Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith | |
|---|---|
| Chair of the Senate Republican Conference | |
| In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Leader | Everett Dirksen Hugh Scott |
| Preceded by | Leverett Saltonstall |
| Succeeded by | Norris Cotton |
| United States Senator from Maine | |
| In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Wallace H. White Jr. |
| Succeeded by | William Hathaway |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 2nd district | |
| In office June 3, 1940 – January 3, 1949 | |
| Preceded by | Clyde H. Smith |
| Succeeded by | Charles P. Nelson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Margaret Madeline Chase December 14, 1897 Skowhegan, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | May 29, 1995 (aged 97) Skowhegan, Maine, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Signature | |
Margaret Madeline Chase Smith (née Chase; December 14, 1897 – May 29, 1995) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a U.S. representative (1940–1949) and a U.S. senator (1949–1973) from Maine. She was the first woman to serve in both houses of the U.S. Congress. A Republican, she was among the first to criticize the tactics of Joseph McCarthy in her 1950 speech "Declaration of Conscience".
Smith was a candidate in the 1964 Republican Party presidential primaries; she was the first woman to be placed in nomination for the U.S. presidency at a major party's convention. Upon leaving office, she was the longest-serving female senator in history, a distinction that was not surpassed until January 4, 2011, when Senator Barbara Mikulski from Maryland exceeded her record. Smith was ranked as the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate, a distinction that was not surpassed until January 3, 2021, when Susan Collins, who holds the same Senate seat she previously held, was sworn in for a fifth term.