HELEN GAHAGAN DOUGLAS - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 11/10/1948 - HFSID 345183

HELEN DOUGLAS GAHAGAN

The famous actress and politician signs this typed letter in which she thanks an admirer for the greetings and election congratulations and also refers to Frances Starr, signed in brown ink

Typed Letter Signed: “Helen Douglas Gahagan” in brown ink. 5¼x8. Place: Washington, District of Columbia. Date: November 10, 1948. One page. Written on Congress of the United States House of Representatives letterhead. Addressed to: Sagerson.127 Osborn Street. Johnstown, Pennsylvania In full: “Dear Sagerson: Thank you so much for your birthday greetings and election congratulations. It was very kind of you to think of me. Of course I know Frances Starr. Unfortunately my life in Washington is so hectic that I rarely get to see her although I am very fond of her. My best wishes for your continued success as a lecturer. Sincerely, Helen Gahagan Douglas”. Helen Gahagan (1909-1981) starred in Broadway musicals of the 1920s before marrying actor Melvyn Douglas in 1931. She made only one feature film, She (1933, based on the novel by H. Rider Haggard). A Democrat, she was elected to Congress in 1944, and soon began a rather open affair with Congressional colleague Lyndon Johnson (both spouses had remained in their home states). In 1950, she ran for a US Senate seat from California against Richard Nixon. It was a very nasty campaign, with Nixon calling Douglas "the Pink Lady," "pink right down to her underwear," while she became the first to call Nixon "Tricky Dick." (Nixon won, with 59% of the vote, and became Vice President two years later.) Toned. Lightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.