Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker
| Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker | |
 | |
U.S. Senator from Kansas
| |
| In office December 23, 1978 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | James B. Pearson |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Pat Roberts |
Chairman of the
Senate Labor Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Ted Kennedy |
| Succeeded by | Jim Jeffords |
| Born | July 29, 1932 Topeka, Kansas |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | (1) John Philip Kassebaum (married 1956–1979, divorced)
(2) Howard Baker (married 1996–2014, his death) |
| Children | Four children from first marriage |
| Alma mater | University of Kansas University of Michigan |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker (born July 29, 1932), usually referred to as Nancy Kassebaum, is an American retired businesswoman and politician, who represented Kansas in the United States Senate for three terms from 1978 to 1997. Her father, Alf Landon, was the governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937 and the failed Republican presidential nominee in the 1936 race against Franklin D. Roosevelt. She followed in his footsteps as a Moderate Republican, often taking some liberal positions.
Contents
Early life and career
Kassebaum Baker was born in the capital city of Topeka while her father was running for the first of his two two-year terms as governor. Her mother was the former Theo Cobb, a pianist. After graduation from Topeka High School in 1950, she graduated from the University of Kansas at Lawrence in 1954 and then obtained a master's degree in diplomatic history from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Before her Senate years she worked in her family-owned Kassebaum Communications, which operated several radio stations in Kansas. In 1975, Kassebaum and her husband were legally separated; their divorce became final in 1979. In 1975, Kassebaum had worked in Washington, D.C., as a caseworker for her Senate predecessor, James B. Pearson, a Moderate Republican, but she returned to Kansas the following year.[1]
United States Senate
A moderate often liberal Republican, Kassebaum was named chairman of the Senate Labor Committee from 1995 to 1997, with the Republican capture of the upper legislative chamber. Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts relinquished the chairmanship and became the ranking member of the committee. Kassebaum Baker teamed up with Kennedy for the passage of the Kennedy-Kassebaum Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, her landmark legislation. Like current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, she was a strong opponent of apartheid and supported sanctions against the government of South Africa.[2]
Though she had voted in 1991 to confirm the African-American Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court, Kassebaum Baker by 1995 had soured on the judicial decisions of the conservative Thomas and questioned whether he had sexually harassed his accuser, Anita Hill.[3]
Recent political involvement
Kassebaum is unsurprisingly a critic of Donald Trump[4] though didn't support either major nominee in the 2016 presidential election.[5] In the 2018 Midterm Elections, Kassebaum endorsed Democrat Laura Kelly in the Kansas gubernatorial race over anti-establishment conservative Republican Kris Kobach.[6] A spokesperson for Kobach responded:[7]
| Democrats trot out these same tired has-beens clinging to the past, pretending to be Republicans when they so clearly left the party a long time ago. Pro-abortion? Check. Anti-gun? Check. Pro-Obamacare? Check. Republican? Yeah, right. |
Ultimately, Kelly's inroads among suburban moderate voters (who tend to favor establishment Republicans and Democrats over adamant conservatives) combined with lower rural turnout for Kobach contributed to a narrow Democrat victory in the traditional Republican stronghold.[8]
In the 2020 U.S. Senate election in Kansas, Kassebaum endorsed Moderate Republican-turned-Democrat Barbara Bollier over then-establishment Republican Roger Marshall.[9]
Following the riot amidst a largely peaceful pro-election integrity protest at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Kassebaum called for the impeachment of Trump despite the fact that he played no part in the violence.[10]
Personal life
She and her first husband settled in Maize, near Wichita, Kansas, where she served on the school board and had four children.[11]
Divorced after twenty-three years of marriage from John Philip Kassebaum, whose name she still used professionally, she married in 1996 the widowed Howard Baker, former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, Senate Majority Leader, and a chief of staff to U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan at the height of the Iran-Contra affair. Kassebaum and Baker had been Senate colleagues from 1978 to 1985, when Democrat Al Gore took the seat that Baker vacated. Kassebaum holds the distinction of being the first woman ever elected to a full term in the Senate without a husband having previously served in Congress.
References
- ↑ Kassebaum, Nancy Landon - U.S. Senator. US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Retrieved on April 20, 2020.
- ↑ Curt Anderson. The Free Lance-Star Search. news.google.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2020.
- ↑ Kassebaum regrets vote for Thomas. Knight-Rider News Service (May 27, 1995). Retrieved on April 20, 2020.
- ↑ Tanner, Beccy (November 17, 2016). Kassebaum Baker says ‘interesting times ahead’ after Trump’s election Kassebaum Baker says ‘interesting times ahead’ after Trump’s election. The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Carpenter, Tim (September 17, 2016). Nancy Kassebaum, Bob Dole uneasy with growth of bitter partisanship. djonline.com. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ AP (September 18, 2018). Kassebaum supports Democrat Kelly in Kansas governor's race. KCTV. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Woodall, Hunter (September 18, 2018). GOP stalwart Nancy Kassebaum picks Democrat Laura Kelly over Kris Kobach. The Kansas City Star. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Kansas Governor Election Results 2018. Politico. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Lowry, Bryan (September 17, 2020). Former GOP Sen. Nancy Kassebaum endorses Democrat Bollier in Kansas Senate race. The Kansas City Star. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Shorman, Jonathan (January 7, 2021). Former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum says Trump should be impeached after Capitol riot. The Kansas City Star. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ 125 women in Congress: Nancy Landon Kassebaum (July 23, 2011). Retrieved on April 20, 2020.
External links
- Profile at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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