Hutchison, Kay Bailey 1943- (Kathryn Ann Bailey)

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Hutchison, Kay Bailey 1943- (Kathryn Ann Bailey)

PERSONAL:

Born July 22, 1943, in Galveston, TX; daughter of Allan (in business and real estate) and Kathryn (a homemaker) Bailey; married John Pierce Parks (a doctor), April 8, 1967 (divorced, 1969); married Ray Hutchison (a lawyer and politician), March 16, 1978; children: Kathryn Bailey and Houston Taylor. Education: University of Texas, B.A., 1964, L.L.B., 1967. Politics: Republican.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Dallas, TX. Office—284 Russell Senate Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20510-4304. E-mail—senator@hutchison.senate.gov.

CAREER:

Politician and lawyer. Admitted to the Texas State Bar, 1967; KPRC-TV, Houston, TX, political and legal correspondent, 1969-71; private law practice, Houston, TX, 1969-74; press secretary to Republican National Committee cochair Anne Armstrong, 1971; Texas House of Representatives, Houston-area representative, 1972-76; National Transportation Safety Board vice chair, Washington, DC, 1976-78; University of Texas, Dallas, assistant professor, 1978-79; Republic Bank Corporation, TX, senior vice president and general counsel, 1979-81; Fidelity National Bank of Dallas, cofounder, worked for four years; McCraw Candies, Inc., Farmersville, TX, owner; Boyd-Levinson, Ltd., Houston and Dallas, partner, 1981-91; Texas State Treasurer, Austin, 1991-93; U.S. Senate, Washington, DC, senator from Texas, 1993—, deputy majority whip, beginning 1995, cochair of the Senate GOP Regulatory Reform Task Force, beginning 1995, chair of the Republican Policy Committee, 2007—.

MEMBER:

University of Texas Law Alumni Association (fellow; president, 1985-86).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Eagle award, 1993, for valued commitment to our nation's Hispanic community; Texan of the year, Texas Legislative Conference, 1997; Texas Women's Hall of Fame, 1997; Restoring the Balance Award, National Conference of State Legislature, 1998; Green Key Award, National Rural Water Association, 2000; CLEAT award, 2000, for support of law enforcement; National Family Military Association award, 2001; National Leadership award, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 2002; Congressional Leadership award, Women's Foreign Policy Group, 2004; distinguished public service award, Alliance for Aging Research, 2004; Adam Smith Federal Elected Official medal, Business Industry Political Action Committee, 2004; wetland sponsor of the year award, Ducks Unlimited, 2005; National Commander's Distinguished Public Service award, American Legion, 2006; outstanding legislator award, Association of the U.S. Army, 2006; Charles Dick Medal of Merit, National Guard Association of Texas, 2006; Connie Mack Lifetime Achievement Award, Susan G. Komen Foundation, 2007; Alice Award, Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, 2007; distinguished American award, Air Force Association, 2008.

WRITINGS:

(With others) Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2000.

American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2004.

Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers, Harper (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Kay Bailey Hutchison is a Republican U.S. Senator from Texas. Born in Galveston, Texas, on July 22, 1943, she hails from a family tree steeped in Texas history, starting with her great-great-grandfather, Charles S. Taylor, a signatory of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The daughter of a businessman and a homemaker, Hutchison pursued her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas and completed an L.L.B. there in 1967, the same year she was admitted to the Texas State Bar.

Hutchison struggled to find a job as a lawyer after graduation, and eventually accepted a position at Houston-based KPRC-TV, where she served as a political and legal correspondent from 1969 to 1971. Hutchison also started her own private legal practice in Houston in 1969, remaining active in it until 1974. During this time, she served as the press secretary to Republican National Committee cochair Anne Armstrong in 1971. Her start in politics spurred an interest in public service, and in 1972, she ran for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives and won. She left the Texas House in 1976 when she accepted the two-year position of National Transportation Safety Board vice chair.

In 1978 she returned to Texas and worked at her alma mater, the University of Texas, Dallas, as an assistant professor. The following year she began working as the senior vice president and general counsel at the Republic Bank Corporation. During the 1980s she also worked for four years at the Fidelity National Bank of Dallas, which she cofounded. Hutchison also tried her hand in the business world, opening McCraw Candies, Inc. From 1981 to 1991, she also returned to law, serving as a partner at Boyd-Levinson, Ltd.

