1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On this day in 1948, Margaret Chase Smith was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican from Maine, making her the first woman to be elected to both chambers of Congress. She had previously served in the House, having first won a special election to fill her husband’s vacant seat after he died in office and then winning a second, full term. There she was active in the Naval Affairs and Armed Services committees, and championed the Women’s Armed Forces Integration Act through both chambers. In the Senate, she garnered seats on the Appropriations, Armed Services and Aeronautical and Space Sciences committees. She also was considered more of a moderate than hard-line Republican, and made a name for herself when on June 1, 1950, she took the Senate Floor to denounce the controversial investigatory tactics of Wisconsin Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, leading to a reduction of some of her clout in party and committee operations. She later ran for president on the Republican ticket in 1964 but lost the nomination by a wide margin to Barry Goldwater.
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