Politics Farenthold started her political career in 1968, when she was elected to represent
Nueces and
Kleberg counties in the
Texas House of Representatives. She ran against Jack K. Pedigo of Corpus Christi, Texas, graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and World War II veteran. She was the only woman serving in the Texas House at the time. Senator
Barbara Jordan was then the only woman serving in the Texas Senate. They co-sponsored the Equal Legal Rights Amendment to the Texas Constitution. Farenthold was the third woman whose name was put into nomination for
vice president of the United States at a major party's
nominating convention. The first was
Lena Springs, who was not a public official and whose
1924 nomination was a gesture of affection. The second was
India Edwards in 1952, whose nomination was also a gesture of gratitude for her influence over
Harry Truman. At the
Democratic National Convention in
1972, Farenthold came in second to the presidential nominee's choice, U.S. Senator
Thomas F. Eagleton of
Missouri. She garnered more delegate votes (404.04) than Senator
Mike Gravel of
Alaska, Senator
Birch Bayh of
Indiana, and Governor
Jimmy Carter of
Georgia, among others. In 1972, and 1974, she unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for
governor of Texas. She was defeated both times by
Dolph Briscoe of
Uvalde, who went on to win the general election each time. In 1973, she was elected as the first chair of the
National Women's Political Caucus. Farenthold left Wells College in 1980 to return to
Houston, where she opened a private law practice and taught law at the
University of Houston. She also continued to devote significant time to the international women’s movement and began a collaboration with her cousin,
Genevieve Vaughan, that would last the next decade. Farenthold and Vaughan organized the Peace Tent at the 1985
U.N. NGO Forum in
Nairobi, Kenya, in conjunction with the third United Nations World Conference on Women. They also were founding members of Women For a Meaningful Summit, an ad hoc coalition of female leaders voicing concerns for
nuclear disarmament at the Reagan–Gorbachev summits. Farenthold worked with the
Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a progressive multi-issue think tank devoted to peace, justice, and the environment. With IPS, Farenthold made trips to investigate human rights violations in
Central America and
Iraq. She was an
emeritus trustee for the
Institute for Policy Studies and served on the advisory board of the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the
University of Texas. She also served as honorary director of the
Rothko Chapel in Houston. ==Personal life==