Anne Dore McLaughlin was born on November 16, 1941, and earned her B.A. from Marymount College in 1963. She supervised network communications at ABC-TV in New York from 1963 to 1966 and was an account executive at Myers-Infoplan International from 1969 to 1971.

She later became director of communications for the Presidential Election Commission (1971-1972) and director of the Office of Public Information at the EPA (1973-1974). McLauglin worked for Union Carbide Corp. from 1974 to 1977 and then for McLaughlin and Co. from 1977 to 1981.

During the Reagan administration, she was assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of the Treasury (1981-1984), undersecretary of the interior (1984-1987), and manager of Senator Robert Dole's 1987 presidential bid. McLaughlin returned to government work as secretary of labor (1987-1989).