View source for Nancy Kassebaum

{{Short description|American politician (born 1932)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Nancy Kassebaum
| image               = LandonNancy.jpg
| office              = Chair of the [[Senate Labor Committee]]
| term_start          = January 3, 1995
| term_end            = January 3, 1997
| predecessor         = [[Ted Kennedy]]
| successor           = [[Jim Jeffords]]
| jr/sr1              = United States Senator
| state1              = [[Kansas]]
| term_start1         = December 23, 1978
| term_end1           = January 3, 1997
| predecessor1        = [[James B. Pearson]]
| successor1          = [[Pat Roberts]]
| birth_name          = Nancy Josephine Landon
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1932|7|29}}
| birth_place         = [[Topeka, Kansas]], U.S.
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = {{ubl |{{marriage|[[John Philip Kassebaum|John Kassebaum]]|1955|1979|end=div}} |{{marriage|[[Howard Baker]]|December 7, 1996|June 26, 2014|end=died}}}}
| children            = 4, including [[William Kassebaum|William]] and [[Richard Kassebaum|Richard]]
| relatives           = [[Alf Landon]] (father)
| education           = {{ubl |[[University of Kansas]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) |[[University of Michigan]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])}}
| module              = {{Listen |pos=center |embed=yes |filename=Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Speaks on a Proposed Balanced Budget Amendment.ogg |title=Kassebaum's voice |type=speech |description=Kassebaum on a proposed [[balanced budget amendment]].<br>Recorded February 27, 1995}}
}}
'''Nancy Josephine Kassebaum Baker''' ({{née|'''Landon'''}}; born July 29, 1932) is an American retired politician from [[Kansas]] who served as a member of the [[United States Senate]] from 1978 to 1997. She is the daughter of [[Alf Landon]], who was [[Governor of Kansas]] from 1933 to 1937 and the [[1936 United States presidential election|1936]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for president, and the widow of former U.S. senator and diplomat [[Howard Baker]].

With her victory in the [[1978 United States Senate election in Kansas|1978 U.S. Senate election in Kansas]], Kassebaum entered the national spotlight as the only woman in the U.S. Senate, and as the first woman to represent Kansas. She was also the first woman ever elected to a full term in the Senate without her husband having previously served in Congress.{{Efn|Of the women Senators who preceded Kassebaum:
[[Rebecca Latimer Felton]] (D-GA), [[Rose McConnell Long]] (D-LA), [[Dixie Bibb Graves]] (D-AL), [[Vera C. Bushfield]] (R-SD), [[Eva Bowring]] (R-NE), [[Elaine S. Edwards]] (D-LA), [[Muriel Humphrey]] (D-MN), [[Maryon Pittman Allen]] (D-AL) were all appointed, and were never elected; [[Gladys Pyle]] (R-SD) and [[Hazel Abel]] (R-NE), were elected, but not to full terms (i. e., to complete terms where the previous senator had died or resigned, not to new six-year terms); [[Hattie Caraway]] (D-AR) and [[Maurine Brown Neuberger]] (D-OR) were both elected to full six-year terms, but their husbands had held the seat previously. [[Margaret Chase Smith]]'s (R-ME) husband never served in the Senate, but he did serve in the House. When he died, Margaret won the ensuing election. Of the appointed senators, Long, Bushfield, Humphrey, and Allen were all appointed to [[Widow's succession|fill out part of the terms of their deceased husbands]], while Graves and Edwards were appointed by their husbands, the governor of their states at the time. However, Kassebaum's [[Alf Landon|father]] means that the first woman to be elected without any family connections was [[Paula Hawkins (politician)|Paula Hawkins]] (R-FL), elected in 1980.}}

In her three terms in the Senate, Kassebaum demonstrated a political independence that made her a key figure in building bi-partisan coalitions in foreign affairs and domestic policy.<ref name="horhistory">{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2023 |title=Nancy Landon Kassebaum |url=https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/16096 |access-date=June 5, 2023 |publisher=U.S. House of Representatives, Office of History, Art and Archives}}</ref> As chair of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, she played a limited role in legislation to sanction the racist [[apartheid]] regime in South Africa. The legislation which was enacted in 1986, over a presidential veto, was drafted by Senators Lugar, Roth, McConnell, and Dole, although later in life, Kassebaum claimed credit for it. As chair of the [[Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources]], she led the fight for major health care reforms that, for the first time, assured health insurance coverage for people changing jobs with pre-existing medical conditions.

