August 31, 2011

In 1931, Hattie Caraway was appointed by the governor to complete the term of her late husband, U.S. senator Thaddeus Caraway, upon his sudden death. She won a special election and then the general election in 1932, becoming the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate. She also became the first woman to preside over the Senate, to chair a Senate committee, and to preside over a Senate hearing. She served from 1932 to 1945, being reelected in 1938 but defeated by J. William Fulbright in 1944.