Senator Elizabeth Dole

Elizabeth Hanford Dole, having served in five presidential administrations, has one of the most storied careers in American politics and public service. She worked in the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, rising to be Deputy Director, before President Richard Nixon appointed her to the Federal Trade Commission in 1973. Dole served in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan as Secretary of Transportation, 1983-1987, the first woman in that position, and in the Cabinet of President George H.W. Bush as Secretary of Labor, 1989-1990. From 1991 to 1998, Dole was the President of the American Red Cross, the second woman to hold the position and first since founder Clara Barton in 1881. Following her time at the Red Cross, she sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, becoming the first viable female candidate from a major political party. She was elected to the U.S. Senate for North Carolina in 2002 – the state’s first woman to serve in that role. She founded the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, a philanthropic organization benefitting military caregivers, 2012.

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To learn more about Elizabeth Dole’s life, career & accomplishments, see the Senator Elizabeth Dole Topic Guide available through our Archives.