==Early life and education==
Nancy Josephine Landon was born in [[Topeka, Kansas]] on July 29, 1932,<ref name="horhistory" /> the daughter of [[First ladies and gentlemen of Kansas|Kansas First Lady]] Theo (née Cobb) and Governor [[Alf Landon]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/08/style/nancy-kassebaum-and-howard-baker.html|title=Nancy Kassebaum and Howard Baker|work=The New York Times |date=December 8, 1996}}</ref> She attended Topeka High School, and graduated in 1950. She graduated from the [[University of Kansas]] in [[Lawrence, Kansas|Lawrence]] in 1954, where she was a member of [[Kappa Alpha Theta]], and where she met her first husband, [[John Philip Kassebaum]]. They were married in 1955. In 1956, she received a master's degree in diplomatic history from the [[University of Michigan]]. They settled in [[Maize, Kansas]], where they raised four children.<ref>[http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=125 women in congress: Nancy Landon Kassebaum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723033900/http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=125 |date=July 23, 2011}}</ref>

She worked as vice president of Kassebaum Communications, a family-owned company that operated several radio stations. Kassebaum also served on the Maize School Board. In 1975, she and Philip were legally separated; their divorce became final in March 1979. Kassebaum worked in Washington, D.C., as a caseworker for Senator [[James B. Pearson]] of Kansas in 1975, but returned to Kansas the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/K/KASSEBAUM,-Nancy-Landon-(K000017)/|title=KASSEBAUM, Nancy Landon - US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|website=history.house.gov}}</ref>

==Career==

=== Elections ===
In late 1977, Senator Pearson announced he would not seek re-election to a third full term. The unexpected announcement of a rare open seat immediately drew a flood of candidates into the 1978 Republican primary, including two highly respected state senators, three successful businessmen, three others, and Nancy Kassebaum.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Peterson |first=Bill |date=July 31, 1978 |title=Familiar Name Emerges in Kansas Senate Race |pages=1–2 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/07/31/familiar-name-emerges-in-kansas-senate-race/ce92f32d-bbb5-4dcc-9fbd-1d0b89a2f8f2/ |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

At the time that she entered the race, Kassebaum was legally separated from her husband, Philip, but not yet divorced. She chose to use the name Nancy Landon Kassebaum, to capitalize on her father's political reputation in the state.<ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1906&dat=19780322&id=ENEfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HdkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2978,4557302 Nancy Landon Kassebaum Intends To Use Dad's Name]", ''The Fort Scott Tribune'' (March 22, 1978), p. 4.</ref> She defeated eight other Republicans in the 1978 primary elections to replace retiring Republican [[James B. Pearson]], and then defeated former [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] representative [[William R. Roy]] (who narrowly lost a previous election bid to Kansas's junior senator, [[Bob Dole]], in 1974) in the general election. For the rest of her political career, she was primarily known as '''Nancy Kassebaum'''.<ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19951121&id=JZ0yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SOkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6337,1406694 Salute To Senator: Her Retirement Came As No Surprise, But Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Still Will Be Missed By Kansans]", ''Lawrence Journal-World'' (November 21, 1995).</ref> She was re-elected to her Senate seat in 1984 and 1990, but did not seek re-election in 1996.

