Charlotte Thompson Reid

After leaving government in 1976, Reid was involved with both public and private boards:

Reid left Congress in 1971, in the middle of her fifth term, to become a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. She was only the second woman to be appointed to the agency in its 37-year history. While on the FCC, she served as the Commissioner of Defense, focused on emergency preparedness and defense mobilization.

In 1969, Reid became the first woman to wear pants on the floor of the House of Representatives.

In 1968, Reid became the first woman to deliver a State of the Union response.

In 1965, during her second term, Reid paid for her own trip to Vietnam to speak with her constituents from Illinois, including 23 men on an aircraft carrier in the China Sea. When she returned she contacted their families. Reid said that the experience was "one of the most gratifying things that happened to me in Congress."

Reid's committee assignments also included the Committee on Appropriations, where she was appointed to two of its Subcommittees: Foreign Operations, and Labor-Health, Education and Welfare. Reid served as one of the first six Congressional members on the Board of Governors of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and served on the Board of Governors of the Capitol Hill Club. She addressed the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco and the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami. She was the only member of Congress from Illinois to vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Charlotte's husband Frank sought to follow in the footsteps of his father, Frank R. Reid, who served six terms in Congress as a U.S. Representative from Illinois. In 1962 Frank Jr. won the Republican nomination, beating out eight others for the seat, only to die in August before he could run in the regular election. Because of Charlotte's involvement in her husband's campaign, she was appointed to run in his place. She won election to Congress from the 15th District of Illinois in November 1962, and was the only new woman member of congress elected that year. Her first Congress, the 88th, contained 12 female Representatives and two female Senators. Reid was re-elected for four successive terms.

On January 1, 1938, Charlotte Thompson married Frank R. Reid, Jr. He died in 1962. She was the mother of four children including Illinois State Representative Patricia Reid Lindner.

Charlotte Thompson Reid (September 27, 1913 – January 25, 2007) served in the U.S. Congress as a U.S. representative for Illinois from 1963 to 1971. She was a member of the Republican Party.