Patricia "Pat" Schroeder is a retired American politician who represented Colorado in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997. Encouraged to run by her husband in the 1972 race for the predominantly Democratic but conservative congressional district, she did so without the support of the state Democratic Party or the Democratic National Committee. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado and was known for her outspoken liberal positions on social welfare, women’s rights, and military spending.
Born Patricia Scott in Portland, Oregon, in 1940, she went on to attend the University of Minnesota and studied history, philosophy, and political science. She then earned her doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1964. While in law school, a professor told Schroeder that most corporations rejected women lawyers, so she accepted a position with the federal government for two years as a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board. She later moved into private practice, became a professor of law, and volunteered as legal counsel for Planned Parenthood.
Few expected Schroeder to win the House race when she entered in 1972, but the dark horse candidate won voters over with her vocal opposition to the Vietnam War. She took her seat in the House of Representatives in 1973 as one of only 14 women and ultimately served 12 terms. Confronting a male-dominated institution, she served as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and focused on matters relating to family life including parental leave, child care, and family planning.
The second-highest ranking member of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, Schroeder was a proponent of programs to protect federal workers. She was also one of the first women ever appointed to the House Armed Services Committee, where she vigorously advocated for the rights of women in the military and railed against excessive military spending.
Schroeder did not seek re-election in 1996 and left the House of Representatives the following year. She taught for a semester at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and was president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers from 1997 to 2009. She has authored two books, "Champion of the Great American Family" and "24 Years of House Work…and the Place Is Still a Mess,” the latter a nod to her time in Congress.
Schroeder was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1995 and honored by the National Research Center for Women & Families in 2006 for her lifetime of achievements with a Foremother Award.