About the interview :
A pioneer in consumer affairs, Virginia Knauer served in three
presidential administrations, but focuses here on her service in the
Nixon administration and her entry to political life on the Philadelphia
City Council and as head of Pennsylvania's new Bureau for Consumer
Protection under Governor Raymond P. Shafer. At the instigation of Pat
Hitt, Knauer was recruited to the Nixon White House and began in April
1969 as Special Advisor to the President and Director of the Office for
Consumer Affairs. Knauer discusses her attitude to breaking down
barriers to women and the importance she placed on bringing intelligent
young women into government service and helping to advance their
careers, including Elizabeth Hanford Dole, who was her deputy, and
Tillie Fowler, who was later elected to congress. She discusses her work
in consumer affairs and how it related to regulatory bodies, other
domestic policy posts, and to service as an American delegate on the
Consumer Policy committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD). She also discusses her mentors, family and
interests outside of politics and government service.
Virginia Knauer grew up in Philadelphia, where her father was a
professor of accounting at Temple University, and she graduated from
both the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the University of
Pennsylvania. She became interested in politics in the 1950s and began
organizing Republican women's groups in support of President Eisenhower.
She was later elected to consecutive terms on the Philadelphia City
Council, and became Governor Raymond Shafer's principal advisor on
consumer affairs, a new post. She was lured to Washington and took a
similar post in the Nixon White House, which she later held under
Presidents Ford and Reagan as well. Because of her expertise, she also
served on the Cost of Living Council and a number of other White House
domestic policy committees. At other times, she formed her own
consulting service on consumer affairs, was chair of the non-partisan
Council for the Advancement of Consumer Policy, and served on a number
of other organizational and corporate boards. Knauer has also been
active in Republican politics, historic preservation activities, and has
received numerous awards for her public service and work on behalf of
the consumer movement.