Former Wellesley Congresswoman, Ambassador Margaret Heckler Dies

A longtime Wellesley resident who represented the area in Congress for over a decade and a half has died.

Former congresswoman, health and human services secretary, and ambassador to Ireland Margaret Heckler has died in a North Virginia hospital at the age of 87.

Heckler served eight terms as a congresswoman, first getting elected in in 1966. The Republican remained a member of the traditionally democratic state delegation until her defeat in the 1982 midterm election, forcing her to leave office the following year.

She wouldn't say out of government for long and was sworn in as the new health and human services secretary on March 9, 1983. As her biography noted, her greatest challenge was dealing with the emerging HIV/AIDS crisis. The Washington Post noted in 1987 that the position made her the most powerful women in America at the time. By 1985, she began to receive criticism that she was ineffective and weak when it came to supporting the Reagan administration.

Later that year, she was named the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, a role she kept until October 1989.

Heckler is survived by her three children: Belinda, Alison, and John, Jr.

Image via House.Gov