery and Calhoun Disliked Each Other in Life
    with Henry Clay and Daniel Webster he set the terms of every important debate of the day. Calhoun was acknowledged by his contemporaries as a legitimate successor to George Washington, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson, but never gained the Revised 06.05.2020 presidency. R60/S146 Clinton 2 3 Tracy 13. HENRY CLAY (1777–1852) 1 Latrobe 4 Blount Known as the “Great Compromiser” for his ability to bring Thornton 5 others to agreement, he was the founder and leader of the Whig 6 Anderson Party and a leading advocate of programs for modernizing the economy, especially tariffs to protect industry, and a national 7 Lent bank; and internal improvements to promote canals, ports and railroads. As a war hawk in Congress demanding the War of Butler 14 ESTABLISHED 1807 1812, Clay made an immediate impact in his first congressional term, including becoming Speaker of the House. Although the 10 Boggs Association for the Preservation of closeness of their cenotaphs would suggest a friendship, Clay Begich 11 9 O’Neill Historic Congressional Cemetery and Calhoun disliked each other in life. Clay 12 Brademas 8 R60/S149 Calhoun 13 14. ANDREW PICKENS BUTLER (1796–1857) Walking Tour As the nation drifted toward war between the states, tensions CENOTAPHS rose even in the staid Senate Chamber of the U.S. Congress. When Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts disparaged Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina (who was not istory comes to life in Congressional present) during a floor speech, Representative Preston Brooks Cemetery. The creak and clang of the of South Carolina, Butler’s cousin, took umbrage and returned wrought iron gate signals your arrival into to the Senate two days later and beat Sumner severely with a the early decades of our national heritage.
    [Show full text]
  • The Potential for Presidential Leadership
    THE WHITE HOUSE TRANSITION PROJECT 1997-2021 Smoothing the Peaceful Transfer of Democratic Power Report 2021—08 THE POTENTIAL FOR PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP George C. Edwards III, Texas A&M University White House Transition Project Smoothing the Peaceful Transfer of Democratic Power WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO The White House Transition Project. Begun in 1998, the White House Transition Project provides information about individual offices for staff coming into the White House to help streamline the process of transition from one administration to the next. A nonpartisan, nonprofit group, the WHTP brings together political science scholars who study the presidency and White House operations to write analytical pieces on relevant topics about presidential transitions, presidential appointments, and crisis management. Since its creation, it has participated in the 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, and now the 2021. WHTP coordinates with government agencies and other non-profit groups, e.g., the US National Archives or the Partnership for Public Service. It also consults with foreign governments and organizations interested in improving governmental transitions, worldwide. See the project at http://whitehousetransitionproject.org The White House Transition Project produces a number of materials, including: . WHITE HOUSE OFFICE ESSAYS: Based on interviews with key personnel who have borne these unique responsibilities, including former White House Chiefs of Staff; Staff Secretaries; Counsels; Press Secretaries, etc. , WHTP produces briefing books for each of the critical White House offices. These briefs compile the best practices suggested by those who have carried out the duties of these office. With the permission of the interviewees, interviews are available on the National Archives website page dedicated to this project: .
    [Show full text]
  • House of Representatives June 5, 1962, at 12 O'clock Meridian
    1962 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-· HOUSE 9601 Mr. Lincoln's word. is good enough for me .. COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND The SPEAKER. Is there objection to The tyrant will not come to America from FOREIGN COMMERCE the request of the gentleman from across the seas. If he comes he will ride Michigan? down Pennsylvania A.venue from his inaugu­ Mr. CELI.ER. Mr. Speaker, I ask There was no objection ration and take his residence in the White unanimous consent that H.R. 10038, to House. We have, in the last 15 months in provide civil remedies to persons. dam­ the Congress, inadvertently and carelessly aged by unfair commercial activities in STATUTORY AWARD FOR APHONIA we must assume, moved at- a hellish rate to or affecting commerce, and H.R. 10124, establish preconditions of dictatorship. The Clerk called the bill (H.R. 10066) There will be no coup d' etat. Rather, at the be referred to the Committee on Inter­ to amend title 38 of the United States worst, there will be an extension and vigorous state and Foreign Commerce. They Code to provide additional compensa­ exercise of the powers we have granted. were improperly referred to the Commit­ tion for veterans suffering the loss or Is the matter beyond control? I do not tee on the Judiciary. The subject mat­ loss of use of both vocal chords, with know and you're not sure. In all sadness ter of these bills should be properly be­ resulting complete aphonia. I say I do not know. The ancients tell us fore the Committee on Interstate and that democracy degenerates into tyranny.
