The Honorable Nancy Lee Johnson Oral History Interview Final Edited
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The Honorable Nancy Lee Johnson U.S. Representative of Connecticut (1983–2007) Oral History Interview Final Edited Transcript December 3, 2015 Office of the Historian U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. “And it was very good because when I was elected to, first, the [Connecticut] senate, and then to Congress, it didn’t occur to me not to express my opinion or not to ask my questions. And I was good at asking questions. People often asked me to ask their question. Finally, I figured out that, actually, they needed to ask their question so I could ask my own. But it was very gratifying to serve because one of the things people don’t understand is that male or female, you’ve got one vote. And the more articulate you are, and the more studious you are in developing your position on an issue, frankly, the more influence you have the more people will follow your vote because you can’t be expert on everything. So, you choose people whose expertise you believe in and whose balanced approach you believe in, and you see how they vote. And if you’re uncertain, you’re likely to vote with them, as others often vote with you. So, of the moderates, I became someone that you wanted to see how they were going to vote because I had such a diverse district.” The Honorable Nancy Lee Johnson December 3, 2015 Table of Contents Interview Abstract i Interviewee Biography i Editing Practices ii Citation Information ii Interviewer Biographies iii Interview 1 Notes 70 Abstract Influenced by her mother, a high school history teacher and department chair, and her father, a law school dean, Nancy Lee Johnson’s political background grew from a family commitment to community activism. Building upon a successful career in the Connecticut state senate, Johnson came to the House in 1983 well-equipped to handle the rigors of Congress. She made history by becoming the first Republican woman to win a seat on the influential Ways and Means Committee and was one of a small number of women to chair a full House committee (Standards of Official Conduct). In her oral history, Johnson provides a behind-the-scenes look at committee work, including her approach to policy and legislation. Johnson speaks about the role of women in the Republican Party and the changing position of moderates in Congress during the 24 years she served in the House. Known as a policy expert in the House, Johnson describes her efforts to secure legislation to help her Connecticut district, as well as bills aimed at improving the welfare of women and children. She also shares her impressions of the Congresswomen’s Caucus—including her time as co-chair—and the efforts of women to secure equitable resources in the institution such as the gym for women Members. By the end of her career, Johnson was one of the deans of the Congresswomen. Her interview reveals the different approaches available to women who served in Congress—in Johnson’s case as a Representative who worked within the system using seniority, personal relationships, and policy expertise to achieve success. Biography JOHNSON, Nancy Lee, a Representative from Connecticut; born Nancy Elizabeth Lee in Chicago, Cook County, Ill., January 5, 1935; graduated from elementary and secondary classes of the University of Chicago Laboratory School, Chicago, Ill., 1953; B.A., Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass., 1957; attended, University of London Courtauld Institute, 1957–1958; teacher; member of the Connecticut state senate, 1977–1982; delegate, Republican National Convention, 1980; elected as a Republican to the Ninety-eighth and to the eleven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1983– January 3, 2007); chair, Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (One Hundred Fourth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Tenth Congress in 2006. Read full biography i 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: “The Honorable Nancy Lee Johnson Oral History Interview,” Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives (3 December 2015). ii Interviewer Biographies Matt Wasniewski is the Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, a position he has held since 2010. He has worked in the House as a historical editor and manager since 2002. Matt served as the editor-in-chief of Women in Congress, 1917–2006 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2006), Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007 (GPO, 2008), and the Hispanic Americans in Congress, 1822–2012 (GPO, 2013). He helped to create the House’s first oral history program, focusing on collecting the institutional memory of current and former Members, longtime staff, and support personnel. He earned his Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2004. His prior work experience includes several years as the associate historian and communications director at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, and, in the early 1990s, as the sports editor for a northern Virginia newspaper. Kathleen Johnson is the Manager of Oral History for the Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives. She earned a B.A. in history from Columbia University, where she also played basketball for four years, and holds two master’s degrees from North Carolina State University in education and public history. In 2004, she helped to create the House’s first oral history program, focusing on collecting the institutional memory of Members and staff. She co-authored two books: Women in Congress: 1917–2006 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2006) and Black Americans in Congress: 1870–2007 (GPO, 2008). Before joining the Office of the Historian, she worked as a high school history teacher and social studies curriculum consultant. iii — THE HONORABLE NANCY LEE JOHNSON OF CONNECTICUT — A CENTURY OF WOMEN IN CONGRESS K. JOHNSON: My name is Kathleen Johnson, and I’m with Matt Wasniewski, the House Historian. Today’s date is December 3rd, 2015. We’re in the House Recording Studio, in the Rayburn House Office Building, and we are very pleased to be with former Congresswoman Nancy [Lee] Johnson, from Connecticut. N. JOHNSON: Well, thank you. I’m very pleased to be here, too. K. JOHNSON: Thank you. WASNIEWSKI: Thanks. K. JOHNSON: This interview today is for a project that we’re conducting to celebrate the centennial of Jeannette Rankin’s election to Congress. So, we had a series of questions we wanted to ask you about your career, and also about what it was like being a woman in the House of Representatives. To start off with today, when you were young, did you have any female role models? N. JOHNSON: Yes, my mother was a very accomplished woman. She was the youngest head of the history department of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, when she was about 27 or 28, and was very keen on our having careers before we married, which she did. I didn’t actually do that, but the idea that you would be active in the community—and she was very active, and I was very active as a stay- at-home mom {laughter} which was part of the reason I got elected to first, the state senate, and then, the Congress. http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ 1 I had an unconventional relationship with the community that I lived in because I had been so active in many United Way agencies and the public library, just a lot of different contacts. And, for instance, I was chairman of the child guidance clinic for many, many years. We set up the first Hispanic mental health clinic. So, you get to know a different level of leadership in a community than the formal level or the political level. When I ran for state senate, it was an enormous upset. I beat a 12-year incumbent. {laughter} I ran thinking I’d never win, so my message to the kids was, “Hang with me, this will all be over in a couple of months.” {laughter} But I enjoyed serving in the state senate, and I learned an enormous amount about what the law can and cannot do and, in fact, what the law is.