[3] She became interested in politics from a young age, learning from her father, who was a fan of Herbert Hoover.

[2] She attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota,[4] where she studied history and political science, but left before graduating to marry Richard Novetzke, a pilot in the U.S.

The next day, he asked her to be the Linn County chairwoman for his presidential campaign, a position she served in until 1980.

[2] The following month, she was in charge of the team that coordinated the 1989 Malta Summit between Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev.

She said she planned to involve a number of American executives whom she had met while working for the National Council on Vocational Education.