Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former U.S. senator from Kansas, dies at 94
Former U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker of Kansas was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without following a spouse into office.
Bill Kassebaum told CBS News that his mother was "an independent voice that was willing to do what was right for Kansas and the country," which he said sometimes meant going against her party.
"She was also willing to talk to her constituents, even when they didn't agree, and openly discuss her votes and stances," he said, adding that while people may not have agreed with her, they appreciated her willingness to talk.
Kassebaum Baker was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978 and served three terms. Her modest demeanor endeared her to voters of all political stripes, though she shared the moderate, progressive Republican politics of her father, Gov. Alf Landon, the unsuccessful 1936 GOP nominee for president. Even after leaving the Senate early in 1997, she continued taking on public service roles.
She married former Sen. Howard Baker , a Tennessee Republican, in 1996. He died in 2014.
Kassebaum Baker remained an icon for Kansans generally. She could work with Senate colleagues of all political philosophies, and a 1996 health insurance law bore her name, along with that of liberal Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy.