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Nancy Kassebaum
Nancy Josephine Kassebaum Baker (née Landon; born July 29, 1932) is an American retired politician from Kansas who served as a member of 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 U.S. senator and diplomat Howard Baker.
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 bi-partisan coalitions in foreign affairs and domestic policy. As chair of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, she played a limited role in legislation to sanction the racist apartheid regime in South Africa. The legislation which was enacted in 1986, over a presidential veto, was drafted by Senators Lugar, Roth, McConnell, and Dole, although later in life, Kassebaum claimed credit for it. 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.
Nancy Josephine Landon was born in Topeka, Kansas on July 29, 1932, the daughter of Kansas First Lady Theo (née Cobb) and Governor Alf Landon. She attended Topeka High School, and graduated in 1950. She graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1954, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, and where she met her first husband, John Philip Kassebaum. They were married in 1955. In 1956, she received a master's degree in diplomatic history from the University of Michigan. They settled in Maize, Kansas, where they raised four children.
She worked as vice president of Kassebaum Communications, a family-owned company that operated several radio stations. Kassebaum also served on the Maize School Board. In 1975, she and Philip were legally separated; their divorce became final in March 1979. Kassebaum worked in Washington, D.C., as a caseworker for Senator James B. Pearson of Kansas in 1975, but returned to Kansas the following year.
In late 1977, Senator Pearson announced he would not seek re-election to a third full term. The unexpected announcement of a rare open seat immediately drew a flood of candidates into the 1978 Republican primary, including two highly respected state senators, three successful businessmen, three others, and Nancy Kassebaum.
At the time that she entered the race, Kassebaum was legally separated from her husband, Philip, but not yet divorced. She chose to use the name Nancy Landon Kassebaum, to capitalize on her father's political reputation in the state. She defeated eight other Republicans in the 1978 primary elections to replace retiring Republican James B. Pearson, and then defeated former Democratic representative William R. Roy (who narrowly lost a previous election bid to Kansas's junior senator, Bob Dole, in 1974) in the general election. For the rest of her political career, she was primarily known as Nancy Kassebaum. She was re-elected to her Senate seat in 1984 and 1990, but did not seek re-election in 1996.
From the start of her Senate tenure, Kassebaum defied stereotypes, voting moderate to liberal on most social issues, but conservative on federal spending and government mandates. She helped lead an unsuccessful bi-partisan effort to curb soaring federal deficits in the early years of the Reagan administration. But she developed a reputation as a centrist broker, with significant impact on key issues in both foreign policy and domestic affairs. Kassebaum is known for her health care legislation, known as the Kennedy–Kassebaum Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which was co-sponsored by U.S. senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts, a Democrat. She was also active in foreign policy. She expressed strong support of anti-apartheid measures against South Africa in the 1980s.
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Nancy Kassebaum
Nancy Josephine Kassebaum Baker (née Landon; born July 29, 1932) is an American retired politician from Kansas who served as a member of 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 U.S. senator and diplomat Howard Baker.
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 bi-partisan coalitions in foreign affairs and domestic policy. As chair of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, she played a limited role in legislation to sanction the racist apartheid regime in South Africa. The legislation which was enacted in 1986, over a presidential veto, was drafted by Senators Lugar, Roth, McConnell, and Dole, although later in life, Kassebaum claimed credit for it. 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.
Nancy Josephine Landon was born in Topeka, Kansas on July 29, 1932, the daughter of Kansas First Lady Theo (née Cobb) and Governor Alf Landon. She attended Topeka High School, and graduated in 1950. She graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1954, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, and where she met her first husband, John Philip Kassebaum. They were married in 1955. In 1956, she received a master's degree in diplomatic history from the University of Michigan. They settled in Maize, Kansas, where they raised four children.
She worked as vice president of Kassebaum Communications, a family-owned company that operated several radio stations. Kassebaum also served on the Maize School Board. In 1975, she and Philip were legally separated; their divorce became final in March 1979. Kassebaum worked in Washington, D.C., as a caseworker for Senator James B. Pearson of Kansas in 1975, but returned to Kansas the following year.
In late 1977, Senator Pearson announced he would not seek re-election to a third full term. The unexpected announcement of a rare open seat immediately drew a flood of candidates into the 1978 Republican primary, including two highly respected state senators, three successful businessmen, three others, and Nancy Kassebaum.
At the time that she entered the race, Kassebaum was legally separated from her husband, Philip, but not yet divorced. She chose to use the name Nancy Landon Kassebaum, to capitalize on her father's political reputation in the state. She defeated eight other Republicans in the 1978 primary elections to replace retiring Republican James B. Pearson, and then defeated former Democratic representative William R. Roy (who narrowly lost a previous election bid to Kansas's junior senator, Bob Dole, in 1974) in the general election. For the rest of her political career, she was primarily known as Nancy Kassebaum. She was re-elected to her Senate seat in 1984 and 1990, but did not seek re-election in 1996.
From the start of her Senate tenure, Kassebaum defied stereotypes, voting moderate to liberal on most social issues, but conservative on federal spending and government mandates. She helped lead an unsuccessful bi-partisan effort to curb soaring federal deficits in the early years of the Reagan administration. But she developed a reputation as a centrist broker, with significant impact on key issues in both foreign policy and domestic affairs. Kassebaum is known for her health care legislation, known as the Kennedy–Kassebaum Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which was co-sponsored by U.S. senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts, a Democrat. She was also active in foreign policy. She expressed strong support of anti-apartheid measures against South Africa in the 1980s.
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