Former GOP Senator Passes Away

Former Republican U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker of Kansas has died at the age of 94, bringing an end to the life of a groundbreaking political figure who spent 18 years representing the Sunflower State in Washington.

Kassebaum Baker died Friday of natural causes, according to her son, Bill Kassebaum.

Her death marks the passing of a Republican from a dramatically different era of American politics — one in which moderates and conservatives competed for influence inside the GOP and bipartisan cooperation was considerably more common on Capitol Hill.

Kassebaum Baker made history when she was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978. She became the first woman elected to the Senate in her own right without having previously followed a husband into the office.

She would go on to win three terms, become one of Kansas’ most recognizable political leaders and build a reputation as a Republican willing to break with her own party when she believed it was necessary.

Kassebaum Baker Made History in the U.S. Senate

Kassebaum Baker’s victory in 1978 immediately attracted national attention.

Women remained a rarity in the Senate at the time, and her election represented an important political milestone.

By the time she announced her retirement, eight women were serving in the Senate. Kassebaum Baker was also the only woman at the time chairing a Senate committee, leading the influential Labor and Human Resources Committee.

Her political philosophy would be considered moderate by today’s Republican standards.

Although that sometimes put her at odds with conservatives, Kassebaum Baker developed an extraordinary level of support among Kansas voters.

She Came From a Famous Republican Family

Politics was part of Kassebaum Baker’s life from an early age.

Her father, Alf Landon, served two terms as governor of Kansas and became the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 1936.

Landon challenged Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression but suffered an overwhelming defeat. He nevertheless remained an influential Republican elder statesman for decades afterward.

Kassebaum Baker eventually stepped out of her father’s political shadow and established a formidable electoral record of her own.

Nancy Landon was born on July 29, 1932, and studied political science at the University of Kansas before completing a master’s program in diplomatic history at the University of Michigan.

Before entering the Senate, she worked as a radio station executive, spent time on the staff of Kansas Sen. James Pearson and served on a local school board in Maize, Kansas.

Her First Senate Campaign Was an Uphill Battle

Kassebaum Baker was hardly considered the inevitable Republican nominee when she entered the 1978 Senate contest.

Nine candidates competed in the GOP primary, including experienced state politicians and a prominent Wichita businessman.

Money presented another obstacle.

At a time when political observers estimated that a competitive Kansas Senate campaign could require $1 million, Kassebaum Baker spent less than $12,000 during the first quarter of her campaign.

She nevertheless prevailed in the crowded Republican primary with less than 31% of the vote.

Running as Nancy Landon Kassebaum, she then defeated former Democratic Rep. Bill Roy in November, winning nearly 54% of the vote.

It was only the beginning.

Kansas Voters Gave Her Landslide Victories

Once in office, Kassebaum Baker became enormously popular back home.

She won reelection in 1984 with approximately 76% of the vote.

Six years later, Kansas voters returned her to Washington with roughly 74%.

Those numbers were especially striking considering her willingness to take positions that angered portions of the Republican Party’s conservative base.

Kassebaum Baker belonged to a shrinking group of moderate Republicans and frequently approached legislation on an issue-by-issue basis rather than automatically following the party line.

That independence became one of the defining characteristics of her career.

She Was Willing to Defy Republicans

Kassebaum Baker demonstrated her independent streak shortly after arriving in Washington.

She declined to support a constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to maintain a balanced budget, expressing concern about relying on political solutions that appeared simpler than they really were.

Later, she supported the federal assault-weapons ban championed by Democratic President Bill Clinton.

That decision angered many conservatives, and Kassebaum Baker later indicated that the gun vote produced some of the harshest mail she received during her Senate career.

Despite those disagreements, Kansas Republicans continued supporting her by overwhelming margins.

Her ability to maintain that coalition distinguished her from many other moderate Republicans who became targets of conservative opposition.

Kassebaum Baker Worked With Ted Kennedy on Major Health Legislation

One of Kassebaum Baker’s most significant legislative accomplishments came through cooperation with one of the Senate’s most famous liberals.

