Marilyn Lloyd
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Rachel Marilyn Laird Lloyd (born January 3, 1929), also briefly known as Marilyn Lloyd Bouquard due to a short second marriage, is a Tennessee businesswoman and 10-term former member of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1975 to 1995.
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[edit] Biographical information
Lloyd was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas on January 3, 1929. In 1945 she graduated from Western Kentucky College High School, a high school that associated with what is now Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She later attended Shorter College in Rome, Georgia. Lloyd has owned radio station WTTI in Dalton, Georgia and Executive Aviation in Winchester, Tennessee.[1]
Lloyd's first husband, Mort Lloyd, a TV reporter, was killed in an airplane crash in 1974. In 1978, she married engineer Joseph P. Bouquard, and she began to use the name Marilyn Lloyd Bouquard. In 1983 the couple divorced, and she resumed using the name Marilyn Lloyd. In 1991, she married Robert Fowler, a physician,[2] who has since died.
[edit] Political and congressional career
Lloyd was married to Mort Lloyd, a popular television anchor at WDEF-TV in Chattanooga, who had entered the 1974 Democratic primary for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district, to oppose two-term incumbent Republican Congressman LaMar Baker. Mort Lloyd won the primary in the Chattanooga-based district, but was killed in an airplane crash on his way to celebrate the victory; the Democratic Party picked his wife to replace him as its candidate in the Chattanooga-based district. She went on to defeat Baker that November in an election that saw many Republicans in competitive and marginal districts defeated, in large part due to the Watergate scandal. She became the first woman ever elected to Congress from Tennessee on an ongoing basis (Irene Baker and Louise Reece were both elected in special elections to succeed their husbands, but were regarded as caretakers).
While Baker had been a fairly conservative Republican, Mrs. Lloyd was a moderate-to-conservative Democrat who often broke with the national leadership of her party (which is not surprising since the 3rd has not supported a Democrat for president since 1956); her views often seemed to mirror those of her district. She was frequently elected with only minor opposition, though in some years she barely squeaked to reelection.
Lloyd served on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology for her entire congressional career. That committee had jurisdiction over legislation related to atomic energy facilities at Oak Ridge in the 3rd district. By the time of her retirement from Congress, she was was the second-ranking Democrat on the committee. She was a strong advocate for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor project in Oak Ridge. She also served on the Committee on Public Works from 1975–1987, on the Armed Services Committee from 1983–1995), and on the House Select Committee on Aging for much of her congressional career. [2]
When women members of the House formed a women's caucus in 1977, Lloyd was one of three women who declined membership, apparently due to concerns about alienating constituents. She later joined the caucus, but she resigned in 1980 along with several other women Congressmen who disagreed with the caucus' liberalism.[3]
After she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991 and was denied a silicone breast implant following her treatment because the FDA removed them from the market, Lloyd became an advocate on a variety of issues related to breast cancer treatment and women's health. She advocated for the availability of implants for reconstructive surgery[4] and cosponsored proposed legislation related to women's health, notably the Mammography Quality Standards Act that became law in 1992.[5] [6] [7] Lloyd also reversed her position on abortion, announcing on the floor of the House that she would no longer oppose abortion, but would instead vote to support a woman's right to choose. [8]
In 1992, her Republican opponent was fellow Chattanoogan Zach Wamp. While she defeated Wamp, it was only by one percentage point, and only due to the concession of underground environmental candidate, Peter Melcher, despite Senator Al Gore's successful run for vice president on Bill Clinton's ticket. In fact, the Clinton-Gore ticket lost the 3rd by a fairly solid margin. The closeness of the race was enough to make her decide not to stand for an 11th term in 1994. (Wamp won election to the seat in 1994 and has held it ever since).
[edit] Post-retirement
Subsequent to her retirement from Congress she has maintained a fairly low profile other than her advocacy for victims of domestic violence, which she had publicly stated that she was herself during her second marriage.
The Marilyn Lloyd Environmental and Life Sciences Research Complex at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was named in her honor in 1999.[9] Her Congressional papers are archived in the library of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ Lloyd, Marilyn Laird, (1929 - ), Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- ^ a b Part1_Chap3.pdf
- ^ Assembling, Amplifying, and Ascending: Recent Trends Among Women in Congress, 1977–2006: Organizational Efforts, Women in Congress website (accessed November 6, 2007)
- ^ First Steps Taken in Revived Use of Breast Implants, by Felicity Barringer, The New York Times, May 3, 1992
- ^ Capitol Hill Briefing on New Frontier in Breast Cancer Imaging
- ^ http://www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/GovernmentPolitics/CaucusUpdates/Update-vol13no8/special-report
- ^ http://www.asrt.org/media/pdf/shadowmakers/ASRT_ChaptTwelve.pdf
- ^ Women's Health Research: A Medical and Policy Primer, by Florence Haseltine and Lynne Beauregard, 1997, ISBN 0880487917; pages 303-304
- ^ Hello, good-bye. On one fine morning ORNL breaks ground for a new facility and bids farewell to a friend, ORNL Reporter, November 1999.
- ^ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
| Preceded by LaMar Baker |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 3rd congressional district 1975–1995 |
Succeeded by Zach Wamp |
