Margaret Chase Smith

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American politician, the first woman to be elected to both houses of Congress. The daughter of a waitress and the town barber, Smith was the oldest of six children. She began her job history at age 12 working at a five-and-dime store. She taught high school for 28 weeks, then took a job as a telephone operator before finding her niche at a newspaper, becoming a circulation manager. She met her future husband, Clyde H. Smith, when she was 19 and he was 40; they married 17 years later when he was the co-owner of the newspaper. When he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1936, she worked as his secretary. In 1940, after her husband died of a heart attack, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as his replacement. Known as unstoppable and dedicated, she was elected four times to the House and in 1948 was elected to the Senate for the first time. With five elected terms, her career in the Senate lasted until 1978. In 1952 she sought the Vice Presidential nomination, but was blocked by Eisenhower in favor of Nixon. Twelve years later she sought the presidency unsuccessfully, campaigning during the primaries. Her entire political career spanned the terms of six presidents. She died at 97 of a stroke on 5/29/1995, Skowhegan, ME. Link to Wikipedia biography