Lubensky, Margot Truman Patterson

Lubensky, Margot Truman Patterson

Oral history

Missouri--History, Local

Missouri--Politics and government

Oral histories

Missouri Politics

Politics

Political History

Political Oral History

United States

Missouri

Columbia (Mo.)

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litics much more expensive! Transportation... You know, going someplace on the bus didn’t cost as much even comparatively as going someplace on a plane. (Chuckles) And see all the trouble that Bob Holden got into by... I’m sure he was not running around seeing people or anything of this sort. He was running around seeing people, but not just for visitation. It was for business purposes. Well, you consider how Mel Carnahan was killed. He was using the ML = Margot Truman Patterson 16 Lubensky

RF = Renae Farris advancement of transportation to get to a place where a fundraiser was going to be held for him. Communication? Oh, my goodness! You know when they run... When the League of Nations... Let me see, what was it back in Woodrow Wilson’s term? It took a month for the word to get all across the country, that something had been passed historically or whatever it was. It took a whole month to get word across the whole country. Well, now it takes one minute for the word to get out of what happened in the national scene, in the state legislature. So in many ways I was in an area that I would have changed with if I had stayed in the area. And now, of course, we can communicate at the drop of a hat. RF: The internet is changing everything. ML: Oh, yes! Absolutely! It is! I correspond with a cousin in Holland whom I had just been to see. Well, I did before we set up our trip. [We] corresponded a lot through e-mail. Well, heavens! When we were writing before, it took a week for a letter to get to Europe. It took a week for a letter to get back. Of course, you could call on the phone, but if you make some plans you don’t want to call every day! (Laughs) But it just is all the difference in the world! As it was, we ended up with enough e-mail back and forth to make a book! So both communication and transportation [have] not only changed things, [but] it’s what they’re talking about when [they state] things have gotten so expensive too, because it just takes money also to do these things that we’re now able to do. RF: You’ve remained active in politics even today at least behind the scenes more or less. What do you think has been the biggest change recently? ML = Margot Truman Patterson Lubensky

RF = Renae Farris 17 ML: Do you mean in policy or in just the way politics are conducted? RF: Oh, more in the way politics are conducted. ML: It’s the money. (Chuckles) It’s revolting, the amount of money that has to be spent in today’s campaigns. I can remember when somebody who’s living right in this town now brought over to our house a check for twenty dollars for my husband for his campaign. [tape meter, 150] (Laughing) Oh, I thought that was great! I didn’t really know whether should take it or not for my husband! Well, twenty dollars isn’t even like... But it really turns one’s stomach, the amount of money that has to be spent. It’s not getting better unless they decide to do something about that. And it’s big money, too. In other words, the pittance... I give a fair amount of money to politics, to political candidates, but my little pittance doesn’t do a thing! It’s the money interests that control it. And I’m very much for some sort of legislation that limits the amount of money that can be spent. It isn’t only the amount of money that can be spent that I think something should be done on the amount of money that television charges for doing what it does. I think there has to be a public funding of campaigns. There is some public funding now for the Presidential campaign. I think there should be a public funding of state offices [campaigns]. I have lots of opposition to that. [People] will rise up and scream about that. But I think that in the end that’s the only fair way to do this is to make it more easily available for everybody. I think you’d put a different face on politics. RF: Is there anything else you wanted to add? ML = Margot Truman Patterson 18 Lubensky

RF = Renae Farris ML: (Laughing) Well, I think that we’ve taken apart and put back together lots of things today! RF: (Laughing) Okay, I just wanted to make sure that we’d gotten in some of the issues that you had wanted to include from the first [interview]. ML: Thank you, and you’ve been very patient in working with me and I’ve enjoyed the experience. RF: Thank you! [tape meter, 172. End side two, tape one. End of interview.]INDEX Apportionment (Election Law) - Missouri, 1-4 Campaign funds - United States, 17 Carnahan, Jean Anne Carpenter (1933- ), 10 Carnahan, Melvin Eugene “Mel” (1934-2000), 10, 15 Carnahan, Russ “Rusty” (1958- ), 11 City-city relations - St. Louis, Missouri - Kansas City, Missouri, 1, 3-4 Civil Rights Act - Missouri (1965), 7-8, 11 Communication - Political aspects -- Missouri, 15-16 Downs, John E. “Johnny” (1917- ), 7 Eagleton, Thomas Francis (1929- ), 5-6 Electronic mail, 16 Equal Pay for equal work - Law and legislation -- Missouri -- H.B. 636 (1963), 5, 7 Feder, Sara (1900-1979), 6-7 Feminism - Missouri, 4-7, 13 Gender and politics, 13 Holden, Robert “Bob” (1949- ), 15 Jacob, Ken (1949- ), 12 Kelly, Christopher S. “Chris” (1946- ), 12 League of Women Voters, 6 Lobbying and lobbyists, 6, 9 Meyer, Alberta J., 5 Missouri. Commission of the Status of Women, 5 Missouri. General Assembly. House - Rules and practice, 2 Missouri. General Assembly. House - salaries, etc., 13-14 Niewoehner, Carl H. (1925- ), 11-12 Parker, George Warren, Sr. (1923- ), 12 Patterson family, 9, 10 Patterson, H. F. “Pat” (1922-1965), 1-3, 5, 6, 8-9, 10, 17 Pauley, Jim (1932- ), 12 Politicians, Black - Missouri, 8 Public Accommodations Act (1965), 7-8, 11 Race relations - Missouri -- Columbia, 8-9 Rural-urban relations - Missouri, 1, 3-4 Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri, 13 Transportation - Political aspects -- Missouri, 15-16 Truman, Caroline Auwers, 4 University of Missouri - Columbia, 8, 9 Women - Political activity -- Missouri, 4-7, 10

Margot Truman Patterson Lubensky

N. Renae Farris

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Heartland Hub

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