Midge Costanza, Carter Administration Rights Advocate, Resigns
Midge Costanza, head of the Office of Public Liaison in President Jimmy Carter’s administration, in charge of outreach to specific constituencies including women, reproductive rights advocates, and lesbian and gay rights activists, resigned under pressure on this day
As an advisor to the president, she was the highest-ranking woman in the Carter administration. They had met when Carter helped in her successful campaign for the at-large seat on City Council of Rochester, New York, in 1973; she then became Vice-Mayor through that position. In the Carter administration, she was responsible for the first-ever meeting of lesbian and gay rights activists in the White House, on March 26, 1977.
Her advocacy proved to be a little too strong for President Carter, and he came to believe that she was encouraging feminist criticisms of his policies. He finally became disenchanted with her and, by downgrading her office, forced her to resign.
Despite a generally good record on civil liberties and civil rights, as both a candidate and president, Carter made occasional offensive comments on race relations and homosexuality.
Learn about Midge Costanza here
Learn more about Midge Costanza at the San Diego Women’s Hall of Fame: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjxewZ3pjV8
Read the new biography of Jimmy Carter: Kai Bird, The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter (2021)
Watch Midge Costanza in debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS0ICDW5IMU
Learn more about President Carter’s civil liberties record: Samuel Walker, Presidents and Civil Liberties From Wilson to Obama (2012)
Learn more about Carter’s post-presidential work at the Carter Center: http://www.cartercenter.org/index.html