{"id":95389,"date":"2026-08-22T18:32:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T18:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/nancy-kassebaum-baker-former-u-s-senator-from-kansas-dies-at-94\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T18:32:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T18:32:30","slug":"nancy-kassebaum-baker-former-u-s-senator-from-kansas-dies-at-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/nancy-kassebaum-baker-former-u-s-senator-from-kansas-dies-at-94\/","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former U.S. senator from Kansas, dies at 94"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas governor&#8217;s daughter who became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without following a spouse into office, has died, her son Bill Kassebaum told CBS News on Saturday. She was 94.<\/p>\n<p>Kassebaum Baker died Friday, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Bill Kassebaum told CBS News that his mother was &#8220;an independent voice that was willing to do what was right for Kansas and the country,&#8221; which he said sometimes meant going against her party.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was also willing to talk to her constituents, even when they didn&#8217;t agree, and openly discuss her votes and stances,&#8221; he said, adding that while people may not have agreed with her, they appreciated her willingness to talk.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>She married former <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/former-senate-majority-leader-howard-baker-dead-at-88\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Sen. Howard Baker<\/a><\/span>, a Tennessee Republican, in 1996. He died in 2014.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/3637c970-68e9-4b3a-9e84-ff5ac19fbe5d\/thumbnail\/620x409\/0965504b636091a94227c8d1fa5f1927\/gettyimages-50591392.jpg#\" alt=\"Howard H. Jr. Baker;Paul D. Laxalt;Nancy L. Kassebaum \" height=\"409\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/3637c970-68e9-4b3a-9e84-ff5ac19fbe5d\/thumbnail\/620x409\/0965504b636091a94227c8d1fa5f1927\/gettyimages-50591392.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/3637c970-68e9-4b3a-9e84-ff5ac19fbe5d\/thumbnail\/1240x818\/813baedc9a32b816cfc3ad0e231d0621\/gettyimages-50591392.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">(L-R) Sens. Nancy Kassebaum, Paul Laxalt &amp; camera-busy photography buff Howard Baker, at the 1984 Republican National Convention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Steve Northup \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Her election to the Senate brought her immediate national attention. When she announced her retirement, she was among eight women senators and the only one to chair a Senate committee, the Labor and Human Resources panel.<\/p>\n<p>She was also in a dwindling bloc of moderate-to-liberal Republicans, having supported, for example, a ban on assault weapons championed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.<\/p>\n<p>Yet she never polarized Kansas conservatives as other GOP moderates did. She connected with voters because she never seemed caught up in the trappings of power, and when she retired, she acknowledged, &#8220;I&#8217;d rather cuddle up and do needlepoint all day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She was born on July 29, 1932, as her father, an oilman from Independence, was running for the first of his two terms as governor. She earned a political science degree from the University of Kansas and a master&#8217;s degree in diplomatic history from the University of Michigan in the mid-1950s.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/ccaefa4f-bd2b-4ff5-9424-53255b601bbe\/thumbnail\/620x428\/84ea2b11b113339366a589ee87a17412\/gettyimages-1837050307.jpg#\" alt=\"Nancy Kassebaum And Alf Landon \" height=\"428\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/ccaefa4f-bd2b-4ff5-9424-53255b601bbe\/thumbnail\/620x428\/84ea2b11b113339366a589ee87a17412\/gettyimages-1837050307.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/ccaefa4f-bd2b-4ff5-9424-53255b601bbe\/thumbnail\/1240x856\/d97d90dd93999ac2a532e22995ae7e34\/gettyimages-1837050307.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Nancy Kassebaum Baker with her father Alf Landon at his home in Topeka, Kansas, August 16th 1978.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                UPI \/ Bettmann Archive \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>She was a radio-station executive, spent a year in the 1970s on the staff of Kansas Sen. James Pearson and served on the school board in the Wichita suburb of Maize. She had four children with her first husband, Phil Kassebaum, including Bill, who served a term in the Kansas House. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979.<\/p>\n<p>When Kassebaum Baker decided to run for the U.S. Senate, she figured that &#8220;a woman with a background different from a man might be appealing&#8221; to people growing weary of politics. Pundits at the time estimated a Senate race would require the then-huge-for-Kansas sum of $1 million. In the first quarter of 1978, she spent less than $12,000 on her campaign, and saw herself &#8220;at the bottom of the totem pole.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>However, nine candidates crowded the primary field, including three state senators and a prominent Wichita businessman. Kassebaum Baker won the GOP nomination with less than 31% of the vote.<\/p>\n<p>Running as Nancy Landon Kassebaum, she won almost 54% of the vote that November against former two-term Democratic congressman Bill Roy.