Senator Dianne Feinstein (1933-2023) died this Thursday after a long career in politics. She was the first woman to represent California in the Senate. She also served as mayor of San Francisco.
Feinstein's father was a surgeon in San Francisco of Polish Jewish origin. She attended Stanford University and graduated in 1955. After completing her studies, she joined the Coro Foundation and later began her political career. She worked with California Governor Pat Brown, a Republican turned Democrat, who nominated her to the state's Women's Parole Board, where she served until 1969, before moving on to the local government in the city of San Francisco.
For nine years she sat on the Governing Board and in 1978 she became the first woman to preside over it. That same year she gained media attention after the city's mayor, George Moscone, was assassinated. She preceded him in office, becoming the first woman to lead the city of San Francisco. She held that office for 10 years before moving on to the Senate, after running for governor of California and losing.
In 1992, Feinstein once again blazed the trail and became the first woman to represent the state of California in the Senate. Her political career was marked by her time in the Senate. In 2012, she was reelected to the senate with 7.8 million votes, the most votes in the history of the Senate.
She was on the Regulations, Intelligence and Judicial Affairs committees. She was a senator for more than 30 years, during which she also became the first woman to preside over the appointment of a president.
At 90 years old, Feinstein was the oldest legislator in Congress in addition to being the senator who served the longest representing the state of California. The last several years of her career were complicated for Feinstein, who announced that she would not seek re-election in 2024. Her health became a recurring problem and for months she has considered who her replacement in the Senate would be. Governor Gavin Newsom will choose who will fill her seat.
