First African-American Woman in the U.S. Senate

In an historic effort, Ambassador Braun was elected to serve as the only black member of the United States Senate in 1992, and the first and only woman to be elected to the Senate from Illinois. She was also the first black Democrat to be elected from any state to the Senate.

As Senator, she became the first woman in history to receive an appointment to the powerful Finance committee, where she introduced the first legislation to federally fund the reconstruction and repair of our nations crumbling schools.  Senator Braun amassed an impressive legislative record, winning approval of the first federal support to preserve and restore the Underground Railroad nationwide, environmental justice and Brownfields’ remediation legislation, women’s pension equity and lupus research funding.  The farm bureau named her their “Ethanol Queen” for her work on that alternative fuel. 

Senator Braun was confirmed by a vote of 98-2 as Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, and received our nations’ highest security clearance.  Ambassador Braun is the first and only United States Ambassador to be made a member of the Te Atiawa Maori (Tay Ah Tee Ah Wa Mah Orry) tribe. 

Ambassador Braun is not the first, but the second African American woman to compete for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, following the precedent set by her mentor, the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.  However, even though she withdrew from the race as a candidate, she qualified for more ballot positions than any female presidential candidate in US history.

Carol Moseley Braun was one of the first black women to graduate from the law school at the University of Chicago. Previously, as an assistant United States Attorney, she was the first black woman to win the Attorney General’s Special Achievement award. As an Illinois state legislator, she was the first black woman to become an assistant majority leader and spokesperson for the Mayor of Chicago. (The late Harold Washington) Earlier on in her career, Carol Moseley Braun was elected to executive office in Cook County, the first woman to do so.

Her fourth career is as an entrepreneur, and she is currently the founder and President of a biodynamic organic food company, Good Food Organics®/Ambassador Organics™.  She calls herself a “recovering politician”.