=== Tenure ===

==== Key issues ====
{{Centrism US}}
From the start of her Senate tenure, Kassebaum defied stereotypes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kneeland |first=Douglas E. |date=November 29, 1978 |title=Senate's Only Woman Defies Stereotypes |page=A18 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/29/archives/senates-only-woman-defies-stereotypes-she-defies-easy-stereotyping.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref> voting moderate to liberal on most social issues, but conservative on federal spending and government mandates.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Barone |last2=Ujifusa |first1=Michael |first2=Grant |year=1995 |title=Someone forgot the title |magazine=The Almanac of American Politics |url=https://www.thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com/ |publisher=National Journal, Inc. |issue=1996 |pages=526–530 |access-date=June 5, 2023 |archive-date=June 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605210239/https://www.thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> She helped lead an unsuccessful bi-partisan effort to curb soaring federal deficits in the early years of the Reagan administration.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=White |last2=Wildavsky |first1=Joseph |first2=Aaron |title=The Deficit and the Public Interest: The Search for Responsible Budgeting in the 1980s |publisher=University of California Press Russell Sage Foundation |year=1989 |isbn=9780520304666 |location=Berkeley, California |pages=399 |language=en-us}}</ref> But she developed a reputation as a centrist broker, with significant impact on key issues in both foreign policy and domestic affairs.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Duncan |last2=Lawrence |first1=Philip |first2=Christine |year=1995 |title=Politics in America 1996 |magazine=Congressional Quarterly |volume=Politics in America 1996 |issue=1996 |pages=509–511}}</ref>
Kassebaum is known for her [[health care]] legislation, known as the Kennedy–Kassebaum [[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act]], which was co-sponsored by U.S. senator [[Ted Kennedy]] from [[Massachusetts]], a Democrat. She was also active in foreign policy. She expressed strong support of anti-[[apartheid]] measures against [[South Africa]] in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news |author=Curt Anderson |agency=Associated Press |title=Last South African sanctions lifted |date=November 24, 1993 |newspaper=The Free Lance-Star |location=Fredericksburg, Virginia |page=A7  |via=Google News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bOcyAAAAIBAJ&dq=apartheid+sanctions&pg=3361,4583866}}</ref>
[[File:Defense.gov News Photo 970627-D-2987S-061.jpg|thumb|right|[[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[William S. Cohen]] and Nancy Kassebaum answer a reporter's question during a joint press briefing in 1997.]]

==== Foreign relations ====
In 1981, Kassebaum became chair of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, and entered the growing controversy surrounding the policy of [[apartheid]] — racial segregation and discrimination — in [[South Africa]]. She issued a public call for President Reagan and other Republicans to toughen U.S. policy toward the white minority government in Pretoria.

Although President Reagan condemned apartheid, he strongly opposed economic sanctions, despite growing pressure from Congress, including Kassebaum<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moffett III |first=George D. |date=August 19, 1985 |title=Botha speech pushes US toward sanctions |work=The Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0819/amof-f.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref> and senator [[Richard Lugar]] (R-IN), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. To break the impasse, the two senators joined key Democrats in supporting targeted sanctions against the South African government, setting specific anti-apartheid goals and conditions, including a demand that South Africa release [[African National Congress]] leader [[Nelson Mandela]] from prison.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ottawa |last2=Cannon |first1=David B. |first2=Lou |date=June 28, 1986 |title=Reagan Pressured on Apartheid |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/06/28/reagan-pressured-on-apartheid/9a3a3dba-44b6-45f0-b5b4-3588262c0490/ |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

The bi-partisan legislation, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986,<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 21, 1986 |title=H.R.4868 - Comprehensive Anti Apartheid Act of 1986 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/house-bill/4868 |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=congress.gove}}</ref> passed the House and Senate by overwhelming margins, but was then vetoed by President Reagan, forcing Kassebaum and Lugar into a major battle against the president and leadership of their own party.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kassebaum |last2=Lugar |first1=Nancy Landon |first2=Richard |date=September 30, 1986 |title=Override the President's Veto |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1986/09/30/override-the-presidents-veto/2b034880-0aa7-4565-a2c6-4168c3ecd28d/ |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref> On September 29, 1986, the House voted 315-to-84 to override Reagan's veto. The Senate followed suit three days later, and, on a 78-to-21 vote, passed the bi-partisan sanctions bill into law.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Steven V. |date=October 2, 1986 |title=Senate, 78 to 21, Overrides Reagan's Veto and Imposes Sanctions on South Africa |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/03/politics/senate-78-to-21-overrides-reagans-veto-and-imposes-sanctions-on.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

