Irene Bailey Baker was elected to Congress in 1964 on a “widow’s mandate,” succeeding a powerful and well-connected husband who died so suddenly that party leaders were unprepared to name a long-term successor. Baker ran to fill the seat, and her somber photograph as a Representative reminded constituents that she was in mourning for her husband.
History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “Irene Bailey Baker,” https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/PA2011/PA2011-08-0057b/ (July 02, 2022)
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