American politician (1927?2009)
Paula Hawkins
(nee
Fickes
; January 24, 1927 ? December 4, 2009) was an American politician from
Florida
. She is the only woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida. She was the second woman ever elected to the Senate from the
American South
. She was the first woman in the country to be elected to a full Senate term without having a close family member who previously served in major public office.
[1]
[2]
Early years
[
edit
]
Hawkins was the eldest of three children born to Paul and Leone Fickes in
Salt Lake City
,
Utah
. Her father was a Naval Chief Warrant Officer. In 1934, the family moved to
Atlanta
,
Georgia
, where her father taught at
Georgia Tech
. Her parents split when Paula was in high school, and Leone and the children returned to Utah.
[3]
She finished high school at
Richmond, Utah
in 1944, then enrolled at
Utah State University
. Paula was hired to be the
Athletic director
's secretary and met her future husband. On September 5, 1947, Paula Fickes and Walter Eugene Hawkins were married and moved to Atlanta. Gene earned a degree in
electrical engineering
and eventually opened his own business. The couple had three children before moving in 1955 to
Winter Park
, Florida, where Paula became a community activist and Republican volunteer.
[3]
[4]
Politics
[
edit
]
She began her electoral career by campaigning as a consumer advocate. She became the first woman elected to statewide office in Florida by winning a seat on the
Florida Public Service Commission
in 1972. Hawkins was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1974, which was won by
Jack Eckerd
. She was reelected to the Public Services Commission in 1976. In 1978, she was the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor on the ticket headed by Jack Eckerd. They lost to State Sen.
Bob Graham
and State Rep.
Wayne Mixson
. In 1980, she was elected to the
United States Senate
representing
Florida
, becoming Florida's first woman elected to the United States Senate and the fifth from the South.
[3]
U.S. Senate
[
edit
]
In 1980, she defeated former Congressman
Bill Gunter
to win election to the United States Senate; she was Florida's first woman elected to the United States Senate and only the fifth from the South.
[3]
Outgoing Senator
Richard Stone
resigned three days before his term ended, and Bob Graham as
Governor of Florida
nominated Hawkins to fill the two-day vacancy, giving her seniority over the other freshmen senators.
She was the first woman senator to bring her husband to
Washington, D.C.
As a result, the
Senate Wives' Club
became known as the
Senate Spouses' Club
.
Hawkins was particularly active in the realm of
child welfare
. She was a key figure in advocating and passing the 1982 Missing Children's Act, and in 1983 chaired the Investigation and Oversight Subcommittee of the
Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee
, where she launched an investigation of the increase of children reported missing.
[3]
In 1984 she spoke at the Third National Conference on Sexual Victimization of Children, where she stunned listeners by disclosing that she herself had been the victim of sexual abuse as a child. She subsequently authored,
Children at Risk, My Fight Against Child Abuse: A Personal Story and a Public Plea
, which was published in 1986.
[3]
In 1984, she was co-chairwoman of the platform committee at the RNC.
[5]
Senator Hawkins, in 1985, participated in the
Record Label Hearings
of the Senate's
Commerce Committee
, where the issue of labeling musical songs was examined, after the
Parents Music Resource Center
initiative. During the hearings, Hawkins had a notable altercation with testifying musician
Frank Zappa
, who eventually invited the senator to his home to see first-hand "what kind of toys" his children are playing with.
[6]
Hawkins was known during her tenure for saying and doing things many considered bizarre. She was most infamous during her first year in office for hosting a luncheon in an ornate Senate dining room of New York sirloin steak, tossed salad, baked potatoes, fresh asparagus, hot apple pie, and fresh strawberries and other citrus in which she railed against the "truly greedy" and proposed mandatory jail time for
food stamp cheaters
. Critics dubbed it the "steak and jail" luncheon (a pun on
Steak and Ale
).
