Armstrong, Anne Legendre (1927-2008), was the first woman to serve as United States ambassador to the United Kingdom. President Gerald R. Ford appointed her to the office, which she held in 1976 and 1977. She had previously been the first woman to hold the post of counselor to the president. She was named to that position by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972 and served under both Nixon and Ford.
Anne Legendre was born in New Orleans on Dec. 27, 1927, and graduated from Vassar College. She married Tobin Armstrong, a Texas cattle rancher, in 1950. She served as vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 1966 to 1968. In 1971 and 1972, she was cochairman of the Republican National Committee. As counselor to the president, Armstrong was a member of the president’s Domestic Council, the Council on Wage and Price Stability, and the Commission on the Organization of Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy. She died on July 30, 2008.
