Emma Mclaughlin (1890 - 1975)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Emma's lifetime.

In 1890, in the year that Emma Mclaughlin was born, on January 2nd, Alice Sanger became the first female staffer to work in the White House. She was hired as a stenographer and, as such, took dictation.

In 1908, by the time she was 18 years old, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was established as the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States; it simultaneously served as the nation's prime federal law enforcement agency. Stanley Finch was the first Chief (now called Director).

In 1919, at the age of 29 years old, Emma was alive when Indian lawyer Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Satyagraha campaigns, beginning the nonviolent resistance movement against British rule of India. Satyagraha means "holding onto truth" and the campaign for India independence, which was eventually obtained, called for "self-suffering" rather than inflicting suffering (i.e., violence) on others.

In 1923, Emma was 33 years old when the Teapot Dome scandal became the subject of an investigation by Senator Walsh and severely damaged the reputation of the Harding administration. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall was convicted of accepting bribes from oil companies and became the first Cabinet member to go to prison. At the time, the Teapot Dome scandal was seen as "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics".

In 1975, in the year of Emma Mclaughlin's passing, on September 5th, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme tried to assassinate President Ford in Sacramento, California. She failed when her gun wouldn't fire. President Ford escaped a second assassination attempt 17 days later on September 22 when Sarah Jane Moore tried to shoot him in San Francisco. A bystander saw her raise her arm, grabbed it, and the shot went wild.