Snowe, Olympia J. (Olympia Jean), 1947-

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1947-02-21

Gender:

Female

Nationality: Americans,

Language: English, English,

Biographical notes:

Olympia Jean Snowe (née Bouchles; born February 21, 1947) is an American businesswoman and politician who was a United States Senator from Maine from 1995 to 2013. Snowe, a member of the Republican Party, became known for her ability to influence the outcome of close votes, including whether to end filibusters. In 2006, she was named one of America's Best Senators by Time magazine. Snowe was known for her ability to compromise and her strong sense of bipartisanship. Throughout her senate career, she was considered one of the most moderate members of the Senate.

Born in Augusta, Maine, she was orphaned as a child, moving to Auburn, Maine and later attending school in Garrison, New York. She attended the University of Maine in Orono, graduating in 1969, marrying her fiancé, Peter Snowe, at the end of that year. After her husband's death in 1973, Snowe successfully ran for his seat in the Maine House of Representatives. In 1976, she was elected to the Maine Senate; two years later, Snowe was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. She married Jock McKernan, Governor of Maine, in 1989.

In 1994, when Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell declined to run for re-election, Snowe immediately declared her candidacy for the seat, coasting to victory in the Republican election sweep. She was elected by increasingly larger margins in 2000 and 2006 but on February 28, 2012, Snowe announced that she would not seek re-election in November 2012, and retired when her third term ended on January 3, 2013. She cited hyper-partisanship leading to a dysfunctional Congress as the reason for her retirement from the Senate. Her seat went to former governor Angus King, a former Democrat and current independent.

Snowe is a senior fellow for the Bipartisan Policy Center and co-chairs its Commission on Political Reform.