Former Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker from Kansas passed away on Friday at the age of 94. Known as the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without having a husband who served in Congress, her death was reported by her son, Bill Kassebaum, who stated that she died of natural causes.
“She loved Kansas. She loved people from Kansas and representing Kansas for 18 years in the U.S. Senate,” Bill Kassebaum shared with the Associated Press. He emphasized her independent-minded approach as a Republican, willing to stand against party lines when necessary.
Kassebaum Baker’s political career began with her election to the Senate in 1978. She served three terms before retiring in 1997. As the daughter of former Kansas Governor Alf Landon, the Republican nominee for the presidency in 1936, she established herself as a moderate Republican who was not afraid to diverge from party positions.
Her election attracted immediate national attention. By the time she retired, Kassebaum Baker was one of eight women in the Senate and the only female chair of a Senate committee. She was known for her ability to work across party lines, as evidenced by the landmark 1996 health insurance law named alongside Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy.
Kassebaum Baker supported initiatives such as the assault weapons ban backed by then-President Bill Clinton. This stance resulted in a significant volume of angry correspondence during her Senate tenure. Nonetheless, she maintained high popularity in Kansas, securing re-election with 76% of the vote in 1984 and 74% in 1990.
In 1996, shortly before leaving the Senate, she married former Republican Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee. This union marked the Senate’s first conjugal bond between two former senators. Howard Baker had served as chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan and as ambassador to Japan under President George W. Bush until his passing in 2014.
Kassebaum Baker continued her public service beyond her congressional career, participating in a bipartisan commission on campaign finance reform during the Clinton administration. Later in life, disillusioned with the Republican Party’s trajectory, she endorsed Democrats in several Kansas elections, including Democratic Governor Laura Kelly.
She publicly called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021 incident at the U.S. Capitol, expressing her disapproval.
Despite her extensive involvement in national politics, Kassebaum Baker remained closely connected to Kansas. Reflecting on her departure to Japan during her husband’s ambassadorship, she remarked, “All I can say is, I will miss the Kansas prairie.”
Her legacy remains as an independent voice in American politics, revered for her commitment to principles over party allegiance.