Millicent Fenwick, an iconoclastic, liberal, pipe-smoking Republican whose exploits live on in the Doonesbury cartoon character Lacey Davenport, is the subject of a half-hour documentary premiering this week on public television. Fenwick represented a New Jersey district in the U.S. House until 1982, when she was defeated in a Senate bid. Her career was rife with contrasts. A former model for Harper`s Bazaar and a Vogue magazine editor, she was nicknamed ”outhouse Millie” by her congressional colleagues for her support of portable toilets for migrant workers.
She cut a lean, classy figure in the Capitol and had a sharp wit. One of her famous retorts came during debate on the Equal Rights Amendment after a congressman said to her, ”I always thought women were meant to be kissable, cuddly and sweet-smelling.”
She replied: ”That`s what I thought of men-and I hope for your sake you haven`t been disappointed as many times as I`ve been.”
The documentary, ”Mrs. Fenwick Goes to Washington,” is the work of producer Theodore Bogosian, a longtime producer of PBS documentaries, who privately financed the initial phases of the documentary, then received a foundation grant to complete it.
Bogosian, a native of Somerville, N.J., said he decided to make the documentary, which contains considerable footage of Fenwick talking about her life, because she was a childhood role model for him.
”She was my congresswoman when I was growing up. Women aren`t usually role models for kids, but she was a very famous person in my community. I guess you could say she was a hero of mine.”
Bogosian also hopes the documentary will alert viewers to the possible extinction of what he calls ”the citizen-legislator,” those not schooled in the art of image-making and who, like Fenwick, brought to Washington diverse viewpoints based on life experiences.
”My motivation was really to explore how idiosyncratic politicians like Millicent Fenwick don`t come up through the ranks anymore,” he said.
Fenwick, 81, is retired and living in New Jersey.
The documentary will air at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 11.
