After representing both the fourth and twelfth districts of South Carolina in the state's Senate, this Democratic Party politician became a fourth-district (SC) representative to the United States Congress.
She earned her bachelor's degree from Columbia College and went on to study at the University of South Carolina and work for the Peace Corps.
After ending her career as a United States Representative from South Carolina, she launched an unsuccessful campaign for South Carolina Lieutenant Governor and taught in the political science department of Spartanburg Methodist College.
Her father, Olin D. Johnston, was both a United States Senator and a Governor of South Carolina.
Early in her career, she worked for President Lyndon B. Johnson's Office of Economic Opportunity.