Jill Ruckelshaus

Jill Ruckelshaus
Ruckelshaus (left) with then First Lady Betty Ford (center front) on U.S. participation in International Women's Year, 1975
Personal details
Born
Jill Elizabeth Strickland

(1937-02-19) February 19, 1937 (age 87)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseWilliam Ruckelshaus (m. 1962 died 2019)
Children3
EducationIndiana University, Bloomington (BA)
Harvard University (MA)

Jill Elizabeth Ruckelshaus (née Strickland; born 1937) is a former special White House assistant and head of the White House Office of Women's Programs and a feminist activist.[1][2][3][4] She also served as a commissioner for the United States Commission on Civil Rights in the early 1980s.[5] Currently, she is a director for the Costco Wholesale Corporation.[6]

Ruckelshaus is known for her role as a leading Republican advocate for feminist policies, such as the Equal Rights Amendment and women's reproductive choice, during the peak of political influence for second-wave feminism in the United States. For this, she was referred to as the "Gloria Steinem of the Republican Party" for her outspoken positions on women's issues.[7] Her role in the movement, portrayed by Elizabeth Banks, was dramatized in the Mrs. America miniseries, with the sixth episode of the series in her name.

  1. ^ "Jill Ruckelshaus Quits As White House Aide - The New York Times". The New York Times. March 19, 1974. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  2. ^ "Tucson Daily Citizen Archives, Oct 3, 1973, p. 20". Newspaperarchive.com. October 3, 1973. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  3. ^ "Notes on People - The New York Times". The New York Times. August 3, 1973. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  4. ^ Barbara Love, ed. (September 22, 2006). Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. University of Illinois Press. pp. 398–. ISBN 978-0-252-03189-2.
  5. ^ sternweis (January 19, 2012). "We're Here for the Long Haul • See You There • Iowa State University Extension and Outreach". Blogs.extension.iastate.edu. Retrieved December 30, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Jill Ruckelshaus On the C-SPAN Networks". C-Span. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  7. ^ Romano, Lois (May 18, 1983). "Jill Ruckelshaus, Back in the Fishbowl". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 25, 2020.