In March 1982, Kassebaum headed a U.S. delegation<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 1, 1982 |title=The State Department announced Monday that Sen. Nancy Kassebaum will head U.S. Delegation to El Salvador |page=1 |publisher=United Press International |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/03/01/The-State-Department-announced-Monday-that-Sen-Nancy-Kassebaum/8994383806800/ |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref> to observe national elections in [[El Salvador]], where the U.S.-backed military junta was battling leftist guerrillas, while being unable to control human rights abuses by government forces and far-right paramilitary groups.<ref>{{Cite report |last=Haggerty |first=Richard E. |date=November 1988 |title=El Salvador: A Country Study |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/frd/frdcstdy/el/elsalvadorcountr00hagg/elsalvadorcountr00hagg.pdf |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=33–35}}</ref> The heavy turnout on Election Day convinced Kassebaum that the leftists lacked popular support.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kassebaum |first=Nancy L. |title=Report of the U.S. Official Observer Mission to the El Salvador Constituent |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1982 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=5–6 |language=en-us}}</ref>

Kassebaum became a key member of bi-partisan efforts to support the Salvadoran government with economic and military aid, while pressuring the government on human rights, land reforms,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Judith |date=May 12, 1981 |title=Senate Panel Votes Curbs on Salvadoran Arms Aid |pages=10 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/12/world/senate-panel-votes-curbs-on-salvadoran-arms-aid.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref> and more effective steps to prevent a guerrilla victory.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |date=February 3, 1983 |title=Salvador Setback Arouses Concern of Reagan's Aides |pages=1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/03/world/salvador-setback-arouses-concern-of-reagan-s-aides.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref> She repeatedly urged the Reagan administration to set a clear policy for a political solution<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 17, 1983 |title=When to stop in El Salvador |pages=1 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0217/021712.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=March 23, 1983 |title=The Kassebaum Formula |pages=1 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/03/23/the-kassebaum-formula/7004acbb-ff74-499a-a87a-d677d3da2885/ |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kassebaum |first=Nancy |title=El Salvador Reprogramming |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1983 |edition=1st |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=81–89 |language=en-us}}</ref> to the [[Salvadoran Civil War|civil war]], while avoiding deeper U.S. military involvement in the region.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 27, 1983 |title=Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan., said Friday that the Administration's Decision |pages=1 |publisher=United Press International |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/27/Sen-Nancy-Kassebaum-R-Kan-said-Friday-the-administrations-decision/3342422856000/ |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

==== Domestic policy ====
When Republicans won control of Congress in the [[1994 United States elections|1994 elections]], Kassebaum became chair of the Senate Labor Committee, with broad jurisdiction over federal domestic policy. One of her first actions was to introduce health insurance reform legislation,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kassebaum |first=Nancy |year=1995 |title=S. 1028 - Health Insurance Reform Act of 1995 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/senate-bill/1028 |access-date=June 5, 2023 |publisher=Congress}}</ref> co-sponsored by the committee's senior Democrat, Sen. [[Ted Kennedy]]. The bill focused on helping some 25 million workers get, and keep, health insurance coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions, even when changing, or losing, a job.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clymer |first=Adam |date=July 14, 1995 |title=Bill Takes On Health Issue In Small Steps |pages=18 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/14/us/bill-takes-on-health-issue-in-small-steps.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kassebaum |first=Nancy |date=July 13, 1995 |title=Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions, S. 1028 |url=https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-141/issue-113/senate-section/article/S9905-2 |magazine=Congressional Record |volume=141 |issue=113 |pages=S9905–S9913 |via=congress.gov}}</ref>

