Biography:

Susan Molinari

Former U.S. Congresswoman Susan Molinari (born 1958), the highest ranking woman elected to a position of leadership in the House of Representatives (as vice chair of the Republican Conference, 1996), left politics in 1997 for a career in television broadcasting.

Susan Molinari seemed destined for politics. Her grandfather, S. Robert Molinari, was a member of the New York State Assembly and her father, Guy V. Molinari, was a member of Congress and Staten Island Borough President. In 1996, shortly before Molinari quit, she had reached a high point in her political career as the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention. She was hailed as one of the bright new stars on the Republican political scene by many, including such periodicals as Time.

Growing Up Political

Susan Molinari was born in Staten Island, New York, on March 27, 1958, to Guy V. and Marguerite (Wing) Molinari. As a child, she attended political rallies with her father. Raised in the state of New York, Molinari later attended the State University of New York in Albany. In 1981, having graduated cum laude in communications, with a master's in political communications, she decided to move to Washington, D.C., to pursue a career. Molinari was very familiar with politics, and broadened her knowledge while an undergraduate by serving as an intern for State Senator Christopher Mega.

After arriving in Washington, D.C., following her graduate studies, Molinari worked for the Republican Governors' Association as a financial assistant. Beginning in 1983, she served a year as the ethnic-community liaison with the Republican National Committee. She moved back to New York to campaign for public office in the mid-1980s. Her efforts were successful and, at the age of 28, Molinari was elected to the New York City Council. She earned two distinctions with that election: recognition as the youngest-ever council member and the title of council minority leader. A leader of one, it would turn out, as Molinari was the sole Republican to sit on the council. With this position also came a $20, 000 tax-payer-financed stipend and a chauffeur-driven car. It was a promising start for a woman not yet 30.

In 1990, Molinari was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the 14th New York District, which consisted of Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn. The area was reconfigured into the 13th Congressional District by the time she ran for and won reelection in 1992. During these years in political office, she saw her first marriage to John Lucchesi, a Staten Island limousine company owner, come to an end. Married in 1988, by 1992 the couple had separated and divorced. In 1994, Molinari married fellow politician William Paxon, a congressman from Buffalo, New York. He had proposed the previous year while kneeling on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. According to Craig Bromberg of People, Molinari's response to the proposal was, "You're not doing this here?" When it became clear that Paxon was indeed proposing then and there, Molinari hastily agreed: "Yes, but get up!" The couple would have one daughter, Susan Ruby.

Molinari, a moderate Republican, was known for her stance on women's rights. In the New Yorker, Judith Shulevitz, a policy analyst at the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, asserted that Molinari's "reputation as an urban moderate rests largely on a commitment to abortion rights." In December of 1994, Rich Lowry's profile of Molinari appeared in the National Review. He reported that Molinari "was one of four Republicans … to join 68 Democrats this June in signing a letter to House Speaker Tom Foley warning that a 'health care reform that does not include coverage of abortion treats women as second class citizens."' Meryl Gordon later quoted Molinari in a Harper's Bazaar interview: "I have friends who had abortions and in some cases it probably saved their lives in terms of mental stability."

In 1995, Molinari was considered the highest-ranking woman in the House. By the age of 32, she had won the vice-chairmanship of the House Republican Conference, and was then described by Shulevitz as "No. 5 in [House Speaker] Newt Gingrich's inner circle." On the surface, this powerful woman worked hard for women's rights. She continually pushed for stronger domestic-violence laws and the Gender Equity Act, which included, among other things, an emphasis on promoting gender equity in college sports. She was proud of what Lowry would call a "signature contribution to the Violence Against Women Act, a provision making it easier for judges to admit into evidence previous unproved allegations against defendants in sex-crime cases." All of these policies would make Molinari a Republican that women could empathize with and support. In an article which appeared in Newsday, Mary Voboril quoted Frank Luntz, a Washington Republican communications consultant: "She appeals particularly well to working women, and she's got a bubbly sense of enthusiasm that Republicans so often lack. They often seem so dour and depressing."

In 1996, Molinari was chosen to deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention. The keynote speaker at a political convention presents the issues relevant to the assembly, and also sets the convention tone, inspiring unity and enthusiasm. Molinari did just that. She did cause controversy, however, when she refused to mention abortion in her speech. She defended her choice by commenting to Voboril in the Newsday article that the purpose of the convention was to unify and that abortion "is an issue that divides Republicans, divides Democrats and, frankly, divides probably every family in America." As noted in Commonweal, Molinari was the ideal choice as a keynote speaker for the Republicans: "Molinari is a Catholic ethnic of the baby-boomer generation who is a) pro-choice, b) divorced, and c) a mother with a professional career…. [B]oth parties are trying to appeal to voters with similar profiles."

Is There Life After Politics?

Molinari startled a good many people when she announced her retirement from politics in 1997, leaving Congress before her term of office had ended. Although many speculated that her decision was family related, Molinari claimed to be pursuing a life-long desire to be in front of the television camera. As Newsweek contributor Jonathan Alter declared: "What's so striking about her decision is that instead of explaining it as a way to spend more time with her 1-year-old daughter, … she says the move is the fulfillment of a personal dream." In an article for Family Circle Molinari noted, "Having majored in communications, I'd always dreamed of a position in broadcast news, but never thought it a possibility. Suddenly, the opportunity to join CBS presented the best of all worlds. In a different context, I could remain involved in national affairs and pursue a lifelong passion. Although my new job will be challenging, I expect to have somewhat more predictable hours, allowing me more time with my daughter."