    [Show full text]
  • In Pueblo's Wake
    IN PUEBLO’S WAKE: FLAWED LEADERSHIP AND THE ROLE OF JUCHE IN THE CAPTURE OF THE USS PUEBLO by JAMES A. DUERMEYER Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN U.S. HISTORY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON December 2016 Copyright © by James Duermeyer 2016 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgements My sincere thanks to my professor and friend, Dr. Joyce Goldberg, who has guided me in my search for the detailed and obscure facts that make a thesis more interesting to read and scholarly in content. Her advice has helped me to dig just a bit deeper than my original ideas and produce a more professional paper. Thank you, Dr. Goldberg. I also wish to thank my wife, Janet, for her patience, her editing, and sage advice. She has always been extremely supportive in my quest for the masters degree and was my source of encouragement through three years of study. Thank you, Janet. October 21, 2016 ii Abstract IN PUEBLO’S WAKE: FLAWED LEADERSHIP AND THE ROLE OF JUCHE IN THE CAPTURE OF THE USS PUEBLO James Duermeyer, MA, U.S. History The University of Texas at Arlington, 2016 Supervising Professor: Joyce Goldberg On January 23, 1968, North Korea attacked and seized an American Navy spy ship, the USS Pueblo. In the process, one American sailor was mortally wounded and another ten crew members were injured, including the ship’s commanding officer. The crew was held for eleven months in a North Korea prison.
    [Show full text]
  • Cokie Roberts Oral History Interview Final Edited Transcript
    Cokie Roberts Congressional Correspondent and Daughter of Representatives Hale and Lindy Boggs of Louisiana Oral History Interview Final Edited Transcript May 25, 2017 Office of the Historian U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. “And so she [Lindy Boggs] was on the Banking Committee. They were marking up or writing a piece of legislation to end discrimination in lending. And the language said, ‘on the basis of race, national origin, or creed’—something like that. And as she told the story, she went into the back room and wrote in, in longhand, ‘or sex or marital status,’ and Xeroxed it, and brought it back into the committee, and said, ‘I’m sure this was just an omission on the part of my colleagues who are so distinguished.’ That’s how we got equal credit, ladies.” Cokie Roberts May 25, 2017 Table of Contents Interview Abstract i Interviewee Biography i Editing Practices ii Citation Information iii Interviewer Biographies iii Interview 1 Notes 29 Abstract On May 25, 2017, the Office of the House Historian participated in a live oral history event, “An Afternoon with Cokie Roberts,” hosted by the Capitol Visitor Center. Much of the interview focused on Cokie Roberts’ reflections of her mother Lindy Boggs whose half-century association with the House spanned her time as the spouse of Representative Hale Boggs and later as a Member of Congress for 18 years. Roberts discusses the successful partnership of her parents during Hale Boggs’ 14 terms in the House. She describes the significant role Lindy Boggs played in the daily operation of her husband’s congressional office as a political confidante and expert campaigner—a function that continued to grow and led to her overseeing much of the Louisiana district work when Hale Boggs won a spot in the Democratic House Leadership.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches MR
    Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches MR. EDGAR: I'm pleased to be here, not only to say a word of focus and commitment to the legacy of Geno, but sitting side-by-9side with all of these colleagues, and especially Stu Eizenstat. Stu was the domestic policy adviser to President Carter, and I was a young congressperson elected by accident in the Watergate years, and had the chance and the opportunity for the four years of the Carter administration -- although I served for six terms -- to work with Stu on many domestic issues, especially water policy that became so controversial in those years. So it's great to reconnect with him, and it's great to be here with you. As the senator indicated, Rosa Parks died yesterday. I mark my entry into political life and the bridge between my faith life as a pastor in Philadelphia, an urban pastor, who founded the first shelter for homeless women in the city of Philadelphia, I mark my bridge from my faith tradition to politics, based on the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King. And the civil rights movement had an impact, not just on the black community but on the white community, as well. I grew up in a white suburb of Philadelphia. I grew up in a blue-collar working-class family. But I 20didn't really see poverty until I was about a senior in high school. And the United Methodist Church had what they called "come see" tours, where they literally put young people on buses and took them into the city of Philadelphia, and into the city of Chester, to see with their own eyes the impact of policies on the poor.
    [Show full text]
  • How First-Term Members Enter the House Burdett
    Coming into the Country: How First-Term Members Enter the House Burdett Loomis University of Kansas and The Brookings Institution November 17, 2000 In mulling over how newly elected Members of Congress (henceforth MCs1) “enter” the U.S. House of Representatives, I have been drawn back to John McPhee’s classic book on Alaska, Coming into the Country. Without pushing the analogy too far, the Congress is a lot like Alaska, especially for a greenhorn. Congress is large, both in terms of numbers (435 members and 8000 or so staffers) and geographic scope (from Seattle to Palm Beach, Manhattan to El Paso). Even Capitol Hill is difficult to navigate, as it requires a good bit of exploration to get the lay of the land. The congressional wilderness is real, whether in unexplored regions of the Rayburn Building sub-basements or the distant corridors of the fifth floor of the Cannon Office Building, where a sturdy band of first-term MCs must establish their Washington outposts. Although both the state of Alaska and the House of Representatives are governed by laws and rules, many tricks of survival are learned informally -- in a hurried conversation at a reception or at the House gym, in the wake of a pick-up basketball game. In the end, there’s no single understanding of Alaska – it’s too big, too complex. Nor is there any single way to grasp the House. It’s partisan, but sometimes resistant to partisanship. It’s welcoming and alienating. It’s about Capitol Hill, but also about 435 distinct constituencies.
