• July 03, 1978
• Vol. 10
• No. 1

Rep. Don Edwards' E.r.a. Allies Agree It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House

By Judith Weinraub

He is among the most improbable champions of the women's movement—a twice-divorced former FBI man sprung from conservative Republican stock. But as floor leader for the Equal Rights Amendment in the House in 1971, Rep. Don Edwards of California helped guide the bill through a minefield of opposition in Congress. Now an even sterner test may lie ahead. With the March 1979 deadline approaching, the ERA is three states short of ratification—and the outlook is gloomy at best. Edwards, as chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights, has co-sponsored legislation that would extend the deadline to 1986. "To be shot down on this simple and fundamental issue would not be good for the health of the country," he says of the amendment's possible defeat. "But we don't intend to lose."

Such determination has alienated many male colleagues, but Edwards' resolve is unshaken. "The members are intimidated by the ERA," says the 63-year-old Democrat, "but it's really a modest proposal. It's simply a restatement of the 14th Amendment, but one that is necessary because the Supreme Court has not interpreted the 14th on grounds of sex." To Eleanor Smeal, president of the National Organization for Women, Edwards' commitment is almost unnerving. "He once pointed out to me the historical importance of the ERA," she recalls with a chuckle, "and I thought, hey, that's my line! But he feels it. It's an important part of his life's work." Despite the grumbling of old boys in the cloakroom, Colorado Congresswoman Pat Schroeder sees Edwards as a profile in courage. "You know, he's not very popular in Congress these days," she observes. "An awful lot of men around here don't want this bill to move, and he's moving it. They won't say so to his face, but he's as welcome as the skunk at a garden party."

Born and raised in San Jose, Calif., Edwards graduated from Stanford Law School before joining the FBI in 1940. During World War II he served as a naval gunnery officer, returning home after his discharge to work for a California title insurance company. He was elected to Congress in 1962. He traces his painful consciousness of women's rights to the breakup of his first marriage, after 13 years, in 1950. "I guess I never really began to think about the roles men and women take until my divorce. That kind of situation always makes people think. Later I traveled with one of my sons to Mississippi during the civil rights movement, and I became sensitive to the idea that people can be denied privileges that other people take for granted. The women's issue followed naturally from that."

Remarried in 1950 and divorced again 20 years later, Edwards is the father of five grown sons and grandfather of three children. (He also remains on good terms with both ex-wives.) Living alone in a one-bedroom apartment in the Watergate complex, he does his own laundry and enjoys cooking simple meals for his friends. A vigorous athlete, he was once a champion amateur golfer and now keeps trim playing tennis and a daily game of paddleball in the House gym. The ERA, however, has become a principal preoccupation of late. Although the deadline-extension bill recently squeaked through his subcommittee, Edwards expects it to encounter heavier going in the full Judiciary Committee. "The first year, when about 30 states approved the ERA, I thought there wouldn't be much trouble," he says. "I'm very disappointed that winning has been so difficult, but it's only making me more determined."