Amazon.com
It's hard to imagine nine United States senators whose politics span the spectrum sitting down to dinner together on a regular basis--unless they're the nine women who currently call the Senate home. Barbara Mikulski, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Mary Landrieu, and Blanche L. Lincoln share something deeper than their political proclivities: gender has been the strongest characteristic of their personal and professional lives, and each one has overcome enormous obstacles to reach the old boys' club that is the Senate. As evidence of their remarkable camaraderie, they've now collaborated to share their stories in the hopes of encouraging other women to follow suit. The women write with candor about dealing with sexual stereotypes, facing tragedies, and proving themselves in a world that presents them with an ever-shifting teeterboard of proper feminine behavior.
Their stories range from surprising to shocking to illuminating. Included are Dianne Feinstein's account of the assassination of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and her unexpected rise to power, and the string of deaths that shaped Olympia Snowe into the independent person she is. The senators also share how they have balanced family with work, and in the process brought issues to the Senate floor not previously considered, such as child care, domestic violence, and homemaker retirement accounts (as well as the refreshing sight of small children). What is most impressive is their collaborative spirit, drawn from the traditional female training ground of local grass-roots endeavors and an emphasis on relationship and negotiation. When 64-year-old Barbara Boxer was born, becoming a senator was practically an unthinkable idea. Now, as the senior female senator, she welcomes each new woman who joins the ranks, whether Democrat or Republican, and teaches her the ropes. As partisan squabbles in Congress stymie any real progress, this book makes a strong case for the need for more women in positions of power and demonstrates that getting there is no longer a fantasy. --Lesley Reed
Book Description
What a difference a woman makes. The nine women of the United States Senate have changed the political landscape, and there's no turning back. Now, for the first time, in Nine and Counting, readers will be treated to an inside view of their private and public lives. As the senators share their stories and reflections with refreshing candor, insight, and humor, they demonstrate how ordinary women can overcome barriers and achieve extraordinary goals. These nine women are more different than they are alike. Their backgrounds, personal styles, and political ideals are as diverse as the United States itself. Yet they share a commonality that runs deeper than politics or geography: the desire to give voice to all of their constituents while serving as role models for women young and old. Each seantor brings her unique perspective to the mix.
Book Info
Gives voice to the charismatic women of the Senate as never before, offering a rare, insider's glimpse into Washington and sending the powerful message that membership in the world's most exclusive club is open to every woman in America. Softcover. Hardcover available.
About the Author
Barbara Mikulski, Democrat, California: Her commitment to public service has been tested by time and tragedy, making her one of the Senate's most trusted leaders.
Excerpted from Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate by Catherine Whitney, Barbara Mikulski, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray, Olympia Snowe, Susan M. Collins, Mary L. Landrieu, Blanche Lambert Lincoln. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Chapter OneWhy Not a Woman?In America any boy may become President.Adlai Stevenson, September 1952Presidential Campaign SpeechIn 1952, when Adlai Stevenson was rhetorically passing the torch of democracy to every boy in America, he didn't think to mention what "any girl" might become. But for nine women, that question was already part of their destiny.In 1952, Barbara Mikulski was sixteen years old. At the Catholic high school she attended in a Polish enclave of Baltimore, she joined the Christopher movement, which promoted service to the poor and comfort to the suffering. Even then, she sensed that she had a rendezvous with destiny -- that through her work she might light a candle that would cast a wide beam. The desire to help others had been cultivated in Barbara from an early age. Raised in a hardworking, close-knit community of first and second-generation Polish families, she saw daily examples of the ways in which small acts of charity could transform lives. Barbara knew that she wanted to dedicate her life to service. She imagined that such a choice would lead to work in the social services or health care. At sixteen, she didn't make the connection between her aspirations and work in government, and even if she had, she might have dismissed the notion that government could provide such an opportunity for a woman. Barbara Mikulski's place in the United States Senate would be earned, thirty-four years later, through her labors in the community, and she would carry the lessons of the grass roots with her into the corridors of power.Kay Bailey was nine years old in 1952, living an unexceptionalmiddle-class life in La Marque, Texas, a small town near Galveston. She was a busy, gregarious little girl, forever organizing skitsand projects among the neighborhood children, and participating in activities with her Girl Scout troop. On Saturdays, hermother drove her to Houston, fifty miles away, where she studied ballet and performed with the Houston Youth SymphonyBallet. She had boundless energy. Kay's dreams of the futuretook her from La Marque to the exciting urban arenas of Houston and Dallas, where she aspired to a profession in business orthe law. Washington, D.C., was far beyond the scope of herdreams, and politics further still. Her family wasn't particularlypolitical. Yet by the time Kay Bailey Hutchison was elected as thefirst woman from Texas to serve in the United States Senateforty-one years later, she would have made her mark on the political landscape of the state.In 1952, as nineteen-year-old Dianne Goldman began her studies at Stanford University, she already possessed a keen interest in politics. It had been planted early on and nurtured throughout her young life by her father's brother Morrie. Uncle Morrie, a colorful and vociferous coat manufacturer, introduced his niece to the ins and outs of city hall, and engaged her father in heated debates at the dinner table. While Morrie sparked Dianne's imagination, her father, Leon, was her true mentor. A prominent San Francisco surgeon, Leon instilled in his daughter the fundamental principles that would remain with her for life. Her admiration for her father was so great that she briefly considered a career in medicine. However, an A-plus in American political thought and a D in genetics during her freshman year in college convinced her to follow her passion -- politics. Dianne Goldman was raised to believe that she could accomplish anything she set out to do. Dianne Feinstein would confirm that belief repeatedly throughout a lifetime of public service, culminating with her election in 1992 to represent the state of California in the United States Senate.In 1952, Barbara Levy was a spirited ten-year-old, growing upin a nice middle-class section of Brooklyn, New York. Extroverted and irrepressible, she was a popular student -- "perky, peppy, happy," in her own words -- the girl who organized pep rallies and got chosen "all-around camper" in the summer. Barbara had a bright mind and an innate curiosity. She especially enjoyed political science and economics in school. But these interests were asides to her true ambition, which perfectly reflected the cultural ideal of the early 1950s. It was widely accepted that women, once they completed their education, would devote themselves to raising their children. Barbara's mother often spoke sympathetically of women who "had to" work, and Barbara assumed that her life would follow a predictable path: she would continue her schooling and get a good education, fall in love, marry, have children, and live the American dream. All of that did happen, but the path was not at all predictable. By the time Barbara Boxer claimed victory in her race for the Senate forty years later, she would have charted a course that would have seemed unthinkable to her ten-year-old self.Five-year-old Olympia Bouchles was starting kindergarten at the Wallace School in Lewiston, Maine, in September 1952. A serious and responsible little girl, she was the daughter of a Greek immigrant father and a first-generation Greek-American mother. When Olympia came home from school at noon, her father, who was determined his daughter would have a strong and early start on education, sent her back each day saying, "How do you expect to learn if you come home at noon?" Olympia had to ask her teacher to send a note home to explain that she wasn't skipping school; kindergarten was only a half-day.Olympia's hardworking mother and father had died by the time she was a fourth-grader, but their early influence stayed with her as she expanded her horizons to the world beyond her hometown. She grew up, fulfilled her parents' dream by graduating from college, and married. She was proud when her husband, Peter Snowe, won election to the Maine Legislature. But after less than three and a half years of marriage, and just three months into his term, he died in an automobile accident. Twenty-six-year-old Olympia summoned the inner resources instilled in her by her parents and her aunt and uncle and turned her grief into action...
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