Dianne Feinstein in 1971.Photo:Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
On Sept. 29, 2023, the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein confirmed the long-tenured Congresswomanhad died the day prior at age 90.The pioneering politician was the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history and theoldest sitting member of Congress.Feinstein’s legacy, her chief of staff James Sauls wrote in a statement issued Friday, is “undeniable and extraordinary.““There is much to say about who she was and what she did, but for now, we are going to grieve the passing of our beloved boss, mentor and friend,” Sauls added.Here, a look at Feinstein’s history-making life and career in photos.
On Sept. 29, 2023, the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein confirmed the long-tenured Congresswomanhad died the day prior at age 90.
The pioneering politician was the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history and theoldest sitting member of Congress.
Feinstein’s legacy, her chief of staff James Sauls wrote in a statement issued Friday, is “undeniable and extraordinary.”
“There is much to say about who she was and what she did, but for now, we are going to grieve the passing of our beloved boss, mentor and friend,” Sauls added.
Here, a look at Feinstein’s history-making life and career in photos.
01of 08Dianne Feinstein’s Early YearsDianne Feinstein in 1950 (with San Francisco mayor Elmer Robinson).Underwood Archives/Getty ImagesFeinstein was born on June 22, 1933, in San Francisco, the oldest of three girls. Her father Leon Goldman was a surgeon, and her mom Betty stayed home to raise Dianne and her sisters.However, the girls often suffered emotional and physical abuse at the hands of their mother, who was later diagnosed with brain damage stemming from encephalitis, according to a 2001 PEOPLE profile.Dianne, an accomplished equestrian and actress, went to Stanford University and majored in history, picking up an interest in politics along the way. She met her first husband, prosecutor Jack Berman, while interning at the San Francisco district attorney’s office; the two eloped in 1956 and welcomed one child, daughter Katherine. However, they split in 1959.“He was worldly, brilliant,” she told PEOPLE In 1990. “But he wanted to keep me barefoot and pregnant. I could not be that kind of wife.“Looking for work as a young single mother, “I was alone with a child,” Feinstein recalled to PEOPLE in 2001. “People didn’t want me.”
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Dianne Feinstein’s Early Years
Dianne Feinstein in 1950 (with San Francisco mayor Elmer Robinson).Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Feinstein was born on June 22, 1933, in San Francisco, the oldest of three girls. Her father Leon Goldman was a surgeon, and her mom Betty stayed home to raise Dianne and her sisters.
However, the girls often suffered emotional and physical abuse at the hands of their mother, who was later diagnosed with brain damage stemming from encephalitis, according to a 2001 PEOPLE profile.
Dianne, an accomplished equestrian and actress, went to Stanford University and majored in history, picking up an interest in politics along the way. She met her first husband, prosecutor Jack Berman, while interning at the San Francisco district attorney’s office; the two eloped in 1956 and welcomed one child, daughter Katherine. However, they split in 1959.
“He was worldly, brilliant,” she told PEOPLE In 1990. “But he wanted to keep me barefoot and pregnant. I could not be that kind of wife.”
Looking for work as a young single mother, “I was alone with a child,” Feinstein recalled to PEOPLE in 2001. “People didn’t want me.”
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Dianne Feinstein in 1971.Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
She stayed strong through the turbulent times, though lost her husband to cancer in 1978, an event that broke her.
“After that I would just come home from work and shut the door,” she told PEOPLE In 1984. “On a weekend I wouldn’t leave the bedroom until Monday morning. In a sense I wanted to die too.”
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Dianne Feinstein with Harvey Milk and Taking Over as San Francisco Mayor
Dianne Feinstein is sworn in as San Francisco mayor on Dec. 4, 1978.John O’Hara/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
John O’Hara/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
While at work with the Board of Supervisors at San Francisco City Hall on Nov. 27, 1978, shots rang out. Feinstein ran out of her office to see colleague Harvey Milk — the city’s first openly gay elected official — in a pool of blood. Looking for a pulse, her hand instead found a bullet hole.
Covered in blood, she addressed reporters outside of city hall, saying, “We will carry on as best we possibly can.”
In her 2001 PEOPLE profile, Feinstein reflected on the moment, saying, “I think back a lot to that day. I guess I learned I’m good in a crisis. I just keep going.”
She would serve successfully as mayor until 1988, when she launched a failed bid for governor of California.
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Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate
Dianne Feinstein wins her Senate seat in 1992.Eric Luse/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Eric Luse/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
In 1992, Feinstein won her race for Senate, a place she would stay until her death in 2023 (she had already announced she did not plan to run for re-election in 2024).
Re-elected every term, she became the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history and eventually the oldest sitting member of Congress.
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Dianne Feinstein’s Third Husband and Life as a Grandmother
Dianne Feinstein and third husband Richard Blum.Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty Images
Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty Images
“She has the ability to act out of clarity and passion,” Blum told PEOPLE in 2001. “That’s one reason I fell in love.”
For her part, Feinstein said at the time, Blum “gives me balance.”
Her daughter Katherine, now a judge, went on to wed Rick Marino, and together the two had one daughter, Eileen.
Feinstein said her daughter “learned how to handle life much better than I did. For me it was much bumpier.”
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Dianne Feinstein and the U.S. Presidents
Dianne Feinstein and President Barack Obama in 2009.Ralf-Finn Hestoft/Corbis via Getty Images
Ralf-Finn Hestoft/Corbis via Getty Images
In her time in the Senate, Feinstein worked with six U.S. presidents: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
In January of 2009, she became the first woman to open a U.S. presidential inauguration, doing so for Obama.
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Dianne Feinstein in Pop Culture
08of 08Dianne Feinstein’s Later YearsDianne Feinstein in September 2023.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesIn February 2023, Feinstein announcedshe would not seek reelection in 2024amid rumors of cognitive decline. One month later, she was hospitalized with shingles and took a leave from the Senate to recover.Two-and-a-half months later, Feinstein returned to Capitol Hill in a wheelchair and was almost immediately met with calls for a resignation after the lawmakertold a reporter she hadn’t been gone and never stopped working, seemingly not remembering her two-and-a-half month absence.Despite her late-in-life health struggles, Feinstein leaves a strong legacy.“If you really think you’re meant to do what you do, you can be kind of a phoenix,” she once told PEOPLE. “You rise from your own ashes.”
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Dianne Feinstein’s Later Years
Dianne Feinstein in September 2023.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
In February 2023, Feinstein announcedshe would not seek reelection in 2024amid rumors of cognitive decline. One month later, she was hospitalized with shingles and took a leave from the Senate to recover.
Two-and-a-half months later, Feinstein returned to Capitol Hill in a wheelchair and was almost immediately met with calls for a resignation after the lawmakertold a reporter she hadn’t been gone and never stopped working, seemingly not remembering her two-and-a-half month absence.
Despite her late-in-life health struggles, Feinstein leaves a strong legacy.
“If you really think you’re meant to do what you do, you can be kind of a phoenix,” she once told PEOPLE. “You rise from your own ashes.”
source: people.com
