Jean Ashbrook, who once described herself as “a smalltown
girl who enjoyed the role of wife and mother,”
came to Congress in a manner that by the 1980s had
become less conventional for women: the widow’s
mandate.1 Congresswoman Ashbrook served out the
remaining seven months of John Milan Ashbrook’s term
and retired when her Ohio district was reapportioned out
of existence.
Emily Jean Spencer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on
September 21, 1934. She attended schools in Newark,
Ohio, and graduated from Newark High School in 1952.
Spencer received a bachelor of science degree from Ohio
State University in 1956. In 1974 she married John
Ashbrook, a lawyer, newspaper publisher, and son of a
former conservative Democratic Representative from Ohio.
As a homemaker, Jean Ashbrook raised three children from
a previous marriage: Elizabeth, Katherine, and John. She
also served as a member of several charities and political
clubs. John Ashbrook had children of his own, three
daughters from a marriage to Joan Needles which ended in
divorce in 1971.
John Ashbrook, who followed in his father’s professional
footsteps, was elected as a Republican to 11 terms as the U.S.
Representative from an Ohio district that covered a large
swath of the north-central part of the state, an agricultural
region with the town of Mansfield as its largest population
center. Congressman Ashbrook served as the Ranking
Republican on the Education and Labor Committee and
also on the Judiciary and Select Intelligence committees.
Ashbrook earned the reputation as one of the House’s most
“militant and dedicated” conservatives but also one of its
most independent. “I have never felt I had to go along with
anything,” he once remarked, “and getting along is not
important to me.”2 This sentiment rang true when Ashbrook
challenged President Richard M. Nixon for the Republican
nomination in 1972. Undeterred by the opposition he
received from many conservatives in the GOP, Ashbrook
entered the race to draw attention to what he perceived as
the “leftward drift” of the Nixon administration.3
John Ashbrook had entered the primary for Ohio’s
senatorial nomination before he died suddenly on April
24, 1982. Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes urged Jean
Ashbrook, who had been campaigning across the state for
her husband’s Senate race, to run for his vacant House seat.
“Immediately I said, ‘Yes,’” she recalled. “I really don’t know
why.” Her motivation, like that of many widows who had
preceded her, became clearer during the brief campaign
as she pledged to continue the conservative politics of her
husband. At her announcement press conference Ashbrook
emphasized her experience as a congressional spouse. “We
were a team,” she said. “I campaigned for eight years in the
17th District, and I do of course believe for what [John]
stood for. I think John thought I was capable. I think I
could do a good job.”4
Congressman Ashbrook’s district was one of two Ohio
seats slated for elimination at the end of the 97th Congress
(1981–1983) as a result of a redistricting plan precipitated
by declining state population. His district was chosen for
consolidation because of his decision to seek the Republican
nomination for the Senate.5 Aware that her tenure in
Congress would be brief, Jean Ashbrook nonetheless
entered the race to succeed her husband in the House.
Despite a voter turnout of only 10 percent in the
June 29 special election, Ashbrook defeated Democrat
Jack Koelbe with 74 percent of the vote.6 “Under the
circumstances, it’s a bittersweet victory for me,” Ashbrook
told her supporters. “But I’m very pleased that the people
of the 17th District have reaffirmed their commitment to
President Ronald Reagan and the principles they shared
with my late husband.” Though her husband had been
a close friend of the President, Ashbrook acknowledged
concerns over the economy in her district by noting that,
“I’m pro-Reagan, but John Ashbrook was never a rubber
stamp for anyone. I’m definitely backing the President, but
I will have my eyes and ears open.”7 Ashbrook’s election
and seating in the House on July 12, 1982, set a new record
for the number of women in Congress—22. “My gosh, I
made history,” Ashbrook said at the time. “That was rather
nice.”8 After being sworn in, she received an assignment
on the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.
Her only ambition, she remarked, was “to carry on John’s
conservative philosophy.”9
In her first speech on the House Floor, Ashbrook spoke
out against President Reagan’s veto of a bill to strengthen
copyright laws. The legislation would have been a boon to
the printing industry, which was a major employer in her
district. “I hated to do that to the President,” she said. “But
after all, I said I wouldn’t be a rubber stamp.”10
In most other legislative matters, Ashbrook was a
confirmed supporter of the Reagan administration. In
July Ashbrook introduced a bill that would have denied
federal law enforcement or criminal justice assistance to
any jurisdictions that implemented certain gun control
ordinances. She also introduced a bill to prescribe
mandatory minimum sentences for anyone convicted of
federal felonies committed against senior citizens. Ashbrook
supported the Enterprise Zone Tax Act of 1982, which
provided tax relief and regulatory exemption for businesses
that relocated to poor areas with high unemployment. She
also backed a bill that would have created a U.S. Academy
of Freedom to educate citizens about the dangers of
communism and to promote democracy abroad.
After retiring from Congress on January 3, 1983,
Ashbrook returned to Ohio. She resides in her hometown
of Newark.
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