Centrist Kansas Trailblazer Nancy Kassebaum Baker Dies at 94

Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Kansas without a spouse in office, died at 94 of natural causes. She served from 1978 to 1997 as a moderate Republican, chaired the Labor and Human Resources Committee, and helped shape bipartisan health care reform named for her and Ted Kennedy; she remained a respected public servant in Kansas and later endorsed Democratic candidates.