Background
Reid, Charlotte Thompson was born on September 27, 1913 in Kankakee, Illinois, United States. Daughter of Edward Charles and Ethel (Stith) Thompson.
United States representative politician
Reid, Charlotte Thompson was born on September 27, 1913 in Kankakee, Illinois, United States. Daughter of Edward Charles and Ethel (Stith) Thompson.
Student, Illinois College, 1931—1932. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Illinois College. Doctor of Laws (honorary), John Marshall Law School.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), Aurora College.
Before getting married and entering politics she was a featured vocalist with the National Broadcasting Company"s Breakfast Club with Don McNeill. She appeared under the professional name of "Annette King". On January 1, 1938, Charlotte Thompson married Frank R. Reid, Junior.
(who died in 1962).
She was the mother of four children: Illinois State Representative, Patricia Reid Lindner, Frank Reid, Susan Reid, and the late Edward Reid. Charlotte was very involved in her Husband"s run for congress. Because she was so involved in her husband"s campaign, she was appointed to run in his place.
She was first elected to Congress from the 15th District of Illinois in November 1962 and was the only new woman member elected that year.
Her first Congress, the 88th, contained 12 women Representatives and 1 woman Senator. She was re-elected for four successive terms.
Her initial assignments were on the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Committee on Public Works. She also served on the House Republican Policy Committee and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
Her committee assignments included the Committee on Appropriations where she was appointed to two of its Subcommittees: Foreign Operations and Labor-Health, Education and Welfare.
Charlotte Reid served as one of the first six Congressional members on the Board of Governors of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and served on the Board of Governors of the Capitol Hill Club. She addressed the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco and again at the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami. She was the only member of congress from Illinois to vote against the Civil Rights Acting of 1964.
In 1965, during her second term, she paid for her own trip to Vietnam to speak with her constituents from Illinois, including 23 men on an aircraft carrier in the China Sea.
When she returned she contacted their families. She said that the experience was "One of the most gratifying things that happened to me in Congress."
In 1968 she became the first woman to deliver a State of the Union response.
In 1969 she became the first woman to wear pants in the United States. Congress. Mistress Reid left Congress in 1971, in the middle of her fifth term, to become the only woman Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission.
While on the Federal Communication Commission, she served as the Commissioner of Defense focused on emergency preparedness and defense mobilization.
After leaving government in 1976, Mistress Reid was involved with both public and private boards:
Board of Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) (1982–1984)
Presidential Task Force on International Private Enterprise (1985–1987)
Board of Governors of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University (1982–1989)
Honorary degrees included Doctor of Laws from John Marshall Law School, Illinois College and Aurora University.
Member House of Representatives, Washington, 1962-1971. Member Commision on Federal Communication Commission, Washington, 1971-1976. Member Presidential Task Force on International Private Enterprise, 1983-1985.
Member committee Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, 1982-1985.
Married Frank R. Reid, January 1, 1938 (deceased 1962). Children: Patricia, Frank, Edward, Susan.