[7]
Hawkins once again faced Bob Graham on a statewide ballot when she campaigned for re-election to the Senate in 1986. The Governor defeated her by 55 percent to 45 percent, the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent Senator in 1986.
Post-Washington activities
[
edit
]
Hawkins returned to Winter Park in early 1987. She was United States representative to the
Organization of American States
'
Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission
(CICAD) for seven years before leaving active politics. She remained involved behind the scenes in central Florida and her endorsement was sought by many candidates.
[3]
Hawkins was named a director of
Philip Crosby Associates
in 1988.
[8]
She joined the board of
Nu Skin Enterprises
in 1997.
[9]
She was a life-long member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
.
[10]
Health
[
edit
]
In a freak accident, a television studio partition toppled and struck her in early January 1982 during an interview at
WESH-TV
in Winter Park, Florida.
[11]
[12]
While not life-threatening, the mishap aggravated a back injury she suffered years before in an automobile collision and caused constant pain which plagued her during her years in Washington. Senator
Strom Thurmond
, in his capacity as President pro tempore, gave her the use of a room in the Capitol building for a hospital bed where she found pain relief under
weighted traction
during breaks between congressional activities.
[13]
Hawkins' right side was paralyzed in 1998 as the result of a severe
stroke
.
[13]
After this, she used a wheelchair. She stayed active, appearing on October 1, 2009, at the opening ceremony of the
Waldorf Astoria Orlando
at
Walt Disney World
.
[14]
Death
[
edit
]
Hawkins died at the age of 82 on December 4, 2009, of complications from a
fall
she suffered the previous day.
[15]
[16]
Electoral history
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Schneider, Mike (December 4, 2009).
"Congressman: Ex-Fla. Senator Paula Hawkins dies at 82 first Southern woman elected to the Senate"
.
(Minnesota) Star-Tribune
. Archived from
the original
on March 9, 2014
. Retrieved
August 27,
2018
.
- ^
"Paula Hawkins"
.
Legacy.com
. December 6, 2009.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Women in Congress: Paula Fickes Hawkins
Archived
2010-01-06 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Pleasants, Julian:
"Samuel Proctor Oral History Program: Paula Hawkins"
Archived
2010-06-01 at the
Wayback Machine
University of Florida, Dept. of History, November 11, 1997
- ^
Stout, David (December 4, 2009).
"Paula Hawkins, 82, Florida Ex-Senator, Dies"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
October 6,
2014
.
- ^
Transcript
of US Senate hearings, Commerce Committee, 19 September 1985
- ^
- ^
"Former Senator Paula Hawkins is named to board of Philip Crosby Associates"
[
dead link
]
, PR Newswire, August 15, 1988.
- ^
"Former U.S. Senator From Florida Joins Nu Skin Asia Pacific Board"
, PR Newswire, March 4, 1997.
- ^
Stout, David (December 4, 2009).
"Paula Hawkins, 82, Florida Ex-Senator, Dies"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
July 29,
2019
.
- ^
"TV Back Drop Falls; Paula Hawkins Hurt"
Lakeland Ledger, January 6, 1982
- ^
"Senator Hawkins Injured"
New York Times, January 6, 1982
- ^
a
b
Schneider, Mike (December 6, 2009).
"Ex-US Sen. Paula Hawkins of Florida dies at 82"
.
Associated Press
. Archived from
the original
on December 17, 2009
. Retrieved
February 11,
2011
.
- ^
Schneider, Mike:
"Congressman: Ex-Fla. Sen. Paula Hawkins dies at 82; first Southern woman elected to the Senate"
[
permanent dead link
]
Orlando Sentinel, December 4, 2009
- ^
"Florida Sen. Paula Hawkins, billed as the 'housewife from Maitland', dies at 82"
Archived
2009-12-08 at the
Wayback Machine
Tampa Tribune, December 5, 2009
- ^
Kam, Dara:
"Paula Hawkins, Florida's first female U.S. senator, dies"
Palm Beach Post, December 4, 2009
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