Changes

| term_start = January 3, 1995​

| term_start = January 3, 1995​

| term_end = January 3, 1997​

| term_end = January 3, 1997​

| predecessor=[Ted Kennedy]]​

| predecessor=[[Ted Kennedy]]​

| successor=[[Jim Jeffords]]​

| successor=[[Jim Jeffords]]​

| birth_date=July 29, 1932​

| birth_date=July 29, 1932​

'''Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker''' (born July 29, 1932) is an [[United States|American]] retired [[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 Party|Republican]] [[U.S. President|presidential]] nominee in the 1936 race against [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].

'''Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker''' (born July 29, 1932) is an [[United States|American]] retired [[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 Party|Republican]] [[U.S. President|presidential]] nominee in the 1936 race against [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].

Long divorced after twenty-three years of marriage from John Philip Kassebaum, whose name she used professionally, she married in 1996 the widowed [[Howard Baker]], former U.S. Senator from [[Tennessee]] 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. 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.

Long divorced after twenty-three years of marriage from John Philip Kassebaum, whose name she 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. 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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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 his only term as governor. Her mother was the former Theo Cobb.

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, Michigan|Ann Arbor]].

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>>​

  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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A [[Moderate Republican]], 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 Democrats lost what had seemed a permanent Senate majority in the 1994 mid-term elections She joined with Kennedy in 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]] in [[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 Republican]], 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 Democrats lost what had seemed a permanent Senate majority in the 1994 mid-term elections She joined with Kennedy in 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]] in [[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>  

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 decisions of the judicial [[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>  

==References==

==References==