<\/p>\n<p>Her moderate politics quickly came to the fore when only months later, she refused to endorse an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We should be wary of the seemingly simple solution,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Her father, who would die at age 100 in 1987, still cast a long political shadow during her first years in office. Though he&#8217;d overwhelmingly lost the 1936 presidential race to Democratic incumbent Franklin Roosevelt, he later became an elder statesman for the party. A lecture series named for him at Kansas State University attracted presidents and foreign leaders.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/62710ded-6eca-4bae-8f63-2a11e0dc0529\/thumbnail\/620x944\/52ff3ec87c3db81832cc4c0362201673\/gettyimages-74903275.jpg#\" alt=\"GENDER-INTEGRATED TRAINING--Federal Advisory Committee Chair \" height=\"944\" width=\"620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/62710ded-6eca-4bae-8f63-2a11e0dc0529\/thumbnail\/620x944\/52ff3ec87c3db81832cc4c0362201673\/gettyimages-74903275.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/62710ded-6eca-4bae-8f63-2a11e0dc0529\/thumbnail\/1240x1888\/330858f0dbfc7d8a70a6993439486b30\/gettyimages-74903275.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Nancy Kassebaum Baker in 1998.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Douglas Graham\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Kassebaum Baker became even more popular in her time. She won re-election in 1984 with 76% of the vote and in 1990 with 74% of the vote.<\/p>\n<p>But she frustrated conservative activists, despite her popularity. She said her vote in favor of the assault weapons ban inspired the angriest mail of her career.<\/p>\n<p>She&#8217;d contemplated not seeking a third term, but Republican leaders had prevailed upon her to run one more time. In 1996, when she decided not to seek re-election, she said she would return to a ranch and 90-year-old farmhouse in Kansas&#8217; scenic Flint Hills and babysit her grandchildren \u2014 she had seven, as well as two great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>When there was brief talk of naming a new highway in Topeka after her, she said, &#8220;Oh, goodness. Absolutely not \u2014 no.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She and Baker kept their romance low-key, and speculation about a possible marriage didn&#8217;t emerge until mid-1996, in a Washington Post story. They married that December.<\/p>\n<p>It was the first time a man and a woman who had both served in the Senate had wed. Baker was elected to three terms and served from 1967 to 1985 before becoming President Ronald Reagan&#8217;s chief of staff. His first wife, Joy, had died in 1993 after a long battle with cancer.<\/p>\n<p>After the marriage, public service still beckoned, including as a member of a bipartisan commission on campaign finance reform under Clinton and on a British commission in Africa in 2004-05.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/dfea4937-699e-4b43-ae99-8dc03cbf57fc\/thumbnail\/620x527\/cdbd9065458f1c364be5ff17f47c9e39\/gettyimages-526982916.jpg#\" alt=\"Senator Nancy Kassebum At The Kansas State Fair. \" height=\"527\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/dfea4937-699e-4b43-ae99-8dc03cbf57fc\/thumbnail\/620x527\/cdbd9065458f1c364be5ff17f47c9e39\/gettyimages-526982916.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/22\/dfea4937-699e-4b43-ae99-8dc03cbf57fc\/thumbnail\/1240x1054\/cb18e29fb98c1d98e2d209f5cc20c62a\/gettyimages-526982916.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Nancy Kassebaum Baker at the Kansas State Fair in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Mark Reinstein\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>President George W. Bush named her husband ambassador to Japan in 2001, and she went with him for the four-year posting. Baker said she became an important figure in the Asian nation.<\/p>\n<p>Before she left for Tokyo, she told a reporter she saw her stint in Japan as an adventure but added, &#8220;All I can say is, I will miss the Kansas prairie.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Later in life, Kassebaum Baker broke with the Republican Party as it became more conservative, endorsing Democratic candidates for Kansas governor and U.S. senator, including Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly both times \u2014 even though Kelly&#8217;s 2022 GOP opponent, then state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, had worked on her Senate staff.<\/p>\n<p>She also declared in 2021 that President Trump should be impeached after <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/feature\/assault-on-the-us-capitol\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Trump supporters attacked<\/a><\/span> the U.S. Capitol, hoping to stop congressional certification of Mr. Trump&#8217;s defeat in 2020 by Democrat Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This just has gone too far,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OFwnV7dwUkE\" rel=\"noopener\">she told Kansas City&#8217;s KMBC.<\/a><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<p class=\"content__meta--contributors\">\n<p>                      <span class=\"byline__author__text\">April  Alexander<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        contributed to this report.\n    <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/nancy-kassebaum-baker-former-united-states-senator-kansas-dies-at-94\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas governor&#8217;s daughter who became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without following a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[6996,157,3048,1119,972,158,4189,899],"class_list":["post-95389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-bill-clinton","tag-donald-trump","tag-george-w-bush","tag-joe-biden","tag-kansas","tag-politics","tag-ronald-reagan","tag-united-states-senate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former U.S. senator from Kansas, dies at 94 - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former U.S. Sen. 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