A Feminist in the White House: Midge Costanza, The Carter Years and America's Culture Wars
Doreen J. Mattingly
A feminist, an outspoken activist, a woman without a college education, Midge Costanza was one of the unlikeliest of White House insiders. Yet in 1977 she became the first female Assistant to the President for Public Liaison under Jimmy Carter, emerging as a prominent focal point of the American culture wars. Tasked with bringing the views of special interest groups to the president, Costanza championed progressive causes even as Americans grew increasingly divided on the very issues for which she fought.
In A Feminist in the White House, Professor Doreen Mattingly draws on Costanza’s personal papers to shed light on the life of this fascinating and controversial woman. Mattingly chronicles Costanza’s dramatic rise and fall as a public figure, from her initial popularity to her ultimate clashes with Carter and his aides. While Costanza challenged Carter to support abortion rights, gay and lesbian rights, and feminist policies, Carter faced increased pressure to appease the interests of emerging Religious Right, which directly opposed Costanza’s ideals. Ultimately, marginalized both within the White House and by her fellow feminists, Costanza was pressured to resign in 1978.
Through the lens of Costanza’s story, readers are given unique perspective on struggles over issues that continue to define the feminist movement and sexual politics. Mattingly also reveals a wider, and previously neglected, narrative about the complex gender politics of late 1970s Washington. A Feminist in the White House is a must-read for anyone with an interest in sexual politics, female politicians, and presidential history.
A Feminist in the White House: Midge Costanza, the Carter Years, and America’s Culture Wars
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2016)
2017 Kanner Prize, Western Association of Women Historians
2017 Award for best biography, autobiography, or memoir, Los Angeles Book Festival
The Author
Doreen J. Mattingly
Professor Emerita of Women’s Studies at San Diego State University
Articles and Interviews
A Feminist in the White House – New York Public Radio
Midge Costanza: Brilliant, Flawed Feminist in the White House – San Diego Free Press
The goal of all governments should be to create a social environment in which every person can reach their full potential.
Midge Costanza
Reviews of A Feminist in the White House
A new biography examines Costanza’s impact via San Diego Union Tribune
Bringing the President to the People and the People to the President. (Review of A Feminist in the White House: Midge Costanza, the Carter Years, and America’s Culture Wars). via Women’s Review of Books
Other Sources about Midge Costanza
“Costanza, Margaret (Midge) (1932-2010).” In O’Dea, Suzanne, (2019): From Suffrage to the Senate: America’s Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues. Fourth ed. Amenia, NY: Grey House, 2019. Print.
Mattingly, Doreen J, and Boyd, Ashley. “Bringing Gay and Lesbian Activism to the White House: Midge Costanza and the National Gay Task Force Meeting.” Journal of Lesbian Studies: Revolting Bodies: Desiring Lesbians Special Issue 17.3-4 (2013): 365-79. Web.
Mattingly, Doreen J. “The Limited Power of Female Appointments: Abortion and Domestic Violence Policy in the Carter Administration.” Feminist Studies 41.3 (2015): 538-65. Web.
Mattingly, Doreen J, and Nare, Jessica L. ““A Rainbow of Women”: Diversity and Unity at the 1977 U.S. International Women’s Year Conference.” Journal of Women’s History 26.2 (2014): 88-112. Web.