Jean Carnahan

Jean Anne Carpenter Carnahan (pronounced /ˈdʒiːn ˈkɑrnəhæn/; born December 20, 1933) is an American politician and writer who served in the United States Senate from 2001 to 2002. A Democrat, she was appointed to the Senate to fill the seat of her posthumously elected husband, becoming the first woman to represent Missouri in the Senate. Born Jean Anne Carpenter in Washington, D.C. to a working-class family, she was determined to go to college. She worked through the year while attending George Washington University. She graduated in 1955 with a degree in Business and Public Administration — the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. She is an alumna of Kappa Delta sorority. She married Mel Carnahan in 1954. As...