Kimberly Heckler, A Woman of Firsts Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer, Foreword by Jean Sinzdak, The Globe Pequot Publishing Group, Inc. | Lyons Press, February 2025.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

This biography not only covers the period in which five presidents, from different parties were elected (Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan) but when Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg made their mark on the Supreme Court. It would have been appealing without this context, but the additional information makes this biography exceptionally engaging. Of course, this context is only relevant to Margaret Heckler’s public life – her private life, including her upbringing with distant parents, her passion to do well and her marriage are also relevant. To have accomplished so much, to have been a loving and successful wife and mother, and to have made such a distinctive career makes for an absorbing read. Kimberly Heckler’s biography is the very readable story of a woman, as in the title, of firsts.

The biography is written in three parts, Early Life, 1914 – 1961; Elected Office 1961 – 1982; Appointments 1982 – 1989. There is an index, including subjects such as The Equal Opportunity Credit Act; the Northern Ireland Peace Process Testimony at the House of international Relations Committee, 1995; health issues such as abortion, Alzheimer’s Disease and AIDS; women in the armed forces (a current issue); bipartisanship; the Civil Rights Act; Divorce and Credit; ERA, and the Cold War; and people such as Hillary Clinton, Martin Luther King, Helen Gurley Brown, Shirley Chisholm, Anthony Fauci (again a current source of interest), Betty Freidan – all suggesting the breadth of the interests approached in the biography. Again, the wide appeal, whatever one’s own political stance is demonstrated in the notes for each chapter which are informative about the varied sources in the volume - Maeve Binchy appears, the Heckler Family Archives are there, reports from newspapers and interviews feature prominently.

Written with the family’s imprimatur, by Kimberly Heckler, married to John Heckler Jr and supported by Margaret Heckler’s daughter, Belinda, the volume is a sympathetic but a worthy contribution to women’s political history.

A bey good biography of Margaret Heckler. She truly was A Woman of Firsts and someone to be admired. A must read for 2025!

I really enjoyed reading this, it had that biography element that I was looking for and thought it did a great job in bringing Margaret Heckler to life in this book. I enjoyed getting to read this and appreciated Kimberly Heckler shared this story with the reader.