Jeanne Shaheen
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Jeanne Shaheen (born January 28, 1947) was the first woman to be elected governor of the U.S. state of New Hampshire.
Born in Missouri, Shaheen received a bachelor's degree in English from Shippensburg University and a master's degree from the University of Mississippi. She taught high school in Mississippi and moved to New Hampshire in 1973, where she taught school and owned a small business. A Democrat, she worked on several campaigns before running for office in 1990, when she was elected to the state Senate. In 1996 she became governor. She served three two-year terms before stepping down to run for the U.S. Senate in 2002 when she was defeated by Republican John E. Sununu.
In June 2004 former Republican consultant Allen Raymond pleaded guilty to jamming Democratic Party lines set up to get New Hampshire Democrats to the polls. A judge sentenced him to five months in jail in February 2005. Raymond alleged that James Tobin, director of the Republican Party's effort to elect Republican senators in the Northeast, had masterminded the plot. Tobin is scheduled to go to trial later this year. It was widely thought this move may have cost Shaheen a Senate seat.
After the Senate race, Shaheen has kept active. After a short time teaching at Harvard University, she was named national chair of John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign in September 2003. Kerry's campaign, stagnant and widely considered out of the running at that point, staged a remarkable comeback to win the nomination handily. Shaheen, known both for her political skills and her take-charge style, received much of the credit.
In April 2005, Shaheen was named director of Harvard's Institute of Politics, succeeding former U.S. Representative (and current MPAA head) Dan Glickman.
Shaheen and her husband Bill, a prominent New Hampshire lawyer, have three children.