Sarah T. Hughes
| Sarah T. Hughes | |
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 |
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| Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas | |
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In office October 5, 1961 – April 23, 1985 |
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| Appointed by | John F. Kennedy |
| Judge of the Texas Fourteenth District Court | |
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In office 1935–1960 |
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| Appointed by | James Allred |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives | |
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In office 1931–1935 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Sarah Tilghman August 2, 1896 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | April 23, 1985 (aged 88) Dallas, Texas |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | George Ernest Hughes (m. 1922) |
| Alma mater | |
Sarah Tilghman Hughes (August 2, 1896 – April 23, 1985) was an American lawyer and federal judge who swore in Lyndon B. Johnson as President of the United States on Air Force One after the Kennedy assassination. She is the only woman in U.S. history to have sworn in a United States President, a task usually administered by the Chief Justice of the United States.
The photo depicting Hughes administering the oath of office to Johnson is widely known as the most famous photo ever taken aboard Air Force One.
Born Sarah Tilghman in Baltimore, Maryland, she was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Haughton Tilghman. She went to high school at the girls-only Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she was elected president of the freshman class. Standing only five feet one-half inch at maturity, she was described by a classmate as "small but terrible". Her determined personality extended to the athletic field where she participated in intramural track and field, gymnastics, and basketball. Another instance of Hughes's strong personal discipline was seen in her habit of going to bed by 8 pm and getting up at 4 am, a habit she continued through much of her life.
After graduating from Western High School, she attended Goucher College, an all women's college in central Baltimore very close to her home. She participated in athletics at Goucher College, and "learned to lose without bitterness, to get up and try again, to never feel resentment," a trait that would serve her well through many years of political victories and defeats.
After graduation from college, Hughes taught science at Salem Academy in North Carolina for several years. She then returned to school to the study of law. In 1919 she moved to Washington, D.C. and attended The George Washington University Law School. She attended classes at night and during the day worked as a police officer. As a police officer, Hughes did not carry a gun or wear a police uniform because she worked to prevent crimes among women and girls, patrolling areas where female runaways and prostitutes were normally found. Her job was an expression of the progressive idea of rehabilitation instead of punishment. Hughes later credited this job with instilling in her a sense of commitment and responsibility to women and children. At that time she lived in a tent home near the Potomac River and commuted to the campus by canoe each evening.
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