The Ascendancy of Women

In 720 BC, at the founding of the all-male Roman Senate, historians documented, “Women were kept out of positions of power. They were not allowed to be senators, governors, lawyers, judges or any of the other official positions. Women were also not allowed to vote in elections. Although it was extremely difficult, some women overcame the many obstacles put in their way and managed to obtain positions of influence. However, success usually resulted in a great deal of male hostility. For example, a man could legally kill his wife or daughter if they questioned his authority!”

By 1920, in the United States, 2,600 years later, women had made some progress, i.e., women could become lawyers and a man could no longer legally kill his wife or daughter if they questioned his authority. In some cases, women had even managed to break into traditionally male-dominated fields such as politics. However, women still faced significant obstacles in achieving equality with men.

Then, in 1922, with the ratification of the 19th amendment, women achieved the right to vote in national elections. That same year, additional progress was made when prominent society matron and white supremacist 87-year-old Democrat Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia became, by appointment, the first female U.S. Senator. However, she served just one day!

Progress is in the eye of the beholder! In 1932, Democrat Hattie Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman elected to the Senate. In 1931 she had been appointed to fill her husband’s unexpired Senate term. A few months later, in a special election, she officially ran for the Senate. She told reporters, “The time has passed when a woman should be placed in a position and kept there only while someone else is being groomed for the job.” She was re-elected in 1938. In her 1944 re-election bid, she was defeated in the Democratic primary by J. William Fulbright.

Since 1922, only 44 women have served as Senators. Today, in the United States Senate, the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” there are now twenty female Senators, the most ever serving at one time. While women total over 50% percent of the population, only 20% of Senators are female.

Today’s 20 women Senators, starting with the returning veterans in order of seniority, with the year they first came to the Senate, their names, state and party affilliation, are:

1987 Barbara Mikulski (Maryland/D)

1992 Diane Feinstein (California/D)

1993 Barbara Boxer (California/D), Patti Murray (Washington/D)

1997 Susan Collins (Maine/R), Mary Landrieu (Louisiana/D)

2001 Debbie Stabenow (Michigan/D), Maria Cantwell (Washington/D)

2002 Lisa Murkowski (Alaska/R)

2007 Claire McCaskill (Missouri/D), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota/D)

2009 Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire/D), Kay Hagan (North Carolina/D), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York/D)

2011 Kelly Ayotte (New Hampshire/R)

The 2013 freshwoman class of Senators, bringing the total of female Senators to 20, are:

The first Asian-American Mazie Hirono (Hawaii/D)

Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts/D)

Deb Fischer (Nebraska/R)

Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota/D) and

The first Lesbian-American Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin/D).

Seven of the current Senators are Chairs of Senate Committees.

They are:

Barbara Mikulski (MD/D), Tenure: 26 years, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee

Date of Birth: 7/20/1936 in Baltimore, Maryland – Up for Re-election: 2016

Barbara Mikulski, the first female Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has had a remarkable career in politics. Starting out as a social worker in Baltimore, she successfully organized communities against a plan to build a 16-lane highway through the city’s Fells Point neighborhood. In 1971, she made her first foray into politics, winning a seat on the Baltimore City Council. Five years later, she was elected to the House of Representatives, representing Maryland’s 3rd district for 10 years. In 1986, she made the move to the Senate, and has since been re-elected with large majorities. On March 17, 2012, she made history by becoming the longest-serving woman in the history of the United States Congress.

Dianne Feinstein (CA/D), Tenure: 21 years, Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence

Date of Birth: 6/22/1933 in San Francisco, California – Up for Re-election: 2018

California Senator Dianne Feinstein has taken on a number of prestigious roles in her time in the Senate. In 2009, she assumed the Chair of the Intelligence Committeeand is also a member of the Senate Judiciary and Appropriations Committees. Notably, Feinstein was the first woman to preside over the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and was in charge of the Inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009. She is also affiliated with the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, Co-Chair of the Senate Cancer Coalition, and of the Senate Women’s Caucus on Burma. Furthermore, Feinstein is a member of the Anti-Meth Caucus, the Congressional Dairy Caucus, and the Congressional Former Mayors Caucus

Barbara Boxer (CA/D) – Tenure: 20 years, Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee

Date of Birth: 11/11/1940 in Brooklyn, New York – Up for Re-election: 2016

In January 1993, Boxer was elected to the Senate after a decade of service in the House of Representatives and six years on the Marin County Board of Supervisors. In November 2010, she was re-elected to her fourth term in the Senate and became the only sitting Senator to chair two committees, including the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. Senator Barbara Boxer is a highly-regarded member of the Senate, with a prominent role on both the Commerce and Foreign Relations Committees. In 2005, she was appointed Chief Deputy Whip for the Democratic Party, and currently chairs the first-ever subcommittee to focus on global women’s issues. Her influence in the Senate is undeniable.

Date of Birth: 10/11/1950 in Bothell, Washington – Up for Re-election: 2016

Washington State’s senior Senator, Patty Murray, has been a key member of the Senate Democratic leadership since 2007. She has been a vocal advocate for education, transportation, budget issues, port security, healthcare, women, and veterans issues. Senator Murray made history as the first female Senator from Washington State, and she was the first female Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee during the 112th Congress. Patty Murray, a Washington State Senator, has been a long-time advocate for her home state. In 1988, she was elected to the Shoreline School Board, and four years later she ran for the United States Senate. Despite being outspent, her grassroots campaign was successful and she was re-elected in 1998, 2004 and 2010. Prior to this, she had organized a coalition of 13,000 parents to save a local preschool program targeted by state budget cuts.

Mary Landrieu (LA/D) – Tenure: 16 years, Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee

Date of Birth: 11/23/1955 in Arlington, Virginia – Up for Re-election: 2014

Mary Landrieu made history in 1996 when she became the first woman from Louisiana to be elected to a full term in the U.S. Senate. Prior to this, she served eight years in the state legislature and two terms as State Treasurer. As a Senator, she is a member of the Energy and Natural Resources and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees. In response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Landrieu introduced the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act. This bipartisan legislation will direct 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalties paid by BP directly to the Gulf Coast, providing a much-needed economic and environmental boost to the area.

Debbie Stabenow (MI/D) – Tenure: 12 years, Chair of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee

Date of Birth: 4/29/1950 in Gladwin, Michigan – Up for Re-election: 2018

In 1979, Debbie Stabenow, then 24 years old, began her political career after leading a successful effort to save a local nursing home. She was elected to the Ingham County Board of Commissioners and went on to serve in the Michigan House of Representatives for twelve years (1979-90) and the State Senate for four years (1991-94). In 1996, Stabenow was elected to the U.S. Congress, representing Michigan’s Eighth Congressional District. She made history in 2000 when she became the first woman from the State of Michigan to be elected to the Senate. Since then, Stabenow has been a champion for small businesses, cutting taxes and authoring a retooling loan program for advanced manufacturers.

Maria Cantwell (WA/D) – Tenure: 12 years, Chair Committee on Indian Affairs

Date of Birth: 10/13/1958 in Indianapolis, Indiana – Up for Re-election: 2018

Maria, the first member of her family to graduate college with the help of Pell Grants, found success in Washington’s hi-tech industry. In 2000, she was elected to the U.S. Senate, and she was re-elected in 2006 and 2012. During her tenure, Maria worked to benefit Washington taxpayers by allowing them to deduct state and local taxes from their federal returns. She also fought the Bush Administration’s attempts to raise local electricity rates. When Enron officials tried to charge Washington ratepayers for millions of dollars in undelivered electricity, Maria led the effort to stop them. Additionally, she was a staunch advocate for protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling.

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