Representative Martha Elizabeth Keys

Martha Elizabeth Keys (née Ludwig; August 10, 1930 – December 19, 2024) was an American politician who served as a Democratic Representative from Kansas in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1979. Over the course of two terms in Congress, she represented a district centered on Manhattan, Kansas, and contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American political history.

Keys was born on August 10, 1930, in Hutchinson, Kansas, the daughter of Clara Krey and S. T. Ludwig. During her childhood her family moved to the Kansas City area, and she was educated in Missouri public schools. She graduated from Paseo High School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1945. After high school she attended Olivet College in Michigan from 1946 to 1947, and then continued her studies at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951.

Following her graduation, Keys built a life in Kansas that combined family, education, and growing political involvement. She married Sam Keys, a university professor who later became dean of the College of Education at Kansas State University, and the couple settled in Manhattan, Kansas. Her connection to higher education through her husband and her own academic background helped ground her interest in public policy, particularly in the areas of education and social welfare. She also had close family ties to national politics: her sister, Lee, married Gary Hart, who would become a United States Senator from Colorado and a presidential candidate.

Keys’s formal political career began with her work as a Democratic campaigner in the 1960s. She was active in the presidential campaigns of 1964 and 1968, gaining experience in grassroots organizing and party politics. In 1972 she ran the Kansas operation for Senator George McGovern’s presidential campaign, which further raised her profile within the Democratic Party. When Representative Bill Roy retired from his Kansas seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, her brother-in-law, Senator Gary Hart, encouraged her to seek the open seat, recognizing both her political skills and her growing reputation in Kansas Democratic circles.

In 1974, Keys was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from Kansas, representing a district based in Manhattan. She took office in January 1975 and served two consecutive terms, remaining in Congress until January 1979. Her tenure coincided with the post-Watergate era, a time of heightened public scrutiny of government and significant legislative activity on ethics, social programs, and economic policy. As a member of the House of Representatives, Martha Elizabeth Keys participated fully in the democratic process, representing the interests of her constituents and contributing to national debates. During her service, she experienced major changes in her personal life: she and her first husband, Sam Keys, divorced, and while in Congress she married fellow Representative Andrew Jacobs Jr. of Indiana. Keys was defeated for reelection in 1978, ending her House service after two terms.

After leaving Congress, Keys continued in public service within the federal executive branch. From February 1979 to May 1980, she served as a special adviser to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, working on policy issues in a department then responsible for a broad range of social programs. When the Department of Education was established as a separate Cabinet department, she was appointed assistant secretary of education, serving from June 1980 to January 1981. In these roles she drew on both her legislative experience and her longstanding interest in education and public policy. Her marriage to Andrew Jacobs Jr. did not endure; the couple separated in 1981 and later divorced.

In the years following her federal service, Keys remained active in civic and reform-oriented organizations. In 1982 she was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board, aligning herself with efforts to promote government accountability and citizen participation. She subsequently worked as a consultant and served as director of the Center for a New Democracy from 1985 to 1986, continuing to engage with issues of democratic governance and public policy. Her broader family remained prominent in national politics; her sister Lee’s marriage to Senator Gary Hart linked Keys to ongoing developments in Democratic Party affairs until Lee’s death in 2021.

Martha Elizabeth Keys spent her later years away from elective office but remained part of the broader community of former lawmakers and public servants, occasionally appearing in public forums and media, including C-SPAN, to reflect on her experiences as one of the women in the United States House of Representatives during the 1970s. She died in Locust Grove, Virginia, on December 19, 2024, at the age of 94, closing a life that spanned local activism, congressional service, and senior roles in federal education and social policy.