Margaret Chase Smith
Sign in to saveAlso known as Margaret Madeline Chase Smith, Margaret Smith
member of the United States Senate from Maine (1897-1995)
Key facts
- Leader
- Everett Dirksen , Hugh Scott
- Preceded by
- Leverett Saltonstall
- Succeeded by
- Norris Cotton
- Born
- Margaret Madeline Chase , ( 1897-12-14 ) December 14, 1897, Skowhegan, Maine , U.S.
- Died
- May 29, 1995 (1995-05-29) (aged 97), Skowhegan, Maine, U.S.
- Party
- Republican
- Spouse
- Clyde H. Smith ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1930 ; died 1940 )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Margaret
- Family name
- Chase
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Skowhegan
- Place of death
- Skowhegan
- Spouse
- Clyde H. Smith
- Occupation
- business executive
- Position held
- United States senator
- Political party
- Republican Party (United States)
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Award
- Time 100
- Field of work
- mass media
- Military branch
- Air Force Reserve Command
- Military rank
- lieutenant colonel
- Image
- Margaret Chase Smith.jpg
- Work location
- Washington, D.C.
Show 9 more facts
- cause of death
- lung cancer
- Commons category
- Margaret Chase Smith
- manner of death
- natural causes
- date of birth
- 1897-12-14
- date of death
- 1995-05-29
- member of
- Daughters of the American Revolution
- name in native language
- Margaret Chase Smith
- writing language
- English language
- birth name
- Margaret Madeline Chase
via Wikidata · CC0
~23 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Margaret Chase Smith” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.