Women in the Senate

When we began this season of The United States of Anxiety, we wanted to get an up-close view of the role gender plays in politics. One of the indicators of that struggle are the numbers. First, we looked to Congress:

As you can see, women have been underrepresented in our legislature since it first convened in 1789. Back then, there were no women in Congress. Women didn't even have the right to vote. Fast forward to today and only 107 out of 535 members of both the House and Senate are women. Over the course of US history, 61% of all women who have ever been in Congress were elected between the 1991 "Year of the Woman" and today, which means the rate is accelerating. Yet, we have not come close to parity. We were especially interested in tracking the history of women in the Senate.

Just 52 women have made it into the US Senate. However, most of those early women were appointed to office, not elected, and the first female US Senator, Rebecca Latimer Felton, only officially served for 24 hours. It wasn't until 1978 when Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a Republican from Kansas, was elected in her own right, without prior appointment. We wanted to hear from these women who have made it into this rarified enclave of power: What motivated them to run? How did they make space for themselves in their workplace, which was designed around male power? What are they looking forward to in this 2018 "Year of the Woman"?

We reached out to all 37 living women Senators past and present. Here are some of their stories and words of advice for future leaders. You’ll also hear some of them reflect on why they feel a need for more women to be elected. Highlights include Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois describing her experience as the first black woman to be elected to the Senate; Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire talking about how fighting for her son with severe disabilities catalyzed her political career; Jean Carnahan of Missouri reflecting on how becoming a US Senator helped her overcome the grief of losing her husband, who died three weeks before election day (she ended up taking his seat); and Patty Murray of Washington, who was told by political consultants to downplay her gender on the campaign trail.

Interviews by Brigid Bergin, Jessica Miller, Kai Wright and Elizabeth Ucles. Animation and illustrations by Clarisa Diaz. Additional audio engineering by Cayce Means.