Dianne Feinstein, longest serving woman in the Senate, has died at 90
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Obituary on NPR for Dianne Feinstein, former senator from California, who was the longest serving woman in the senate. Her initial foray into a significant elected position came in the aftermath of the assassinations of San Francisco mayor George Mascone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. She served as interim mayor and then won election as mayor and served until 1988. Feinstein's tenure as mayor coincided with the AIDS epidemic that overran San Francisco and was ignored by the Regan administration. Feinstein spared no resources to fight the epidemic. She won a seat as the Senator from California partially in the wake of the Congressional hearings on the elevation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, silencing the accusation of sexual harassment leveled against him by his former law clerk, Anita Hill. She is widely credited with opening the door to other women striving for positions of power. Click on the link to read the obituary.