In a year of heated debate, Kassebaum found herself at times opposing amendments from fellow Republicans, including her Kansas colleague, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kassebaum |first=Nancy |date=April 18, 1996 |title=S.Amdt.3677 |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1042/vote_104_2_00072.htm |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=senate.gov}}</ref> and pressuring Kennedy and Democrats to reach compromises.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kassebaum |first=Nancy |date=June 28, 1996 |title=Health Insurance Reform |url=https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-142/issue-98/senate-section/article/S7278-1?s=1&r=49 |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=congress.gov}}</ref> As a result, House and Senate conferees ultimately settled on a final version of the legislation, known as the Kassebaum-Kennedy Act, or the [[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act]]. The legislation passed overwhelmingly in both houses, and was signed into law by President Clinton, on August 21, 1996.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Havemann |first=Judith |date=August 22, 1996 |title=President Signs Insurance Portability Bill Into Law |pages=1 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/08/22/president-signs-insurance-portability-bill-into-law/46ea70fe-50ee-4c17-8209-3f99045b123e/ |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

In her last months in the Senate, Kassebaum also won passage of a new law preserving a beautiful tract of Kansas tallgrass prairie in the national park system. After more than 50 years of controversy,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conard |first=Rebecca |title=Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Legislative History, 1920-1996 |publisher=National Park Service |year=1998 |edition=1st |location=Omaha, Nebraska |language=en-us}}</ref> the idea of a [[Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve]] became a reality just two months before Kassebaum left office. The new preserve covers 10,876 acres in the heart of the [[Flint Hills]], with its native limestone house, barn and school. Under Kassebaum's bill, signed into law by President Clinton, the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is the only NPS unit dedicated to preserving and providing public access to untamed tallgrass prairie that once covered more than 400,000 square miles of the American heartland.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fineman |first=Susan |date=June 14, 1997 |title=Tallgrass Prairie Joins List of National Treasures |pages=1 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/06/14/tallgrass-prairie-joins-list-of-national-treasures/9819834a-0cf8-4c29-bb1e-bd0e86e8de9e/ |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Woodward |first=Richard |date=June 10, 2005 |title=A Sliver of Prairie Still Untamed |pages=1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/travel/escapes/a-sliver-of-prairie-still-untamed.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Christian |first=Shirley |date=July 26, 1998 |title=A Prairie Home |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/travel/a-prairie-home.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

==== Other issues ====
Early in her career, Kassebaum was tapped to serve as Temporary Chairman of the [[1980 Republican National Convention]]. Presiding over the first two days of the convention, her appointment to that role was seen by many as a nod from the Reagan campaign to the moderate and liberal wings of the party. In 1991, Kassebaum was mentioned by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' [[magazine]] as a possible [[running mate]] for President [[George H. W. Bush]] if Vice President [[Dan Quayle]] was not the Republican vice-presidential candidate in the [[1992 United States presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web |date=April 19, 2016 |title=Time Covers - The 90's |via=Google |url=http://images.google.com/hosted/life/e29018518728a4a5.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419022034/http://images.google.com/hosted/life/e29018518728a4a5.html |archive-date=April 19, 2016}}</ref>

Kassebaum voted for the successful Supreme Court nominations of [[Sandra Day O'Connor]], [[Antonin Scalia]], [[Anthony M. Kennedy]], [[David H. Souter]], [[Clarence Thomas]], [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]], and [[Stephen G. Breyer]]. She voted for the nomination of [[Robert Bork]], which was rejected by the Senate. Kassebaum later expressed regret for voting to confirm [[Clarence Thomas|Thomas]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in 1991, expressing disappointment in his performance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1995/05/27/kassebaum-regrets-vote-for-thomas/|title=Kassebaum regrets vote for Thomas|agency=Knight-Rider News Service |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=May 27, 1995|access-date=May 10, 2015}}</ref> The year after the hearings, she noted, "I was never once asked by anyone at the White House or by any of my colleagues about how I reacted to [[Anita Hill]]'s public allegations of sexual harassment, or how I thought the allegations should be handled."<ref>Reported in Wendy Kaminer, "Crashing the Locker Room", ''The Atlantic'' (July 1992), Vol, 270, p. 59-60.</ref>

