Muriel Humphrey Brown
| Muriel Humphrey | |
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United States Senator from Minnesota |
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In office January 25, 1978 – November 7, 1978 |
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| Preceded by | Hubert Humphrey |
| Succeeded by | David Durenberger |
| Second Lady of the United States | |
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In role January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969 |
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| President | Lyndon Johnson |
| Preceded by | Lady Bird Johnson (1963) |
| Succeeded by | Judy Agnew |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Muriel Fay Buck February 20, 1912 Huron, South Dakota, U.S. |
| Died | September 20, 1998 (aged 86) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
Hubert Humphrey (1936–1978) Max Brown (1981–1998) |
| Children |
Hubert III Nancy Robert Douglas |
| Alma mater | Huron University |
Muriel Fay Buck Humphrey Brown (February 20, 1912 – September 20, 1998) was the wife of the 38th Vice President of the United States, Hubert Humphrey. Following her husband's death, she was appointed to his seat in the United States Senate, thus becoming the only Second Lady of the United States to hold public office. She later remarried and took the name Muriel Humphrey Brown.
Humphrey was born Muriel Fay Buck in Huron, South Dakota, daughter of Andrew E. Buck and his wife, the former Jessie Mae Pierce. She attended Huron College and met Humphrey in 1934, when she was working as a bookkeeper. They married on September 3, 1936, saying, "It was love at first waltz". They had four children: Hubert III, Nancy, Robert, and Douglas.
Humphrey was appointed from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party by Rudy Perpich, the governor of Minnesota, to the Senate vacancy caused by the death of her husband, and served from January 25, 1978 to November 7, 1978 in the 95th Congress. She was the first spouse of a former Vice President to serve in Congress as well as the first woman to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. She was not a candidate for the special election for the remaining term. "It was the most challenging thing I've done in my whole life," she said. Twenty-eight years later, Amy Klobuchar, a fellow DFLer, would become the first woman to be elected to the United States Senate from Minnesota.
Brown's shyness made taking a high-profile political role difficult.
Looking back at her political life, Humphrey reflected "There's something I've been wanting to say for a long time. I'm a liberal and I'm proud of it. In fact, I was probably a little more liberal than Hubert was. I just wanted to say that." While in office, and after, she pressed for the right for women to choose to have an abortion and worked towards legislation for the rights of the mentally disabled.
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