Nancy Kassebaum
Nancy Josephine Kassebaum Baker (née Landon; born July 29, 1932) is an American politician who represented the State of Kansas in the United States Senate from 1978 to 1997. She is the daughter of Alf Landon, who was Governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937 and the 1936 Republican nominee for president, and the widow of former Senator and diplomat Howard Baker.
Nancy Kassebaum | |
|---|---|
| Chair of the Senate Labor Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Ted Kennedy |
| Succeeded by | Jim Jeffords |
| United States Senator from Kansas | |
| In office December 23, 1978 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | James Pearson |
| Succeeded by | Pat Roberts |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nancy Josephine Landon July 29, 1932 Topeka, Kansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4, including William and Richard |
| Parent |
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| Education | |
With her victory in the 1978 U.S. Senate election in Kansas, Kassebaum entered the national spotlight as the only woman in the U.S. Senate, and as the first woman to represent Kansas. She was also the first woman ever elected to a full term in the Senate without her husband having previously served in Congress.
In her three terms in the Senate, Kassebaum demonstrated a political independence that made her a key figure in building bipartisan coalitions in foreign affairs and domestic policy. As chair of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, she played a leading role in legislation to sanction the racist apartheid regime in South Africa, which required the successful override of a presidential veto. As chair of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, she led the fight for major health care reforms that, for the first time, assured health insurance coverage for people changing jobs with pre-existing medical conditions.