Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, who carved out her own place in a storied Kansas political family, has died. She was 94. Kassebaum Baker died Friday of natural causes, the AP reports. Elected in 1978, she was the first woman to represent Kansas in the US Senate and, for two years, its only female member. A moderate Republican with an independent streak, per the Kansas City Star, Kassebaum backed welfare changes and arts funding, prioritized health care, and broke with Ronald Reagan to push sanctions on apartheid-era South Africa. In 2025, Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Citizens Medal for her
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