Perhaps the most well-known female Kansas politician, Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, has died at the age of 94.
Her family said she passed Friday night. In a statement they said, "Her years were filled with remarkable successes, challenges, and above all, a deep love for Kansas."
The three-term U.S. Senator, who served from 1978 to 1997, was known by most as just Nancy Kassebaum. She was the daughter of former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon and First Lady Theo, and widow of former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker.
She was the first woman to represent Kansas in the Senate, and the first to be elected to the Senate in her own right, without her husband having served in Congress before.
Kassebaum Baker was born in Topeka and attended Topeka High School. She graduated from the University of Kansas and settled in Maize, where she and then-husband John Phillip Kassebaum had four children.
She is known for her bipartisan work in both foreign relations and domestic policy.
Her most recent national recognition was from President Joe Biden in January 2025, when she received the Presidential Citizens Medal. Biden cited her work in healthcare reform.
She was a noted critic of President Donald Trump, and endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for president in 2024. In 2018, Kassebaum Baker endorsed Democrat Laura Kelly for Kansas governor in her successful race against Republican nominee Kris Kobach and independent Greg Orman.
The late senator's family said a private memorial service is planned, and they requested donations to the Kansas 4-H Foundation or the Capper Foundation.
