Laura Ingraham ’85

On feminism, capitalism and her wicked curveball

"MY MOTHER USED TO TELL ME, 'YOU HAVE A SMART MOUTH ON YOU, YOUNC LADY.' After having three boys she wanted a girl who would go to ballet and wear dresses. She got an athlete and a tomboy who always talked back to authority figures."

"WHAT I REMEMBER FONDLY ABOUT DARTMOUTH ARE THE GREAT PROFESSORS AND THE EXPERIENCES I HAD AS EDITOR OF THE DARTMOUTH REVIEW. The Review set the stage for me to be fearless in commentary and to question the lemming mentality that pervades our media and political culture."

"INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY IS NOT PRIZED ON MOST COLLEGE CAMPUSES.Too often conservatives are intimidated from speaking out, which does a disservice to students, who should have a smorgasbord of ideological viewpoints to choose from."

"CLARENCE THOMAS IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE I ADMIRE MOST because of his courage, his intellect and his dedication to the truth. To have gone through what he went through, to have been at the center of that national spectacle and then become a real force on the Supreme Court, is astounding. I often wonder if I could have gotten myself through that with the grace i he did."

"BEING DESCRIBED AS ANGRY IS AN AMUSING LEFT-WING CARICATURE. It's so much easier to describe someone as angry rather than to actually defend your position. Believe me, it's not fun being derided by some in the media. I've gotten used to it. It goes with being a conservative, especially a conservative woman."

"IF ONLY I COULD COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES I'VE BEEN DESCRIBED AS A MINI-SKIRT-WEARING CONSERVATIVE. Everyone who knows me howls laughing because I hardly ever wear skirts! It just illustrates how lazy reporters are. They write what others have written before them."

"FEMINISM HAS PLAYED ITSELF OUT. What happened to women in the Clinton administration was the final nail in the coffin, because they had to be dragged kicking and screaming to address how Monica was treated. It confirmed that feminism had become a political movement, not a women's movement."

"IF GLORIA STEINEM DOESN'T LIKE ME I DON'T LOSE SLEEP OVER IT." "PROFESSIONAL ENDEAVORS TAKE UP SO MUCH OF OUR TIME IT'S EASY TO PUT OFF THE REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF. The best advice to give young women is: 'If you want to get married and have kids, you need to focus on that as mucri as on your professional life.' "

"I WANT TO HAVE KIDS; I THINK I WILL. I'll be a great mom, especially for boys. I can throw a wicked curveball."

"AFFIRMATIVE ACTION TENDS TO CREATE VICTIMS and doesn't do a thing to empower most people."

"I'M NOT A TRUE CAPITALIST. Not that money isn't a good thing, but it doesn't motivate me. My old law firm is really busy now, defending the likes of Enron. I don't miss it for a millisecond the paycheck maybe, but not billing in six-minute increments."

"THE ONLY THING I WISH I COULD HAVE DONE IN THE LAW WAS GOINTO THE u.s. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE. When I got through clerking there was a hiring freeze. I would have enjoyed being a prosecutor."

"LARRY KING ONCE TOLD ME, 'IF YOU DO RADIO, YOU'LLREALIZE IT'S THE BEST MEDIUM OUT THERE.' He was right. It allows you to really be you. No one is concentrating on your hair and your clothes. They're actually listening to what you say."

"HAVING A RADIO SHOW IS LIKE BUILDING A COAST-TO-COAST FAMILY ONE MARKET AT A TIME. What Ido now allows me to go beyond politics; what's going on in the culture is often far more interesting than politics. Like the hypocrisy of the PETA crowd, who wear leather shoes while they freak out about fur coats."

"HAVING WORKED IN THE REVILED CAREERS OF LAW AND THE MEDIA, I'm on a great career trajectory. Next job: parking meter attendant."

"I'M ALWAYS OPEN TO OPPOSING POINTS OF VIEW. I'M ALWAYS OPEN TO HEARING THE OTHER SIDE, BUT I HAVE A FAIRLY TRADITIONALIST OUTLOOK. I happen to believe that less government is generally a good thing."

PERSONAL: Single; 38; resides in Washington, D.C. EDUCATION: 8.A., English and Russian, Dartmouth; J.D.,University of Virginia, 1991 CAREER: Host of The LauraIngraham Show, a national call-in radio program broadcast on 200 stations NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: MSNBC talk show host (1998- 2000); author of The HillaryTrap: Looking for Power in Allthe Wrong Places (2000); law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (1992-1993)