![]() ![]() In 1971, Jill Ruckelshaus banded together with like-minded women Shirley Chisholm, Gloria Steinem, and Bella Abzug to form the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC). I didn’t identify what was wrong with my feelings until I began meeting women who were doing things and were using their minds.” Ruckelshaus’ Fight For The ERA Meanwhile, Ruckelshaus grew too restless. Department of Justice under then-President Nixon’s new administration. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the U.S. when William Ruckelshaus was hired as the U.S. In 1969, the family relocated to Washington, D.C. She reportedly had “this obsession to be the best housecleaner, to have the best parties, and to have the cleanest, best-dressed children.” Instead, Ruckelshaus channeled her energy into becoming a perfect homemaker. She had to leave some ambitions, like her desire to join the Peace Corps, behind. Jill Ruckelshaus was briefly a stay-at-home wife as the family expanded to five children. ![]() Getty Images NWPC co-founders Jill Ruckelshaus (right) and Gloria Steinem (left) appear together in a television interview. Indeed, their stance on Republicanism was such that Jill Ruckelshaus referred to herself as a “Ruckelshaus Republican.” Together they were known as the “clean” couple of the Washington swamp following Richard Nixon’s 1973 Watergate Scandal. William Ruckelshaus was known for his opposition to DDT and his call to institute health-based standards for air pollutants and car emissions. But the couple turned out to be perfect for each other, advocating for progressive ideals in a more conservative government. ![]() “I got the willies at the idea of being married - I had a career without marriage planned,” she admitted. They were introduced and the two wed five months later. He was Deputy Attorney General of Indiana at the time - he was also a widower with twin toddlers. ![]() After graduating from Indiana University, Ruckelshaus went on to obtain a master’s degree in English literature from Harvard.Īfter a stint teaching abroad in Switzerland, she returned to Indiana in 1962 and met her husband, William Ruckelshaus, at a dinner party set up by Ruckelshaus’s aunt. Becoming A Jill “Ruckelshaus Republican”īefore she ruffled the feathers of her own party, Jill Ruckelshaus was born Jill Elizabeth Strickland in 1937 to an Episcopalian family in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and her stunning moral integrity were portrayed in the 2020 Hulu docudrama Mrs. Her consistent views in regards to civil and women’s rights earned her the ire of more right-wing GOP members, but she did not let the opposition stand in her way. Her support for the women’s rights movement earned her the nickname “Gloria Steinem of the Republican Party,” which worked as either a compliment or an insult, depending on the party member who uttered it. Jill Ruckelshaus rose to prominence in 1970s American politics as a socially-progressive Republican in a time when conservativism was gaining momentum. As a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus, the fearless Jill Ruckelshaus joined Gloria Steinem and other feminists to fight for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. ![]()
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