Paula Parkinson

Paula Parkinson was an American lobbyist who was the center of a well publized political scandal in 1980.

She was a blonde lobbyist in her twenties who later hinted strongly in print that her lobbying techniques could be unusually tactile. In 1980 three members of the United States House of Representatives joined her on a golfing jaunt to Florida.

The resulting scandal ended the congressional career of Delaware Republican Thomas B. Evans, Jr., although he rebuilt his career to become a successful—and certainly more conventional—lobbyist. It may also have contributed to the defeat of Illinois Congressman Tom Railsback in the Republican primary, by a more conservative challenger. Other lawmakers on the trip, including future Vice President Dan Quayle, all escaped with only minor injuries to their reputations. Parkinson posed nude for "Playboy" magazine and later left Washington, D.C.

References

*National Public Radio "Pennsylvania Avenue" by Peter Overby. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4609218 The Volatile Mix of Politics and Golf] . Retrieved September 11, 2005.