Boggs, Lindy (1916–)

American politician. Born Corinne Morrison Claiborne at Brunswick Plantation, Louisiana, Mar 13, 1916; dau. of Roland and Corinne (Morrison) Claiborne; graduate of Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University, 1935; m. Thomas Hale Boggs (US Congressional representative and majority leader), Jan 22, 1938 (died Mar 1973); children: Barbara Boggs Sigmund (mayor of Princeton, NJ, from 1984 until her death in 1990); Thomas Hale Boggs (Washington lawyer and lobbyist); Corinne "Cokie" Roberts (b. 1944, TV correspondent).

Beginning in 1948, ran husband's campaigns, managed his Capitol Hill office, and headed a number of other organizations, including the Women's National Democratic Club, Democratic Wives' Forum, and Congressional Club; succeeded husband (Mar 1973), 5 months after his small plane vanished over Alaska during a campaign trip; had a 17-year legislative career as US Representative, Democrat of Louisiana, in 93rd-101st Congresses (1973–1991), earning a reputation for tenacity and Southern charm; had wide-ranging legislative interests, including equal opportunity for women and minorities, housing-policy issues, technological development, and Mississippi River transportation; became the 1st woman to preside over a national political convention when she served as chair of the Democratic National Convention (1976); chaired the Commission on the Bicentenary of US House of Representatives for 3 terms and was a member of the Commission on the Bicentennial of US Constitution; was appointed US ambassador to the Vatican (1997).

See also (with Katherine Hatch) Washington Through a Purple Veil: Memoirs of a Southern Woman (Harcourt, 1994); Cokie Roberts, We Are Our Mothers' Daughters (Morrow, 1998); and Women in World History.