Kassebaum voted against a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed Congress and the states to ban or restrict abortions.<ref>{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=June 29, 1983 |title=Senate's Roll Call Vote on Abortion Plan |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/29/us/senate-s-roll-call-on-abortion-plan.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

Kassebaum voted in favor of the [[Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day|bill]] establishing [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]] as a [[Federal holidays in the United States|federal holiday]], and the [[Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987]] (as well as to override [[President Reagan]]'s veto).<ref>{{cite web |title=To Pass H.R. 3706. (Motion Passed) See Note(s) 19. |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/98-1983/s293}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=To Pass S 557, Civil Rights Restoration Act, A Bill to Restore the Broad Coverage and Clarify Four Civil Rights Laws by Providing That If One Part of an Institution Is Federally Funded, Then the Entire Institution Must Not Discriminate. |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/100-1988/s432}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=To Adopt, over the President's Veto of S 557, Civil Rights Restoration Act, a Bill to Restore Broad Coverage of Four Civil Rights Laws by Declaring That If One Part of an Institution Receives Federal Funds, Then the Entire Institution Must Not Discriminate. Two-thirds of the Senate, Having Voted in the Affirmative, Overrode the Presidential Veto. |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/100-1988/s487}}</ref>

Prior to completing her third term, on December 7, 1996, Kassebaum married former U.S. Senator [[Howard Baker]] of [[Tennessee]], who retired from the U.S. Senate after serving three terms in 1985, and included terms as both majority and minority leader.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Weddings: Nancy Kassebaum and Howard Baker |pages=68 |work=The New York Times |date=December 8, 1996 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/08/style/nancy-kassebaum-and-howard-baker.html |access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

== Post-political career ==
Kassebaum was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Nancy+Kassebaum&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=December 13, 2021 |website=American Philosophical Society}}</ref>

After leaving the Senate, Kassebaum served on the Board of Trustees for the [[Robert Wood Johnson Foundation]] and the [[Kaiser Family Foundation]]. She was Chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the [[George C. Marshall Foundation]] and the [[American-Turkish Council]]. Senator Kassebaum also served on the Board of Directors of the [[National Committee on US-China Relations]], the African Law Institute Council-ABA, and the [[International Medical Corps]].

Kassebaum remained active on issues such as campaign finance reform. She served on the Americans for Campaign Reform Advisory Committee, and in 1997 President Clinton asked Kassebaum and former Vice President [[Walter Mondale]] “to assist in the cause of bipartisan campaign finance reform.” Their work resulted in recommendations to revamp campaign finance laws that was delivered to Congress in October.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kassebaum Baker |last2=Mondale |first1=Nancy |first2=Walter F. |date=July 18, 1997 |title=Campaign Finance: Fix It |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/op071897.htm |access-date=June 5, 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

In 2000, Kassebaum was appointed as Co-Chair of The Presidential Appointee Initiative Advisory Board, a Brookings Institution commission that delivered reform recommendations to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kassebaum |first=Nancy |date=April 5, 2001 |title=To Form a Government: A Bipartisan Plan to Improve the Presidential Appointments Process |url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/to-form-a-government-a-bipartisan-plan-to-improve-the-presidential-appointments-process/ |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=brookings.edu}}</ref>
[[File:Remarks by the President and Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker During Swearing-In Ceremony.jpg|thumb|right|Kassebaum and Howard Baker with [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]] in 2001 at the White House, during the announcement of Baker as the new ambassador to Japan]]
From 2001 to 2005, Senator Baker served as the [[United States Ambassador to Japan]] and Kassebaum accompanied him to Japan, living in Tokyo during this time. Kassebaum was recognized for her work with Baker in Japan, including organizing a regional conference in Tokyo to combat human trafficking in Asia in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Edward |date=September 14, 2004 |title=Tribute to Nancy Kassebaum Baker and Ambassador Howard Baker |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2004-09-14/html/CREC-2004-09-14-pt1-PgS9213-4.htm |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=govinfo.gov}}</ref>

Kassebaum is an Advisory Board member for the [[Partnership for a Secure America]], a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. She is also a member of the ReFormers Caucus of [[Issue One]].