Molinari was named news co-anchor on the program CBS News Saturday Morning in May of 1997. The broadcast premiered in September of that year, and was met with positive reviews. Molinari has commented that her congressional background gives her an advantage as a television news reporter, and her skills in evading questions as a political figure will help her recognize the tactic in guests, making her a sharp interviewer. With co-anchor Russ Mitchell, Molinari provides viewers of CBS News Saturday Morning an intelligent alternative to cartoons.

Maintaining a busy schedule even though no longer in Congress, Molinari commutes to Manhattan every week from the Washington, D.C., area. In 1998, she published her memoirs, Representative Mom: Balancing Budget, Bill, and Baby in the U.S. Congress. Written with Elinor Burkett, the volume presents Molinari's years in the political arena. A reviewer in Booklist noted, "Perhaps more interesting, though, than Molinari's personal story is the insider's look she provides at the U.S. Congress." When asked about her decision to leave the House of Representatives, Molinari was quoted in the National Review as saying: "As an American I am sorry. As a wife and mother I couldn't be happier."

Susan Molinari

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 13th district
In office 1990–1997
Preceded by	Stephen J. Solarz
Succeeded by	Vito Fossella

Born	March 27 1958 (1958--) (age 49) Staten Island, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Bill Paxon

Early life and family

Molinari was born in Staten Island, New York, the daughter of lawyer and perennial Republican politician Guy Molinari. She graduated from the University at Albany, The State University of New York. She served on the New York City Council before winning a special election to the House of Representatives in 1990 as a Republican to replace her father, who retired from Congress to become Staten Island Borough President.

Molinari married fellow U.S. Representative Bill Paxon on July 3rd 1994, after having previously married and divorced once. The couple have two daughters together, Susan Ruby and Kate.

In the House of Representatives

While in the House of Representatives, Molinari's ideology tended to be more moderate than the main line of the Republican Party, in which the conservative Southern wing of the party was clearly ascendant. On issues of crime and punishment, she favored extended use of the federal death penalty and restrictions. She favored reduction of Social Security taxes, middle class tax cuts, and tax credits for families; these were policies consistent with traditional fiscal conservatism. She signed on to the Republicans' 1994 Contract with America, which promised a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and opposed the placing of U.S. troops under U.N. command. Concerning social policy, she leaned more liberal than many of her Republican colleagues. Unlike her father, an outspoken opponent of abortion, Molinari is pro-choice. She also sided with the Democrats in voting for the Family and Medical Leave Act, a cornerstone of Bill Clinton's social policy. She offset these positions with her own standing as a new mother, framing her outlook in terms of "family values," and in fact energetically campaigned for fellow Republicans with whom she disagreed on both abortion and FMLA. In her autobiography she intimated that the tense ideological atmosphere within the Republican Party after they won majority in the House and the shrewd but polarizing Georgian Newt Gingrich became Speaker contributed to her unease. Molinari gave the keynote speech at the 1996 Republican National Convention, but resigned the House in June 1997 to take a job as a television journalist for CBS.

Molinari was replaced by Republican Vito Fossella in a 1997 Special Election. Fossella's voting record is much more conservative than hers.

After politics

Journalism

At CBS, Molinari co-anchored a Saturday morning news program for roughly nine months, ending in 1998. Her hiring was controversial from the very beginning; Although Molinari had earned degrees in communication, her major professional credentials were political, and her main national public recognition came from her speech at the Republican National Convention. Media critics asked whether a partisan politician could reasonably be expected to maintain objectivity. Others at the time criticized her on-air demeanor as either too "stiff" or too "perky," or attacked her interviews as superficial. Conservatives accused her of "selling out." Although allegedly CBS had first tried to respond to these criticisms by switching Molinari into "home and garden" journalism, the official comment from CBS executives was that they thought her better suited to political commentary, and had no such position available. However, she did later host a public affairs show called The Flipside and has been frequently called upon as a guest commentator on other leading political talk shows.

Lobbying and consulting

Molinari was named in 2004 as president of Ketchum Public Affairs and also serves as chief executive officer of Ketchum Inc.'s lobbying firm, The Washington Group, where she recently was named chairman.

Molinari has cooperated for years with the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), which operates a telephone hotline in conjunction with more than 1,000 rape crisis centers nationwide. The group also sponsors outreach programs on college campuses. Her activities have included sponsoring legislation, and more recently heading a task force directed toward developing an Internet-based counterpart to the existing hotline.

Molinari also serves as Chair of The Century Council, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking by advocating and facilitating education, communications, research, law enforcement, and other programs. In its fight against these types of alcohol abuse, the Council is funded by "America's leading distillers" of alcoholic liquor, including Bacardi, Inc. and several other liquor manufacturers.

Recent Political Activities

Although she has maintained a public face, Molinari's subsequent political activities have been largely behind the scenes. She supported George W. Bush's election in 2000, but joined with more moderate Republicans such as Gerald Ford, David Rockefeller, and Richard Riordan in forming the Republican Unity Coalition, which opposed Bush's decision to support an amendment to the United States Constitution banning gay marriage.

She has not sought any elected office in 2006, bucking speculation that she would run against Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Preceded by Guy V. Molinari	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 14th congressional district 1990–1993	Succeeded by Carolyn B. Maloney
Preceded by Stephen J. Solarz	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 13th congressional district 1993–1997	Succeeded by Vito Fossella

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