Feinstein << FYN styn >>, Dianne (1933-2023), was one of the most prominent women in American politics. A Democrat, she represented California in the United States Senate from 1992 until her death in 2023. Feinstein was the mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1978 to 1988.
Dianne Goldman was born on June 22, 1933, in San Francisco. She graduated from Stanford University in 1955. In 1962, she married Bertram Feinstein, a neurosurgeon. From 1969 to 1978, she served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She succeeded to the office of mayor in 1978, when Mayor George R. Moscone was assassinated. Feinstein was elected mayor in 1979 and reelected in 1983.
In April 1983, before the end of her first term, Feinstein easily won a recall election—that is, a vote to decide whether she should be removed from office. Feinstein’s sponsorship of a ban on handguns had led to a petition for the recall. Her accomplishments as mayor included redeveloping downtown San Francisco, rebuilding the city’s cable car system, and eliminating a deficit in the city budget. In 1990, Feinstein ran for election as governor of California. But she was narrowly defeated by Pete Wilson, then a U.S. senator.
In 1992, Feinstein was elected to the U.S. Senate to serve the final two years of Wilson’s term after he resigned to become California’s governor. She won election to her first full Senate term in 1994. She won reelection in 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2018.
As a senator, Feinstein became known for her efforts to protect wilderness lands from development. She also became an outspoken critic of interrogation methods employed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the nation’s war on terror. Feinstein served on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee. She also chaired the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
In February 2023, Feinstein announced that she would retire from the Senate at the end of her term. However, she died on Sept. 28, 2023. California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler, a former union official, to fill the Senate vacancy created by Feinstein’s death.
