Hale Boggs was a senior U.S. politician in the 1950s-1960s. He was a congressman from Louisiana, and rose in the Democratic policy to become the "whip," which is the person who polls members before a vote is taken to learn if it is likely to pass or fail (and helps to persuade those on the "wrong" side to change their vote). He died in a plane crash in Alaska; his daughter, Cokie Roberts, is a famous American journalist.