Everything about Jean Carnahan totally explained
Jean Anne Carpenter Carnahan (born
December 20 1933) is an
American politician and writer who served in the
United States Senate from 2001 to 2002. A
Democrat, she was appointed to the
Senate to fill the seat of her posthumously elected husband, becoming the first woman to represent
Missouri in the Senate.
Biography
Born
Jean Anne Carpenter in
Washington, D.C. to a working-class family, she was determined to go to college. She worked through the year while attending
George Washington University. She graduated in 1955 with a degree in Business and Public Administration — the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. She is an alumna of
Kappa Delta sorority. She married
Mel Carnahan in
1954.
As Mel Carnahan entered politics, Jean Carnahan was his political partner for several decades. Mel Carnahan was elected Governor of
Missouri, serving 1993 – 2000. Mrs. Carnahan was an activist First Lady — an advocate for on-site day care centers for working families, childhood immunization, abuse centers, the arts, and
Habitat for Humanity.
Mr. Carnahan was running in
2000 for a Senate seat from Missouri against incumbent
John Ashcroft. Only three weeks before election day, he was killed in a
plane crash (along with his son, Randy Carnahan, who piloted the plane, and Chris Sifford, a campaign advisor). Due to the short time before the election, Missouri election law didn't allow his name to be removed from the ballot. Acting Governor
Roger B. Wilson announced that he'd appoint Jean Carnahan if her husband were to win the election posthumously.
The unusual circumstances made it a strange race. Out of respect,
John Ashcroft suspended his campaign during the mourning period for Mel Carnahan. Jean Carnahan didn't actively campaign, but she did accept Gov. Wilson's offer and filmed one campaign commercial. It had been a close race, and sympathy may have worked in the Carnahans' favor. Mel Carnahan posthumously won the election by a slim margin — only 48,000 votes out of 2.36 million cast (51-48%) — and Mrs. Carnahan was appointed to the Senate in 2001. Though she'd been politically active for her entire adult life, she'd never held public office. Under
Missouri law, she'd only serve until a special election could be held in 2002.
In 2002, Jean Carnahan ran as an incumbent for a full term, but was defeated in a close race by
Republican James Talent; the margin was only 22,000 votes, 49.8%-48.6%.
The 2004 elections proved better for the Carnahan family, when Senator Carnahan's son,
Russ, was elected to Congress, and her daughter,
Robin, was elected Missouri's Secretary of State.
Since losing her Senate race, Jean Carnahan has continued as an activist and author. She has written four books and numerous opinion pieces.
She is among the former Missouri First Ladies who have participated in the cherry blossom tree planting in Marshfield, Missouri.
Electoral history
- 2002 Race for U.S. Senate (Special Election to fill remainder of term)
- 2000 Race for U.S. Senate
Books by Jean Carnahan
(1998) If Walls Could Talk: The Story of Missouri’s First Families. MMPI ISBN 0-9668992-0-2.
(1999) Christmas at the Mansion. MMPI ISBN 0-9668992-1-0.
(2000) Will You Say a Few Words?. Walsworth Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8262-1513-0.
(2004) Don’t Let the Fire Go Out!. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0-8262-1513-0.Further Information
Get more info on 'Jean Carnahan'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://jean_carnahan.totallyexplained.com">Jean Carnahan Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
