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Nancy KassebaumAmerican politician, senator
Date of Birth: 29.07.1932
Country:  USA |
Content:
Early Life and Education
Nancy Landon Kassebaum was born in Topeka, Kansas, on July 29, 1932. Her father, Alfred Mossman Landon, was a successful oilman, two-term Governor of Kansas, and Republican presidential nominee in 1936. Her mother, Theo Cobb Landon, was a musician who played the piano and harp.
Kassebaum graduated from Topeka High School in 1950. She went on to earn a Bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas in 1954 and a Master's degree in Diplomatic History from the University of Michigan in 1956. It was at Michigan that she met John Kassebaum, whom she married in 1956.
Family and Business
After her marriage to John Kassebaum, Nancy became the Vice President of their family company, Kassebaum Communications, which owned two radio stations. They settled in Maize, Kansas, where they raised four children. In 1975, Nancy and John separated and eventually divorced in 1979.
Political Career
Immediately after her separation from her husband, Kassebaum moved to Washington, D.C. She worked as an aide to Kansas Senator James Pearson. In 1978, she ran for and won a seat in the U.S. Senate, succeeding Pearson. Her former boss was originally scheduled to leave office in January 1979 but resigned early. As a result, Kassebaum was sworn into office on December 23, 1978.
Prior to Kassebaum, all women who had served in the Senate had been widows of senators. Upon a senator's death, the state governor would appoint his wife to temporarily fill the vacant seat. Nancy Kassebaum was the first woman elected to the Senate without having a husband who had previously served there.
In 1996, Kassebaum married Howard Baker, a former Senator from Tennessee. This was the first marriage between a current and a former senator.
In 2018, Kassebaum endorsed Democrat Laura Kelly in Kansas' gubernatorial election.
