Olympia J Snowe

Olympia Snowe served as a U.S. senator for Maine from 1995 to 2013.

Snowe was born February 21, 1947, in Augusta, Maine. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Maine in 1969 and married state representative Peter Snowe the same year. In the early 1970s, she worked at the Auburn Board of Voter Registration, then as an office manager for U.S. Representative (and future secretary of defense) William S. Cohen.

In 1973, Snowe was elected to the seat in the Maine House of Representatives left vacant due to the death of her husband, Peter Snowe. In 1976, she was elected to the Maine Senate, and in 1978, she became the youngest Republican woman at that time and first Greek-American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1989, Snowe married then-Gov. John R. McKernan, Jr., continuing to serve in Congress during her tenure as first lady of Maine. From 1983 to 1986, Snowe and McKernan served together in the U.S House, with McKernan representing the 1st District and Snowe representing the 2nd District.

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

Sources:

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (n.d.). Snowe, Olympia Jean (1947-). Retrieved on May 13, 2020, from https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=S000663.

United States House of Representatives (n.d.). Snowe, Olympia Jean. Retrieved on May 13, 2020, from https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/21955.