    [Show full text]
  • H. Doc. 108-222
    1776 Biographical Directory York for a fourteen-year term; died in Bronx, N.Y., Decem- R ber 23, 1974; interment in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Hacken- sack, N.J. RABAUT, Louis Charles, a Representative from Michi- gan; born in Detroit, Mich., December 5, 1886; attended QUINN, Terence John, a Representative from New parochial schools; graduated from Detroit (Mich.) College, York; born in Albany, Albany County, N.Y., October 16, 1836; educated at a private school and the Boys’ Academy 1909; graduated from Detroit College of Law, 1912; admitted in his native city; early in life entered the brewery business to the bar in 1912 and commenced practice in Detroit; also with his father and subsequently became senior member engaged in the building business; delegate to the Democratic of the firm; at the outbreak of the Civil War was second National Conventions, 1936 and 1940; delegate to the Inter- lieutenant in Company B, Twenty-fifth Regiment, New York parliamentary Union at Oslo, Norway, 1939; elected as a State Militia Volunteers, which was ordered to the defense Democrat to the Seventy-fourth and to the five succeeding of Washington, D.C., in April 1861 and assigned to duty Congresses (January 3, 1935-January 3, 1947); unsuccessful at Arlington Heights; member of the common council of Al- candidate for reelection to the Eightieth Congress in 1946; bany 1869-1872; elected a member of the State assembly elected to the Eighty-first and to the six succeeding Con- in 1873; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fifth Congress gresses (January 3, 1949-November 12, 1961); died on No- and served from March 4, 1877, until his death in Albany, vember 12, 1961, in Hamtramck, Mich; interment in Mount N.Y., June 18, 1878; interment in St.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effects of Secret Voting Procedures on Political Behavior
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Voting Alone: The Effects of Secret Voting Procedures on Political Behavior A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science by Scott M. Guenther Committee in charge: Professor James Fowler, Chair Professor Samuel Kernell, Co-Chair Professor Julie Cullen Professor Seth Hill Professor Thad Kousser 2016 Copyright Scott M. Guenther, 2016 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Scott M. Guenther is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Co-Chair Chair University of California, San Diego 2016 iii DEDICATION To my parents. iv EPIGRAPH Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. { Benjamin Franklin v TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page................................... iii Dedication...................................... iv Epigraph......................................v Table of Contents.................................. vi List of Figures................................... viii List of Tables.................................... ix Acknowledgements.................................x Vita......................................... xiv Abstract of the Dissertation............................ xv Chapter 1 Introduction: Secrecy and Voting.................1 1.1 History of Secret Voting...................2 1.2 Conceptual Issues.......................5 1.2.1 Internal Secrecy....................6 1.2.2 External Secrecy...................7 1.3 Electoral Regimes.......................8
    [Show full text]
  • Download History of the House Page Program
    HISTORY OF THE HOUSE PAGE PROGRAM CONTENTS Introduction 1 Page Origins 2 Page Responsibilities 7 Representatives as Role Models and Mentors 10 Page Traditions 12 Breaking Down Racial and Gender Barriers 17 Pages and Publicity 19 Schools, Dorms, and Reforms 21 Pages and the Communications Revolution 26 The End of the House Page Program 28 Notes 30 Pages wore lapel pins to identify themselves during work or to affiliate themselves with the Page program. Left, a National Fraternity of Pages pin owned by Glenn Rupp, a House Page in the 1930s, includes the date 1912, which may indicate the founding date of the organization. Middle, a Page pin from 1930 is more elaborately designed than the average uniform lapel pin and features an enamel shield with links attaching a pendant that indicates the date of service. Right, a pin from 100th Congress (1987– 1989) has a House seal in the center and is similar to those worn by Members on their own lapels. Page Pins, Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives i House Pages pose for a class photo on the East Front of the Capitol. Class Photo from The Congressional Eagle Yearbook, 2007, Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives For more than two centuries, young people served as Pages in the U.S. House of Representatives and enjoyed an unparalleled opportunity to observe and participate in the legislative process in “the People’s House.” Despite the frequent and colossal changes to America’s national fabric over that period, the expectations and experiences of House Pages, regardless of when they served, have been linked by certain commonalities—witnessing history, interacting with Representatives, and taking away lifelong inspiration to participate in civic life.
    [Show full text]