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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| Name | Helen Gahagan Douglas |
| Address |
Los Angeles, California , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
November 25, 1900
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| Died | June 28, 1980
(79 years)
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| Contributor | Ralphie |
| Last Modifed | David
Dec 11, 2023 12:20am |
| Tags |
Caucasian - Married - Episcopalian -
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| Info | Mrs. Helen Mary Gahagn Douglas
Began her professional career on the Broadway stage and was deemed a "star" at age twenty-two. By the 1930s, she left the Northeast and moved to California with her husband, Hollywood actor Melvyn Douglas. Although she made only one movie herself--the science fiction film, She--she soon found herself immersed in politics. She worked with the Farm Security Administration and later was elected Democratic National Committeewoman from California. In 1944, she was elected as the representative of California's Fourteenth District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was successfully reelected to this position in 1946 and 1948. A tireless New Deal Democrat, Douglas was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and served as an alternate delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations. In the House, Douglas was a thoughtful and consistent New Deal Democrat, who worked tirelessly for liberal programs. A member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and an alternate delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations, she was heavily involved with postwar foreign relations. She was also a strong proponent of domestic programs such as price stabilization and rent control. For California she was a forceful advocate for federally controlled oil drilling and protecting the water rights of small farms. She served in the House for three terms until 1950, when she sought the Senate seat held by Sheridan Downey.
After a particularly nasty primary she faced Republican Congressman Richard Nixon in the general election. The campaign was destined to be one of the nation's most famous--and infamous. Nixon, waging an inspiring red-baiting campaign, was unrelenting in his charges. If he never actually called her a communist, saying she was "pink right down to her underwear" was not a fashion critique. His legions were yet less restrained. Murray Chotiner, Nixon's campaign manager, printed an infamous flyer that was handed out at rallies. Printed on pink paper (and, thus, forever known as the "pink sheet"), it more than implied a connection between Douglas and communism.
Other Nixon campaign workers called Douglas a communist when they approached strangers on the street. They called her a communist when they telephoned thousands of homes the night before the election. In an era when the nation's fear was palpable, the strategy was a great success. On election day Nixon won handily. Douglas never again ran for public office. She did not, however, leave the spotlight. A tireless public speaker and activist, Douglas lobbied for liberal causes until her death on June 28, 1980, in New York.
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