Women in the United States Senate After retiring from the Senate, she married former Senator Howard Baker (R-TN). Kassebaum has the distinction of being the first female elected senator who did not succeed her husband in Congress (Margaret Chase Smith was only elected to the Senate after succeeding her husband to his House seat). At the time of her retirement in 1997, Kassebaum was the second longest serving female senator, after Smith (Since 1997 five women have had Senate careers longer than Kassebaum's). The first woman in the Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton, who served representing Georgia for only one day in 1922. Hattie Caraway became
History of women in the United States O'Connor was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and became the first female Supreme Court Justice. In 1983, Sally Ride became the first female American astronaut. In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman nominated for Vice President by a major party (the Democratic Party), although she was not elected. Also, in 1984 Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space. In 1987, Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to be elected chief of a major Native American tribe (Cherokee). In 1991, she was re-elected with 83% of the vote; during her tenure the Cherokee nation's membership