Nancy Kassebaum Baker: I was born in 1932. Born in Topeka. I had a very fortunate childhood because that was all still country where I grew up at that time. My brother and I and a close neighbor ... would frequently go off and spend the day over hiking the woods or on the sandbar on the Kaw River. It was a wonderful opportunity to grow up. And my dad, of course, loved to ride horseback through the woods. And he was the one who in many ways encouraged us to learn about the trees, and we'd gather gooseberries in the woods. I came to appreciate, I think, at that time just how much I loved living in the country. And it was an influence that has been with me always, and now sort of has gone full circle being really back out in the country.
Narrator: Now that she's retired, following three terms in the U.S. Senate, Nancy Kassebaum Baker spends part of her time on a ranch that she owns in the Flint Hills of Morris County. Visiting her there, we asked her to reflect upon her years in office and how she became involved with politics.
Nancy: Well, I never ever contemplated myself running for office. I always enjoyed politics. I liked to hear discussions, and we frequently at the dinner table had discussions about current affairs of the day. And I always enjoyed hearing political conversations. And I majored in political science at the University of Kansas. At that time I thought I would like to try and become a foreign service officer, and moved in that direction. And then after I graduated from college ended up with a job as a receptionist at Hallmark Cards -- as Dad used to say 'what can you do with a political science degree?'!! And then married and my husband, Phil Kassebaum, was completing his senior year at Michigan Law School. So that's when I got a master's in diplomatic history ... at that time, with the thought of perhaps teaching in college because I didn't have the education hours to teach in elementary or secondary school. And you couldn't be married and be a foreign service officer at that time. And so I ended up neither teaching or being a foreign service officer and raising a family in Maize, Kansas, outside of Wichita.
Narrator: Raising four children kept Nancy well occupied while she concentrated on her responsibilities as a mother. She enjoyed taking the family on vacations to Colorado and serving as a 4-H leader, encouraging her children to share her love for animals and for the outdoors. As they grew older, her interest in education prompted her to run for a spot on the local school board.
Nancy: I did run for the school board in Maize. The children were all in school at that time. And in those days, you didn't spend any money or campaign a lot for being on the school board. And I enjoyed it a lot. But that was in the '70s. And I left when I went to Washington in 1975 for a year on Jim Pearson's staff. And I did that because my husband and I were separated and thought this was a good time ... and with the support of everyone. My oldest son had started college at that time, and the others all went to school for a year in Washington. Really we viewed it as sort of an opportunity to see Washington and the surrounding area. Never planned to stay more than a year. Still, I was really glad to come home. And it was assumed that Senator Pearson would run again. When I came back and Sen. Pearson announced he was not going to run, a friend said they thought it was a good time for a woman and I ought to think about it.
Narrator: She did think about it ... and after talking it over with her family, decided to make a run for the Senate. She won the Republican primary and went on to defeat Dr. Bill Roy in the general election of 1978.
Nancy: You know, Bill Roy was ... I don't think he quite knew how to run against a woman. Running against a woman, if you got too aggressive, you were accused of being too tough. I had a lot of people wondering if I would be tough enough. I know the Kansas City Star -- I reminded them of an injured wren and would I really be a very strong voice. And I've always said 'well, it isn't the strong voice you need, it's the strong view of exactly what you bring to it, and you have to be yourself.'
Narrator: She took office at a time whenRepublicans were in the minority during the last two years of the Carter Administration. Although she was a new face on Capitol Hill, she gained an advantage when Sen. Pearson stepped down a month early, giving her added seniority. This enabled her to land positions on committees dealing with issues that were of particular interest to her.
Nancy: And I've always enjoyed working with the issues, so that's what I enjoyed most. I cared a lot about education issues. That's why going on Labor and Human Resources committee, which had education and health care, labor issues, was such an interesting committee. And then foreign relations committee involved foreign policy, which I've always been interested in. I chaired the African subcommittee on foreign relations. So I was lucky in getting some good committee assignments. I think, in looking through the span of 18 years that I was there ... there have been a number of times that I worked with issues I cared a lot about. Some.... And the higher you got in seniority and particularly when you were chair, you had the ability to have a lot more influence.
Narrator: As she progressed through her three terms in the Senate, Nancy Landon Kassebaum became an increasingly familiar name in American politics. Her straightforward style and affable character attracted many admirers, one of whom -- a fellow senator from Tennessee -- would change her plans ... and her name ... as she headed toward retirement.
Nancy: When I announced that I was not going to run for a fourth term, I really anticipated coming back here full time and babysitting seven grandchildren that I have, only two of whom are in Kansas. And had not contemplated getting married again. And so all of that happened rather suddenly and married Howard Baker, whose roots are just as deep in Tennessee as mine are in Kansas. So split time now between both. Things come along that are of interest and I end up ... my children say 'mother, just say no!' But you know there sort of long-held interests ... particularly right now try to ... lend some efforts to raising money for the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve -- a piece of legislation again worked on almost all of the 18 years, in one form or another. But that's right in the next county and I used to say 'well, I'll maybe just be a docent in the tallgrass prairie preserve and help take tourists through.' But I love it out here, and it's very quiet and peaceful.