In 1991 Hutchison returned to politics after winning an election to become the Texas State Treasurer under Democratic governor Ann Richards. Her term was interrupted just two years later, however, when then President Bill Clinton appointed the Texas-based U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentson as secretary of the treasury, creating a vacant seat. Although the Democrats held that particular seat for more than one hundred years, Hutchison ran for the seat as a Republican and won with two-thirds of the popular vote. Hutchison overcame criminal ethics charges in 1994 and won election to her first full six-year term. By 1995 Hutchison was named the deputy majority whip and cochair of the Senate GOP Regulatory Reform Task Force, marking a quick rise through the ranks of the Republican Senate leadership. She won reelection again in 2000 and 2006, brushing aside rumors that she would vacate her Senate seat and run for governor of Texas. In 2007 she was named the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, making her the fourth-highest-ranked Republican in the Senate.

Hutchison, the first female senator elected from Texas, has made her mark in Texas and national politics history. She was named Texan of the year by the Texas Legislative Conference and was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, both in 1997, and received a National Leadership award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities in 2002. In 2004 she was awarded both the Congressional Leadership award from the Women's Foreign Policy Group and the distinguished public service award from the Alliance for Aging Research. Hutchison received the Charles Dick Medal of Merit from the National Guard Association of Texas in 2006 and, the following year, the Connie Mack Lifetime Achievement Award from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. In 2008, the Air Force Association honored Hutchison with the distinguished American award.

Hutchison explained in an interview on the HarperCollins Web site that "perseverance, hard work, and enormous energy" were the most important traits to her for gaining the success she has achieved, adding that "I could have given up so many times, but didn't. Sometimes when I was on the verge of giving up, the last try broke the barrier." In the same interview, she also discussed the nature of American politics since she became a senator. In highlighting ways in which to improve the political climate, she suggested that "we would all like to see less partisanship, eliminate personal attacks of any kind, and guard against the criminalization of politics. We must encourage our best and brightest to serve in public office; nothing is more discouraging than the personal attacks that many campaigns employ."

Hutchison coauthored her first book, Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate, in 2000. The book was written by and about the other women who were in the Senate at the time of publication, including Senators Barbara Mikulski, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray, Olympia Snowe, Mary Landrieu, Blanche L. Lincoln, and Susan Collins. The account delves into the personal lives of these women, the rise of their political careers, and the different ways they set and achieved their goals.

Hutchison published her first solo book, American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country, in 2004. The book combines personal recollection with social history to form a survey of accomplishments of pioneering women in the United States since the nineteenth century. Hutchison covers authors, educators, performers, diplomats, and politicians, including Mary Austin Holley, Emma Willard, Mary Cassatt, Dolores Del Rio, Geraldine Ferraro, and Sandra Day O'Connor. Hutchison also interviewed a number of current female leaders in these fields to get their perspectives on their predecessors, such as Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright, and Barbara Walters.

A contributor writing in Publishers Weekly noted that "it's Hutchison's personal vignettes that [suffer] in this arrangement." The same contributor concluded that "her story is certainly interesting enough to warrant more time." Rachel DiCarlo, reviewing the book in the Weekly Standard, found the book to be "a bit self-important." DiCarlo nevertheless summarized that "American Heroines is a handy resource. It's quick, easy, and full of facts. What more do you want in a book from a member of Congress?" Booklist contribu- tor Kristine Huntley recalled that in the discussions with the book's subjects, "their answers and Hutchison's lively, personal writing makes this an accessible and important volume." Glenn Dromgoole, writing in the Houston Chronicle, described the book as "an interesting collection of biographical sketches."

In 2007 Hutchison published her third book, Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers. The account offers brief biographies of female politicians, journalists, authors, doctors, scientists, soldiers, and social workers who have significantly impacted the development of the United States. The biographies cover early career background, leading up to the pinnacles of their accomplishments and contributions in their respective fields. Hutchison mixes in well-known pioneers, such as Jane Addams and Susan B. Anthony, with those of lesser-known but equally deserving women, including newspaper publisher Eliza Jan Poitevent and Nobel Prize-winner Gerty Cori.

A critic writing in Kirkus Reviews remarked that Hutchison "clearly respects her subjects—even those who may not share her politics—and her enthusiasm is infectious." The same critic labeled the book "a solid introduction to female American leaders." Booklist contributor Margaret Flanagan observed that "these vivid portraits are arranged in digestible chapters," making the book "a natural for women's-history collections."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Prospect, July 17, 2000, Robert S. McIntyre, "The Taxonomist," p. 9.

