Politics of Conscience: A Biography of Margaret Chase Smith

The first woman to serve in both houses of Congress, Smith (1897-1995) began her career in 1940 when she replaced her husband, a Republican representative from Maine, after his death. Wallace (The Threat of Peace), a history professor at Baylor University, conducted many interviews with Smith, but her account is objective, although written in flat prose and flawed by fictionalized conversations. Smith served eight years in the House and was a senator from 1948 until her defeat in 1972. Early in her career, she forged a political and personal relationship with William Lewis, counsel to the House Naval Affairs subcommittee. The two lived together amid unconfirmed rumors that they were lovers, and Lewis honed her image as a feisty, hardworking Maine independent. This image was strengthened in 1950, when Smith delivered one of the first attacks against red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy. According to the author, Smith, ``the first female cold warrior,'' was supersensitive to press criticism and deliberately separated herself from the women's movement. She was an outspoken hawk during the War in Vietnam. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Oct.)