So I’m guessing that if you don’t live in Texas, you have no idea who this person is, and until I listened to Dan Savage’s podcast last week (go listen–Savage Love), I had never heard of her either. Turns out, she is Cecile Richards’ mother, and if that name doesn’t ring a bell, well it definitely should.
Cecile, up until this week, had been the president of Planned Parenthood for 12 years, and as it turns out, had no chance of not being a total badass, because her mother was one, too.
Ann was an only child who grew up in Waco, Texas, and was a school teacher-turned politician. When she was elected to state treasurer in 1982, she was the first woman elected to ANY statewide office in 50 years. Imagine that. She continued as state treasurer for 8 years, until she ran for governor and became only the second ever female governor of Texas in 1990. She broke records left and right, making Texas an essentially blue state (gasp, who knew?!), which in her interview with Savage, Cecile confirmed: Texas originally was a blue state, and might swing back that way in the near future with the right leadership…here’s to hoping Cecile follows in her mother’s footsteps.
Back to Ann–during her tenure as governor, she was known as a fierce feminist who made a running commentary about the state of the boy’s club that was Texas politics. She was an advocate for prison inmates, creating rehabilitation programs and reducing the number of violent offenders who were released, and also an advocate for the public school system, creating the Texas lottery in order to better support financially the school system. She was known for supporting social causes such as equality, abortion, gun reform, and women’s rights throughout her career and life.
After she was defeated by George W. Bush in 1994, she stayed active both politically and socially, campaigning for various Democratic candidates and even spending the last 5 years of her life in New York City after 9/11. She passed in 2006, of esophageal cancer most likely due to smoking and drinking in her youth.
Badass women: may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.