Gracie Pfost
Encyclopedia
Gracie Bowers Pfost was the first woman to represent Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

 in the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

, serving five terms as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 in the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

. Pfost represented the state's First Congressional District
Idaho's 1st congressional district
Idaho's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Idaho. The district encompasses the western and northern parts of the state and includes the western third of the state capital, Boise, and most of its suburbs, including Nampa, Caldwell, and Meridian...

.

Biography

Pfost moved with her parents to a farm near Boise, Idaho
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...

, in 1911. She graduated from Link's Business University in Boise in 1929.

After graduation, Pfost took up work as a chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...

 for a milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

 company. She entered politics in Canyon County
Canyon County, Idaho
Canyon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 Census the county had a population of 188,923. The county seat is Caldwell, and its largest city is Nampa.. Canyon County is part of the Boise City–Nampa, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :The county was...

 and held several positions in county government between 1929 and 1951, including deputy county clerk, auditor, recorder of deeds
Recorder of deeds
Recorder of deeds is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over that property.-Background:...

 and county treasurer. She also served as an Idaho delegate to all Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

s between 1944 and 1960.

In 1950, Pfost ran for Congress, but lost to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 John Travers Wood
John Travers Wood
John Travers Wood was a politician from the U.S. state of Idaho, serving a single term in the House of Representatives as a Republican.-Biography:...

. In 1952, she ran again, defeating former Congressman Compton I. White, Sr.
Compton I. White
Compton Ignatius White, Sr. was a politician from the U.S. state of Idaho, who served in the United States House of Representatives, chairing a committee.-Biography:...

 in the Democratic primary and Wood in the general election. Pfost was reelected in 1954, 1956, 1958 and 1960.

In 1962, Pfost was the Democratic nominee in a special Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 election to replace the late Henry Dworshak
Henry Dworshak
Henry Clarence Dworshak was a Republican United States Representative and a United States Senator from Idaho....

, but was narrowly defeated by the appointed Republican incumbent, former Governor Len Jordan
Leonard B. Jordan
Leonard Beck "Len" Jordan was the 23rd Governor of Idaho and United States Senator from Idaho.Jordan served in World War I as an Army officer. He was a sheep rancher in Hell's Canyon during the Great Depression...

 51%-49%.

After leaving the House in 1963, Pfost worked in the Federal Housing Administration
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration is a United States government agency created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying...

 as a special assistant on housing for the elderly, until her death at Johns Hopkins Hospital two years later the age of 59.

Pfost is buried in Meridian, Idaho
Meridian, Idaho
-History:The town was established in 1891 on the Onweiler farm north of the present site and was called Hunter. Two years later an I.O.O.F. lodge was organized and called itself Meridian because it was located on the Boise Meridian and the town was renamed...

.

External links

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