1. Jean Anne Carnahan was an American politician and writer who was the First Lady of Missouri from 1993 to 2000, and served as the state's junior United States senator from 2001 to 2002.
19 Facts About Jean Carnahan
1. 2.
Jean Carnahan Anne Carpenter was born on December 20,1933, in Washington, DC, to a working-class family; her father was a plumber and her mother a hairdresser.
3.
Jean Carnahan worked through the year while attending George Washington University.
4.
Jean Carnahan graduated in 1955 with a degree in Business and Public Administration, the first in her family to graduate from high school and college.
5.
Jean Carnahan was active in her own right, leading petition drives for mental health and school bonds in Rolla.
6.
Jean Carnahan's husband was elected Governor of Missouri, serving from 1993 to 2000.
7.
Jean Carnahan was an activist First Lady: an advocate for on-site daycare centers for working families, childhood immunization, abuse centers, the arts, and Habitat for Humanity.
8.
Jean Carnahan made a priority of restoring the Governor's mansion to make it more open to the public.
9.
In 2000, Governor Jean Carnahan ran for a Senate seat from Missouri against incumbent Republican John Ashcroft in a hotly contested battle, in which Senate control was on the line.
10.
Jean Carnahan initially was unsure whether she was up for running for the seat.
11.
Jean Carnahan refrained from running an extensive campaign, making only one advertisement, and making just one TV news appearance.
12.
Jean Carnahan was appointed to the Senate in 2001, but under Missouri law, she would serve only until a special election could be held in 2002.
13.
Jean Carnahan had offered praise to him and opposed a proposed effort to filibuster his nomination, but ultimately voted against Ashcroft's nomination.
14.
Jean Carnahan called her vote an 'act of conscience' but the vote opened her up to criticism from Republicans, who had previously showed restraint owing to the circumstances of her appointment.
15.
Jean Carnahan supported the merger between Trans World Airlines, who had 12,000 employees in St Louis, and American Airlines, calling it a "rescue mission" and persuaded fellow senators to not intervene.
16.
Jean Carnahan formally announced her campaign April 28,2002, and entered as one of the most vulnerable incumbents up that cycle.
17.
Jean Carnahan was defeated in a close race by Republican Jim Talent; the margin was only 22,000 votes.
18.
Russ Jean Carnahan lost his House seat in the 2012 elections after his district was eliminated, forcing him to run in a Democratic primary against fellow incumbent Lacy Clay, whose district encompassing inner-city St Louis was kept largely intact.
19.
Jean Carnahan died at a hospice facility in Creve Coeur, Missouri, on January 30,2024, at the age of 90.