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By Barbara McAllister
Word of the Day: Senate
A U.S. senator occupies a powerful prestigious office in American government. Senators are traditionally addressed as the “distinguished senator” and wield substantial power. In American politics they are considered more eminent and impressive than members of the House of Representatives because of their longer terms, the smaller size of the Senate, and statewide representation. It’s less impressive to realize the word “senator” comes from the Latin “senex,” which means “old man.” A senate is literally “the place of old men” and sounds even less dignified when you realize senex is the same root that gives us the word senile.
The dictionary definition of a senate is “an assembly or council usually possessing high deliberative and legislative functions,” with no reference to gender or declining mental health. The U.S. Senate was once known as “the most exclusive men’s club in the world.” It was the southern states that lead the way for gender diversity in the U.S Senate. The first female senator was Rebecca Felton, of Georgia, who was appointed in 1922 to fill a vacancy. The first elected female senator was Hattie Caraway of Arkansas, in 1932. Currently 24 women serve in the Senate.
In 1949, Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman to serve in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Smith, a Republican, served 24 years in the U.S. Senate, often as the only woman. She made her mark in foreign policy and established herself as a tough legislator on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Smith delivered her famous “Declaration of Conscience” in 1950, speaking out against McCarthyism, showing she was not afraid to express her independent, sometimes unpopular, beliefs. She retired to her home in Skowhegan after three decades as a role model for women aspiring to national politics.