America's Intelligence Wire, April 28, 2005, "Interview with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison"; May 24, 2005, "Interview with Senator Jeff Bingaman; Interview with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison"; August 2, 2005, "Interview with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison"; August 22, 2005, "Interview with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison"; September 9, 2005, "Interview with Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison"; October 1, 2005, "Interview with Kay Bailey Hutchison"; October 5, 2005, "Interview with Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison"; November 15, 2005, "Interview with Kay Bailey Hutchison."

Black Issues in Higher Education, June 22, 2000, "Senators Push for Seventy-five Million Dollars for Hispanic Colleges," p. 8.

Booklist, November 15, 2004, Kristine Huntley, review of American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country, p. 549; December 1, 2007, Margaret Flanagan, review of Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers, p. 15.

Chronicle of Philanthropy, August 21, 2003, Brad Wolverton, "Key Senator Introduces Foundation-Payout Proposal."

CongressDaily, February 9, 2001, "Hutchison Keeps Open Option for Texas Governor Bid"; March 7, 2001, "As Hutchison Backs Off from Bid for Statehouse"; May 10, 2001, "Hutchison Wins Floor Time for Airport Regulation Bill."

CosmoGirl!, November 1, 2005, Karla Sanchez, "The Heart of Texas," p. 102.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 17, 2005, "Hutchison Won't Seek to Unseat Texas Governor."

Fuel Oil News, May 1, 2007, "NPRA Praises Hutchison Effort to Finalize 2005 Energy Tax Provision," p. 4.

Houston Chronicle, April 1, 2002, Shelby Hodge, "Baby Hutchison Steals the Spotlight," p. 1; February 13, 2005, Glenn Dromgoole, "New in Texana," p. 17; March 25, 2005, R.G. Ratcliffe, "An Old Campaign Promise Might Weigh on Hutchison," p. 1; April 27, 2005, R.G. Ratcliffe, "Hutchison Is Dividing GOP, E-mail Says," p. 4; May 12, 2005, Polly Ross Hughes, "Poll Shows Perry Slipping; Hutchison Has Strongest Rating of Texas Politicans," p. 4; May 18, 2005, Samantha Levine, "Hutchison May Face Tough Choice," p. 4; June 8, 2005, Samantha Levine, "Hutchison Talks, but Not about Her Plans," p. 11; June 16, 2005, Samantha Levine and Bennett Roth, "Senators Try to Explain Failure to Co-sponsor Lynching Apology; Hutchison and Cornyn Are among 17 Lawmakers Who Didn't Add Names to the Measure," p. 11; June 18, 2005, R.G. Ratcliffe, "Hutchison to Run for Senate, Not Governor," p. 1.

Insight on the News, July 12, 1993, "Two Women Rose or Fell by Their Ideas, Not Gender," p. 32; July 15, 1996, Lisa Leiter, "The Struggle to Stretch the Long Arm of the Law," p. 18; June 9, 1997, Stephen Goode, "Lone Star Lady Hutchison One of GOP's Brightest Stars," p. 18.

International Wire, August 22, 2005, "Interview with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison."

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2007, review of Leading Ladies.

McKnight's Long-Term Care News, July 13, 1999, "Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison," p. 10.

National Journal, September 8, 2001, "Bailey's Quarters," p. 2772.

National Review, June 7, 1993, Neil Swanson, "Mutual Assured Destruction," p. 18.

New York Times, June 18, 2005, "National Briefing Southwest," p. 9.

New York Times Magazine, February 20, 2005, Ian Buruma, "Uncaptive Minds," p. 38.

Political/Congressional Transcript Wire, August 24, 2005, "U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Holds a News Conference to Discuss Brac Commission Proceedings."

Publishers Weekly, November 1, 2004, review of American Heroines, p. 59.

State Legislatures, April 1, 1998, "Hutchison and Shaw Receive NCSL Award," p. 4.

Texas Monthly, November 1, 1993, Paul Burka, "The Trials of Senator Sweet," p. 134; August 1, 1994, Jan Jarboe, "Sitting Pretty," p. 80.

UPI NewsTrack, March 24, 2005, "Perry Camp Admits Filming Hutchison."

USA Today, May 10, 2007, "In Congress, Times Have Changed," p. 9.

U.S. News & World Report, August 7, 2006, "And Now, the Good News," p. 32; July 24, 2008, Jennifer O'Shea, "Ten Things You Didn't Know about Kay Bailey Hutchison."

Vital Speeches of the Day, January 1, 1993, "Let Thomas Jefferson Rest in Peace," p. 183; August 1, 1999, "A Foreign Policy Vision," p. 610.

Weekly Standard, January 17, 2005, Rachel DiCarlo, review of American Heroines, p. 39.