Elizabeth Dole

Elizabeth Dole served as a U.S. senator for North Carolina from 2003 to 2009, as U.S. secretary of labor under President George H.W. Bush, and as U.S. secretary of transportation under President Reagan.

Dole was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, on July 29, 1936. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Duke University in 1958, a Master of Arts degree in education and government from Harvard University in 1960 and a Harvard law degree in 1965.

From 1969 to 1973, Dole served as deputy assistant to President Nixon for consumer affairs. She spent six years (1973 to 1979) as a member of the Federal Trade Commission and two years (1981 to 1983) as assistant to President Reagan for public liaison. From 1983 to 1987, Dole served in President Reagan's cabinet as secretary of transportation, the first woman to hold that position. Dole served in President Bush's cabinet as secretary of labor from 1989 to 1990. In 1991 she became the president of the American Red Cross, only the second woman since founder Clara Barton to hold that position. In 1999, Dole resigned from the Red Cross to seek the Republican presidential nomination.

Dole was elected as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina in 2002, the first woman to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate. Dole served as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee from 2005 to 2007, the first woman to chair that organization. In 2012, she founded Caring for Military Families: The Elizabeth Dole Foundation to raise awareness and support for the 5.5 million spouses, family members and others caring for wounded military members.

For more information on Dole's policy subject areas, committee appointments and sponsored/co-sponsored legislation during her time in the U.S. Senate, please visit her profile on https://www.congress.gov.

Sources:

Elizabeth Dole Foundation. Senator Elizabeth Dole: Her story. Retrieved on Feb. 21, 2020, from https://www.elizabethdolefoundation.org/senator-elizabeth-dole/.

Heldman, C. (2019, July 25). Elizabeth Dole: United States Senator. In Britannica. Retrieved on Feb. 21, 2020 from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Dole.

United States House of Representatives. Dole, Elizabeth Hanford. Retrieved on Feb. 18, 2020, from https://history.house.gov/People/detail/12577.