She is a noted critic of President [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Donald Trump draws the ire of Nancy Kassebaum at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics |date=September 14, 2018 |url=https://www.wibw.com/content/news/Laura-Kelly-touts-growing-list-of-Republican-support-493262361.html |access-date=November 7, 2018 |newspaper=The Kansas City Star}}</ref> In 2018, she, alongside other incumbent and former Republican politicians, endorsed [[Laura Kelly]], the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate and eventual victor, in the [[2018 Kansas gubernatorial election]].<ref>[https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article218590450.html Hunter Woodall, "GOP stalwart Nancy Kassebaum picks Democrat Laura Kelly over Kris Kobach," ''Kansas City Star'', September 2018.]</ref> She also endorsed Kelly's successful reelection in [[2022 Kansas gubernatorial election|2022]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=Laura Kelly on Twitter: "I’m honored to receive Republican U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum’s support for reelection." / Twitter | url=https://twitter.com/LauraKellyKS/status/1576957749048508419 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213063213/https://twitter.com/laurakellyks/status/1576957749048508419 | access-date=2025-11-16 | archive-date=2022-12-13}}</ref> Kassebaum also endorsed Republican-turned-Democrat [[Barbara Bollier]] for the [[2020 United States Senate election in Kansas|2020 Senate election in Kansas]] over her Republican opponent [[Roger Marshall]]. In 2014, Kassebaum expressed support for [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>Republicans From the West Give Support for Gay Marriage; Erik Eckholm, ''The New York Times'', March 3, 2014</ref> In 2024, she endorsed [[Kamala Harris]] for president.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4902704-former-kansas-gop-senator-nancy-kassebaum-endorses-kamala-harris/|title=Ex-Kansas GOP senator backs Harris|date=September 27, 2024 |newspaper=The Hill}}</ref>

== Awards ==
Kassebaum was awarded an honorary doctorate from [[Kansas State University]] in 2015.[new citation] Kansas State University also offers the Kassebaum Scholarship,<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2023 |title=Nancy Landon Kassebaum Scholarship |url=https://www.k-state.edu/sfa/scholarships-aid/scholarships/future-students/additional-opportunities/freshman/competitive/kassebaum-scholarship.html |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=k-state.edu}}</ref> to recognize students who aspire to careers in public service, and up to five students receive this award annually. Her ties to Kansas State University date from 1966, when the [https://www.k-state.edu/landon/ Landon Lecture Series] on Public Issues was inaugurated as a tribute to her father, former Kansas Gov. Alfred Landon. Her four children are also Kansas State University alumni.

Kassebaum was honored by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas as Distinguished Kansas in 1978, and she received it Citation for Distinguished Statesmanship in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2023 |title=Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas |url=https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/native-sons-and-daughters-of-kansas/17627 |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=kshs.org}}</ref>

In 1985, Kassebaum received the Distinguished Service Citation from her alma mater, [[University of Kansas]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2023 |title=Past recipients of the Distinguished Service Citation |url=https://kualumni.org/programs/other-programs/awards/distinguished-service-citation-chronological |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=kualumni.org/}}</ref>

In 1996, she was awarded [[American Library Association Honorary Membership]].

In January 2025 Kassebaum was one of twenty recipients<ref name="PresidentialCitizensMedal">{{cite web | author=The White House | title=President Biden Announces Recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal | website=The White House | date=2 January 2025 | url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2025/01/02/president-biden-announces-recipients-of-the-presidential-citizens-medal/ | access-date=3 January 2025}}</ref> of the [[Presidential Citizens Medal]]. President Biden cited her bipartisan work in the United States Senate, especially on health care reform.

