Mary Elizabeth Sutherland Carpenter (September 1, 1920 – March 20, 2010) was a writer,
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
, reporter,
media advisor
A media consultant is a marketing agent or public relations executive that is hired by businesses or political candidates to obtain positive press coverage. Media consultants usually draft press releases to highlight positive achievements of a ...
,
speechwriter
A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be em ...
, political humorist, and
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
expert.
As the first woman executive assistant to Vice President
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...
from 1961 to 1963, and then as press secretary for First Lady
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She had previously been Second Lady of the United States from 1961 to 196 ...
from 1963 to 1969, Carpenter was a prominent member of the Johnson White House and also a close personal friend of the Johnsons.
Carpenter was an ardent supporter of the
Women's Movement
The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's ...
when it began and never wavered from her convictions. Her projects and causes ranged from supporting the
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...
to fighting cancer. Her lighthearted memoir of her time in the White House, ''Ruffles and Flourishes'', published in 1969, was a national best-seller. Often called the "funniest woman in politics", she was in demand as a public speaker until her death.
Early life
Carpenter was born in her great-grandparents'
antebellum
Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to:
United States history
* Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern US
** Antebellum Georgia
** Antebellum South Carolina
** Antebellum Virginia
* Antebellum architectu ...
home in
Salado in southern
Bell County, Texas. In 1936, the 24-room Robertson House was declared a state historic monument. In 1967, a plaque was unveiled to indicate that Carpenter had once lived there. Another memorial to Carpenter is on the campus of
Salado College, founded by her great-grandfather, Elijah Robertson. At the age of seven, she moved with her family to
Austin
Austin refers to:
Common meanings
* Austin, Texas, United States, a city
* Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
.
Media and political career
In 1942, Carpenter began covering the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
and
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
for the ''
Austin American-Statesman
The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The distribution of the following ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', '' ...
''. For the next eighteen years, she reported on presidents from
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
to
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
as a
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
reporter.
She was still a working reporter at the time of the
1960 Democratic National Convention
The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles, California, on July 11–15, 1960. It nominated Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for president and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas for vice president.
In ...
in Los Angeles, California. She soon joined the staff of
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...
in his campaign for Vice President in 1960 and traveled on his foreign missions as a press spokeswoman. After Kennedy's election, she became the first woman executive assistant to the vice-president.
Carpenter was in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
on November 22, 1963, at the time of the
assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...
. She drafted the fifty-eight words that Johnson used on his return to Washington:
:This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed. For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help and God's.
Following Johnson's succession to the presidency, Carpenter became the first professional newswoman to be press secretary to a first lady for
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She had previously been Second Lady of the United States from 1961 to 196 ...
(1963–1969), for whom she also served as staff director.
Carpenter also assembled several other staffers as an informal "White House Humor Group" to add humorous remarks to the President's speeches, at Johnson's request.
After the Johnson Administration ended in 1969, she published ''Ruffles and Flourishes'', her account of her White House experiences.
She was a vice president of Hill and Knowlton in Washington after leaving the White House. In 1971, she was one of the founders of the
National Women's Political Caucus
The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) is an organization which was founded in 1971 by leaders of the women's liberation movement to promote women's participation in government. The group describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots or ...
and co-chair of
ERAmerica, traveling the country to push for passage of the
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...
.
She was appointed by President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...
to the International Women's Year Commission, by President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
to serve as Assistant Secretary of Education for Public Affairs, and by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
to serve on the White House Conference on Aging.
Carpenter was a member of the
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
s Board of Jurors from 1977 to 1983.
Literary career

Her books include: ''Unplanned Parenthood'', Random House 1994; ''Getting Better All the Time'', Simon and Schuster 1986, as well as countless articles and forays on the lecture circuit. ''Start With a Laugh'', gives humorous advice o
speech writing was published by Eakin Press and launched at the opening of the National Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future in Dallas. Her most recent book, ''Presidential Humor'', Bright Sky Press 2006, was a compilation of quips and quotes from "George the First to George the Worst."
Carpenter wrote an article for the ''Reader's Digest'' in the early 1980s, about enjoying life having recovered from an illness, closing the article with the poem "Warning" by British poet
Jenny Joseph, which had the opening lines "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me". This led to the poem's fame spreading across the US through adoption by the greetings card industry and eventually the development of the
Red Hat Society.
Awards and recognition
Carpenter was named a Distinguished Alumna of the University of Texas in 1975, and in 1990 was named distinguished alumnae of the Department of Communications. She was named by Governor Mark White to the Texas Women's Hall of Fame. She was given the ProBene Award of the College of Liberal Arts.
The Liz Carpenter Lectureship was established in 1984 by a group of her friends, including
Erma Bombeck and Mark Russell, who gave a performance at the Paramount Theater to raise funds for it.
In the last several years, Mrs. Carpenter's lectureship in the College of Liberal Arts has brought President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...
,
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
,
Jehan Sadat
Jehan Sadat (, ; ; 29 August 1933 – 9 July 2021) was an Egyptian human rights activist and the First Lady of Egypt, as the wife of Anwar Sadat, from 1970 until her husband's assassination in 1981. As Egypt's first lady, she greatly influenc ...
,
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...
,
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers; June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Council ...
,
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English zoologist, Primatology, primatologist and Anthropology, anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremo ...
, and writers such as
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan (; February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book '' The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the s ...
,
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as ...
,
Shana Alexander, and
Jean Auel
Jean Marie Auel (; ; born February 18, 1936) is an American writer who wrote the '' Earth's Children'' books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Ma ...
and nationally known humorists such as
Fannie Flagg
Fannie Flagg (born Patricia Neal; September 21, 1944) is an American actress, comedian, and author. She is best known as a semi-regular panelist on the 1973–1982 versions of the game show ''Match Game'' and for the 1987 novel '' Fried Green To ...
and
Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Each of her characters typically possessed a fervent expressiveness and an easily ide ...
.
The Liz Carpenter Award is given annually for the best scholarly book on the history of women and Texas published during the calendar year. The Award was established in 1992 by an anonymous donor who is committed to the publication of scholarly research on the history of women and Texas. The award honors Liz Carpenter, a sixth-generation Texan, for her commitment to the pursuit of the history of women in Texas and for a lifetime of achievements that qualify her as a maker of that history.
She was the recipient of
Alpha Phi
Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority with 175 active chapters and over 270,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, ...
's
Frances E. Willard Award in 1980. She died in Austin, Texas in March 2010.
Notes
References
*In the book ''Liz Carpenter: Girl from Salado'', author Betty Wilke Cox tells the story of this noted writer, journalist and former press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson.
Austin Chronicle feature on 'Miz Liz'University of Texas – Alpha Phi sororityLiz Carpenter speaks at Week of WomenLBJ's Texas White HouseTexas Women's Political CaucusNational Women's Conference
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Liz
1920 births
2010 deaths
People from Salado, Texas
Texas Democrats
Writers from Austin, Texas
People associated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy
Moody College of Communication alumni
Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel
Journalists from Texas
Deaths from pneumonia in Texas
Women in Texas politics
American feminists
Austin American-Statesman people
Equal Rights Amendment activists
First Lady of the United States press secretaries