Dianne Feinstein is the first woman to serve as a Senator for the state of California. She has held the position since she was elected in 1992 and, at the age of 88, is the oldest sitting United States Senator. As of March 2021, Feinstein, a member of the Democratic Party, is also the longest-serving U.S. senator from California.
Feinstein was educated at Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, graduating in 1951, and Stanford University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree. "I got an A-plus in American Political Thought and realized this was my aptitude," she said to the L.A. Times in 1990.
She then took a position as a Fellow at the Coro Foundation in San Francisco, an organization whose goal was to instill political experience in young people. In 1969 she won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where she served for nine years and was the first female President of the Board.
On November 27, 1978, Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated, and Feinstein became San Francisco’s first female mayor. She was inaugurated on December 4, 1978. While in office, she earned respect and support from the public for furthering gay rights and improving city services such as garbage collection and transportation. She served the maximum two terms and accepted the Senate seat in 1992 after losing the race for Governor.
During her time in office, Feinstein has written legislation that includes a ban on the manufacture, sale, and possession of semiautomatic military combat weapons. She also co-authored the Gun-Free Schools Act and the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act, both signed into law in 1994, and she drafted the California Desert Protection Act, which called for the conservation of more than 3 million acres of desert, national parks, and nature reserves.
Feinstein is also the first woman to be a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the first woman to chair the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. She has been awarded the Legion of Honour by France, the Woodrow Wilson Award for public service, and the American Medical Association's Nathan Davis Award for "the Betterment of the Public Health."