She worked with Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, better known today as HIPAA.

The legislation addressed health insurance portability and established important federal protections involving health coverage and medical information.

The Kassebaum-Kennedy partnership became an example of the bipartisan relationships that were once more common in Congress, despite major ideological differences between lawmakers.

Kassebaum Baker and Kennedy disagreed on plenty. But they were willing to work together when they found common ground.

She Walked Away From Washington on Her Own Terms

Kassebaum Baker had thought about stepping away from the Senate before pursuing a third term, but GOP leaders ultimately convinced her to seek reelection.

By 1996, she decided the time had come to leave Washington.

Rather than pursuing another six-year term, she planned to return to her Kansas ranch and farmhouse in the Flint Hills and spend more time with her family.

Her first marriage produced four children, among them Bill Kassebaum, who later entered politics and served a term in the Kansas House of Representatives.

By the time of her retirement, she also had seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Her understated personality was part of her political appeal.

When there was briefly discussion of naming a Topeka highway after her, Kassebaum Baker rejected the idea.

It was consistent with an image she maintained throughout her career: a politician who seemed far more interested in Kansas than in Washington celebrity.

Marriage to Howard Baker Made Senate History

Kassebaum Baker attracted attention again in 1996 when she married another major Republican political figure.

She wed former Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker that December.

Their marriage was historic in its own right, marking the first time a man and woman who had both served in the U.S. Senate married each other.

Howard Baker had served three terms in the Senate between 1967 and 1985 and became one of the Republican Party’s leading statesmen.

He later served as White House chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan.

Howard Baker’s first wife had died in 1993 after battling cancer. He and Kassebaum Baker kept their relationship largely outside the public spotlight before marrying.

Howard Baker died in 2014.

Public Service Continued After the Senate

Retirement from Congress did not completely end Kassebaum Baker’s involvement in public affairs.

She participated in a bipartisan campaign finance reform commission during the Clinton administration and later served on an international commission examining issues in Africa.

Another chapter began after Republican President George W. Bush appointed Howard Baker as U.S. ambassador to Japan in 2001.

Kassebaum Baker accompanied her husband to Tokyo during the four-year diplomatic assignment.

Even while preparing for life overseas, however, her attachment to Kansas remained clear. She spoke about the experience as a new adventure while making it known that she would miss the Kansas prairie.

Kassebaum Baker Eventually Broke With Today’s GOP

Kassebaum Baker’s moderate Republican philosophy increasingly separated her from the modern GOP later in life.

She endorsed Democratic candidates in several major Kansas elections, including Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

Her endorsement of Kelly in the 2022 governor’s race was particularly notable because Republican challenger Derek Schmidt had previously worked on Kassebaum Baker’s Senate staff.

Her disagreements with the Republican Party eventually extended to Donald Trump.

Following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Kassebaum Baker publicly supported impeaching Trump.

That position put her squarely at odds with much of the Republican base and illustrated the enormous political distance between the GOP Kassebaum Baker entered in the 1970s and the party of today.

A Republican Career Spanning a Different Political Era

Conservatives will find plenty in Kassebaum Baker’s record with which to disagree.

Her support for gun restrictions, endorsement of Democratic candidates and opposition to Trump placed her well outside today’s conservative Republican mainstream.

But her place in American political history remains significant.

She entered a crowded Republican Senate primary as an underdog and ultimately became one of the most popular politicians in Kansas.

She won reelection twice by enormous margins, chaired a major Senate committee and participated in legislation that continues to affect Americans decades later.

Perhaps most importantly, Kassebaum Baker built her career at a time when political independence could still coexist with overwhelming support from voters in her own party.

Her life also spanned generations of Republican history, from the era of her father Alf Landon to Ronald Reagan, both Bush administrations and eventually the rise of Trump and the modern MAGA movement.

Nancy Kassebaum Baker’s politics did not always align with conservatives, particularly later in her life.

But for 18 years, Kansas voters repeatedly entrusted her with representing their state in the United States Senate.

At 94, her death closes the book on one of the longest and most distinctive political careers in modern Kansas history.