On September 29, 2023, Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office confirmed that she had passed away the day before at the age of 90. She was the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history and the oldest member of Congress.
Her chief of staff, James Sauls, said that Feinstein’s legacy was extraordinary and undeniable. He mentioned that they were grieving her loss.
Dianne Feinstein was born on June 22, 1933, in San Francisco. She was the oldest of three girls. Her father was a surgeon, and her mother stayed at home to raise Dianne and her sisters. Unfortunately, they faced abuse from their mother due to her brain damage from encephalitis.
Dianne went to Stanford University and studied history, where she became interested in politics. She met her first husband, Jack Berman, while working as an intern in the San Francisco district attorney’s office. They got married in 1956 and had one daughter, Katherine, but they divorced in 1959 because he wanted her to be a traditional wife.
As a young single mother, it was challenging for her to find work, but in 1961, Governor Pat Brown appointed her to a board overseeing female prison inmates. In 1969, she was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, with support from her second husband, neurosurgeon Bertram Feinstein.
During her time on the Board, she faced threats, including a bomb planted at her home. She remained strong despite these challenges, but she lost her husband to cancer in 1978, which deeply affected her.
On November 27, 1978, tragedy struck when shots were fired at San Francisco City Hall. Feinstein found her colleague Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly gay elected official, injured. She also discovered Mayor George Moscone had been shot. Both men were killed by Dan White, a former board member. Feinstein became acting mayor and addressed the public while covered in blood.
She served as mayor until 1988 and then ran for governor of California but did not win. In 1992, she was elected to the Senate and remained there until her passing in 2023. She was the longest-serving female senator and the oldest member of Congress.
Feinstein’s personal experiences influenced her work in Congress. She supported the 1994 assault weapons ban, family leave legislation in 1993, and worked on California’s energy crisis. She also championed the legalization of gay marriage in 2015.
After her second husband’s death, she married Richard Blum in 1990. They were together until his passing from cancer in 2022. Her daughter Katherine, who became a judge, had a daughter named Eileen.
Throughout her Senate career, Feinstein worked with six U.S. presidents and made history by being the first woman to open a U.S. presidential inauguration in 2009.
In February 2023, Feinstein announced she wouldn’t seek reelection in 2024 due to rumors of cognitive decline. She was hospitalized for shingles a month later and took a break from the Senate. When she returned, there were calls for her resignation after she seemed to not remember her absence.
Despite her health struggles later in life, Feinstein leaves behind a significant legacy, and she once said that if you believe in what you do, you can rise like a phoenix from your own challenges.