== Personal life ==
In 1955, Kassebaum married [[John Philip Kassebaum]], and they had four children. They separated in 1975, and divorced in March 1979.

She then married former U.S. Senator and Diplomat [[Howard Baker]] of [[Tennessee]] on December 7, 1996.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/08/style/nancy-kassebaum-and-howard-baker.html|title=Nancy Kassebaum and Howard Baker|date=December 8, 1996|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 7, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> After leaving Tokyo in 2005 at the end of his appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, they split time between his home in Huntsville, Tennessee, and her home in Burdick, Kansas. Baker died on June 26, 2014.

Her son, [[William Kassebaum]], is a former member of the [[Kansas House of Representatives]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=20035|title=Our Campaigns - Candidate - William A. Kassebaum |website=Our Campaigns |access-date=January 7, 2019}}</ref> Her other son, filmmaker [[Richard Kassebaum]], died of a [[brain tumor]] August 27, 2008, at the age of 47.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2, 2008 |title=Richard Kassebaum Obituary |url=https://obits.postandcourier.com/us/obituaries/charleston/name/richard-kassebaum-obituary?id=25108623 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605210237/https://obits.postandcourier.com/us/obituaries/charleston/name/richard-kassebaum-obituary?id=25108623 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 5, 2023 |access-date=June 5, 2023 |website=The Post and Courier |location=Charleston, South Carolina}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://themercury.com/obituaries/linda-josephine-kassebaum-johnson/article_1e5446c6-c180-500e-a468-c846efcb4af6.html|title=Linda Josephine Kassebaum Johnson |date=December 12, 2020 |newspaper=The Mercury |location=Manhattan, Kansas}}</ref> Her daughter, Dr. Linda Johnson, died of [[Progressive supranuclear palsy|supranuclear palsy]] in 2020 at the age of 61.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article247814430.html|publisher=[[The Kansas City Star]]|date=December 13, 2020|first=Anna|last=Spoerre|title=Renowned veterinarian, daughter of former Kansas senator dies from brain disease|accessdate=October 29, 2025}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[[Women in the United States Senate]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite news |title=Coming home: Nancy Kassebaum reflects on her political legacy, life |date=November 11, 2015 | first=Beccy |last=Tanner |work=The Wichita Eagle}}

== External links ==
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000017 Congressional Biography]
* {{C-SPAN|222}}
* [https://charlierose.com/guests/960 Appearances] on [[Charlie Rose]], [[PBS]]
* Kassebaum, Nancy Landon. ''The Challenge of Change'' [https://www.k-state.edu/landon/speakers/nancy-kassebaum/transcript-1987.html Landon Lecture Series on Public Issues, Kansas State University] (September 9, 1987)
* Kassebaum, Nancy Landon. ''To Form a More Perfect Union'' [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0360-4918 Presidential Studies Quarterly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041221224330/http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0360-4918 |date=December 21, 2004}} 18 (Spring 1988): 241–49.
* Kassebaum, Nancy Landon. ''The Intersection of Hope and Doubt'' [https://www.k-state.edu/landon/speakers/nancy-kassebaum/transcript.html Landon Lecture Series on Public Issues, Kansas State University] (September 9, 1996)
* Marshall-White, Eleanor (1991). ''Catalysts for Change: Interpretive Biographies of Shirley St. Hill Chisholm, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Nancy Landon Kassebaum'', Vantage Press, {{ISBN|0-533-09130-6}}

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[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Kansas politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
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[[Category:Howard Baker]]
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[[Category:Female United States senators]]
[[Category:Iowa State University faculty]]
[[Category:Kansas Republicans]]
[[Category:Landon family]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Politicians from Topeka, Kansas]]
[[Category:Presidential Citizens Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Kansas]]
[[Category:School board members in Kansas]]
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[[Category:University of Kansas alumni]]
[[Category:University of Michigan alumni]]
[[Category:Women in Kansas politics]]