Tammy Duckworth is a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel currently serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois, and she has a number of firsts under her belt. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office.
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand and is a natural-born citizen through her father's status as an American citizen. She comes from a long line of family members who served in the military, with her father serving as a Marine and Vietnam Veteran whose ancestors had served in uniform during every period of conflict in United States history, dating back to before the Revolution.
Duckworth and her family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii when she was 16. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, and she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in 1992. While there, she followed in her father’s footsteps and joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).
Duckworth then began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, but was called to active duty and sent to Iraq in 2004. While there, a rocket-propelled grenade shot her helicopter down and she lost both her legs and almost lost her right arm. She was awarded a Purple Heart while undergoing extensive rehabilitation and eventually retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel in 2014. The following year, she completed a PhD in human services at Capella University.
Duckworth entered civilian public service when she was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. She then became assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, but resigned to run for the House of Representatives from the 8th congressional district of Illinois. She took office in 2013 and then won election to the Senate in 2016, where she has introduced or cosponsored bills protecting the rights of veterans.
On November 8, 2022, Duckworth won her reelection to the U.S. Senate, giving her another first: the first woman reelected to a senate seat from Illinois.