Catherine Small Long

Catherine Small Long (born February 7, 1924) is a former Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana. She served from 1985 to 1987, the remainder of the term of her husband, Gillis William Long, after his death. Long represented the Eighth Congressional District in central Louisiana based about Alexandria. She was the first female veteran elected to Congress, having served as a Wave in the U.S. Navy. Long declined to seek a full term as congresswoman in the jungle primary of 1986. Her seat narrowly went Republican in the general election even though the Eighth District was among the most historically Democratic in the nation.^[1] Cathy Long resides in Washington, D.C.

Former lieutenant governor and education superintendent William J. "Bill" Dodd (1909–1991), an astute observer of Louisiana politics for a half century, once described Cathy Long, who compiled a liberal voting record in Congress, as the "perfect political wife."

With her husband, Gillis, Long had two children, George Harrison Long (born October 13, 1954) and Janis Catherine Long (born March 25, 1957).

References

• Catherine Small Long at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress