• Now 65, she was born in Indianapolis, Ind. After moving to Chicago she became a model, won the Miss Chicagoland Beauty Pageant and met heroes of the black community: Duke Ellington, Jackie Robinson, Floyd Patterson and Jesse Owens.

• She was a television journalist in Boston and Chicago.

• While her husband was secretary of defense, she was dubbed “the First Lady of the Pentagon,” traveling the globe greeting members of the military and speaking in their behalf.

• She is CEO of Langhart Communications, president of The Citizens Patriot Organization, and author of “From Rage to Reason: My life in Two Americas.”