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==Biography==

==Biography==

Kassebaum Baker was born in the capital city of [[Topeka]] while her father was running for his only term as governor. Her mother was the former Theo Cobb.

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]]. She and her first husband settled in Maize, Kansas, where she served on the school board and had four children.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723033900/http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=125|title=125 women in Congress: Nancy Landon Kassebaum|date=July 23, 2011|accessdate=April 20, 2020}}</ref>​

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]]. She and her first husband settled in Maize, Kansas, where she served on the school board and had four children.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723033900/http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=125|title=125 women in Congress: Nancy Landon Kassebaum|date=July 23, 2011|accessdate=April 20, 2020}}</ref>>​

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Before her Senate years she worked in her family-owned Kassebaum Communications, which operated several [[radio]] stations in Kansas.assebaum also served on the Maize School Board. In 1975, Kassebaum and her husband were legally separated; their divorce became final in 1979. Kassebaum worked in Washington, D.C., as a caseworker for her Senate predecessor, James B. Pearson, a [[Moderate Republican]] in 1975, but returned to Kansas the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/K/KASSEBAUM,-Nancy-Landon-(K000017)/|title=Kassebaum, Nancy Landon - U.S. Senator|publisher=History.house.gov|accessdate=April 20, 2020}}</ref>​

Before her Senate years she worked in her family-owned Kassebaum Communications, which operated several [[radio]] stations in Kansas.assebaum also served on the Maize School Board. In 1975, Kassebaum and her husband were legally separated; their divorce became final in 1979. Kassebaum worked in Washington, D.C., as a caseworker for her Senate predecessor, James B. Pearson, a [[Moderate Republican]] in 1975, but returned to Kansas the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/K/KASSEBAUM,-Nancy-Landon-(K000017)/|title=Kassebaum, Nancy Landon - U.S. Senator|publisher=History.house.gov|accessdate=April 20, 2020}}</ref>​

A moderate often [[liberal]] Republican]], Kassebaum was named chairman of the Senate Labor Committee from 1995 to 1997.often [[liberal]] in her Senate votes, Kassebaum Baker succeeded Senator James B. Pearson, also a Moderate Republican. From 1995 to 1997, with the Republican capture of the Senate, she was the chairman of the Labor Committee, a post relinquished by Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] of [[Massachusetts]] after the [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] lost what had seemed a permanent Senate majority in the 1994 mid-term elections. She soon joined with Kennedy, the ranking member of the committee, in 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bOcyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mQcGAAAAIBAJ&dq=apartheid+sanctions&pg=3361,4583866|title=The Free Lance-Star Search|publisher=news.google.com|accessdate=April 20, 2020}}</ref>  

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. [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bOcyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mQcGAAAAIBAJ&dq=apartheid+sanctions&pg=3361,4583866|title=The Free Lance-Star Search|author=|publisher=news.google.com|accessdate=April 20, 2020}}</ref>  

Though she had voted in 1991 to confirm the [[African-American]] [[Clarence Thomas]] to the [[United States Supreme Court]], Kassebaum Baker soon soured on the judicial decisions of the [[conservative]] Thomas and questioned whether he had sexually harassed accuser [[Anita Hill]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-05-27/news/1995147030_1_justice-thomas-vote-for-thomas-harassment|title=Kassebaum regrets vote for Thomas|publisher=Knight-Rider News Service|date=May 27, 1995|accessdate=April 20, 2020}}</ref>  

Though she had voted in 1991 to confirm the [[African-American]] [[Clarence Thomas]] to the [[United States Supreme Court]], Kassebaum Baker soon soured on the judicial decisions of the [[conservative]] Thomas and questioned whether he had sexually harassed accuser [[Anita Hill]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-05-27/news/1995147030_1_justice-thomas-vote-for-thomas-harassment|title=Kassebaum regrets vote for Thomas|publisher=Knight-Rider News Service|date=May 27, 1995|accessdate=April 20, 2020}}</ref>  

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 [[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.

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.

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==References==

==References==