Bushfield, Vera Cahalan, 1889-1976

Vera Cahalan Bushfield (August 9, 1889 – April 16, 1976) was a U.S. Senator from South Dakota briefly in 1948, as well as the First Lady of South Dakota from 1939 to 1943. Bushfield's election also marked the first time a state had been represented by two female senators; Gladys Pyle served for two months in late 1938 and early 1939. Bushfield was a member of the Republican Party.

Born in Miller, South Dakota, she attended the public schools before graduating with a degree in domestic science from Stout Institute in Menominee, Wisconsin in 1912. She later attended Dakota Wesleyan University and the University of Minnesota. She married attorney Harlan J. Bushfield in 1912. Her husband eventually became involved in state politics, chairing the South Dakota Republican Party, serving as the state's governor from 1939 to 1943, and as one of its two United States Senators from 1943 until his death in September 1948. Vera Bushfield became a noted speaker throughout South Dakota, specialized in women’s and children’s issues, and was her husband’s most trusted adviser.

The Republican Governor of South Dakota, George T. Mickleson, appointed Vera Bushfield to fill her husband’s unexpired term to “permit the late Harlan J. Bushfield’s office to function normally and without interruption”, with the understanding that she would resign shortly before the 80th Congress reconvened. Vera Bushfield tendered her resignation, effective December 26, 1948, to give a seniority edge to Senator-elect Karl Mundt. She retired to her family and grandchildren and never sought elective office again. She died in Fort Collins, Colorado.