 Tsongas interned in Arlington , Virginia , for presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy during summer 1967 ; at a party while there she met Paul Tsongas , then an aide to Republican Congressman Brad Morse . In 1969 , she married Paul ; they had three daughters : Ashley , Katina , and Molly . A politician , Paul served in the House from Massachusetts 's 5th congressional district from 1975 to 1979 , and the Senate from 1979 to 1985 . After being diagnosed with non @-@ Hodgkin lymphoma , Paul resigned from Congress . Tsongas moved their family from Washington , D.C. , back to Massachusetts to care for Paul as he underwent treatments . After seemingly being cured of his disease , in 1992 Paul ran for the Democratic Party nomination for President ; he came in third behind former California Governor Jerry Brown and eventual winner Bill Clinton . Paul 's cancer later returned ; he died of pneumonia and liver failure on January 18 , 1997 . 
