Political Career
In the 1940s, Gahagan Douglas entered politics. She was elected to the United States House of Representatives from California's 14th congressional district as a liberal Democrat in 1944, and served three full terms as "a principled advocate of women's rights, civil liberties and world disarmament." During this time she openly had an enduring love affair with then Congressman (and afterwards U.S. President) Lyndon B. Johnson. Mrs. Douglas was mentioned in the song "George Murphy" by satirist Tom Lehrer. The song begins, "Hollywood's often tried to mix-show business with politics-from Helen Gahagan-to Ronald Reagan ..."
Read more about this topic: Helen Gahagan Douglas
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