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California’s Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the longest serving female Senator in the history of Congress, died at the age of 90 on Friday, Sep. 29.

As a trailblazer in the political arena, she was known as a powerful advocate against gun violence and for equal rights. But during her last term in the Senate, her legacy was marred by her failing health and questions of whether she was still capable of serving the United States. How we remember and understand Senator Feinstein could potentially define our generation’s evolving view and reflection on American politics.

On November 27, 1978, San Francisco’s mayor George Moscone and Board of Supervisors member Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to political office in California, were shot and killed by former supervisor Dan White in the City Hall office. It was a hateful act of violence that Feinstein witnessed first hand.

In a 2018 interview, she recounted that she could “smell the gunpowder.” She was the first person who found Milk and tried everything to resuscitate him; grief-stricken but determined, she held a press conference and announced the deaths in front of microphones and cameras, drawing audible gasps and screams.

Due to Mayor Moscone’s death, the Board of Supervisors held an emergency meeting and voted in favor of appointing Feinstein as acting mayor of San Francisco, thrusting her name and career to national recognition. She served as San Francisco’s Mayor for two terms and revitalized the city’s economy and public transportation system.

Feinstein was elected to the Senate in 1992 with Barbara Boxer, becoming the third and fourth female Senators to ever be elected to their own right in American history and the first time two women represented a state in the Senate.

The death of Moscone and Milk deeply impacted Feinstein, who pledged to curb gun violence using every venue possible upon her election. In 1994, after a mass shooting in California renewed debates for stricter gun enforcement, Feinstein became the loudest advocate and primary author of the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, which effectively banned the manufacture and civilian use of certain semi-automatic assault weapons, most notably the AR-15.

In 2017, Feinstein became the first female ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a position she held until 2020. In her own words, Clarence Thomas’ contentious confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court, where a then all-male committee courted with Thomas but accosted Anita Hill, a former clerk that accused him of sexual assault, led to her adamance on joining the committee to ensure fairer representation.

Beyond these glass-shattering moments, Feinstein was also known for her advocacy for women’s rights as a proponent for the Violence Against Women Act, arguing against the Defense for Marriage Act that outlawed gay marriage, leading an investigation into CIA interrogation techniques and spearheading bills that protected natural reserves.

But no matter how much we should applaud and recognize Senator Feinstein’s ability to push for political change, we can’t ignore the negative impact that the passage of time can have on anyone. In recent years, Feinstein’s physical health and cognitive abilities have shown a marked decline. Her past efforts on bipartisan collaboration and moderate political positions have also come under increased scrutiny.

Despite her historic breakthrough as the first ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, her handling of the appointment of Trump-nominated Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett drew considerable ire. During Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, Feinstein received a letter that detailed a case of him sexually assaulting his classmate, Christine Blasey Ford, while they were both in high school. Feinstein only decided to publicly acknowledge the existence of it a week before the Committee confirmation vote, which drew heavy criticism from both sides of the aisle.

Throughout the confirmation process, despite eventually voting against confirming him, Feinstein was panned for being overly deferential and seemingly sympathetic to Kavanaugh.

In 2020, when liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died months before the Presidential election, Trump immediately nominated Amy Coney Barrett, a religious conservative that has a judicial philosophy diametrically opposed to Ginsburg’s.

Feinstein did not put enough pressure on her Republican colleagues for the hypocritical approach in confirming Barrett at lightning speed. She praised Republican Lindsey Graham, who was then the committee’s chairman, for organizing “one of the best sets of hearings that (she) participated in.”

Feinstein’s visibly declining health during the Biden Presidency was believed by many to be disastrous due to her seat at the Judiciary Committee. She rejected multiple calls to resign and Republicans’ refusal to replace her with another Democratic incumbent stalled the confirmation of the White House’s Federal judges for months.

Multiple videos this year showed the Senator in a frail state, struggling to provide an intelligible response. In lieu of mourning and tributes, her failing health and eventual passing have renewed calls for enforceable term limits and age requirements to prevent similar situations from happening again.

Feinstein’s death marks the end of a historic female political dealmaker’s decades-long service to the people of California and the United States, but her legacy can only be carried on if a new generation of leaders can be elected to government institutions. While we can respect the contributions of older generations, we need a younger slate of politicians to best move forward.

Allen Huang is a second year Media Studies masters student. He can be reached at xhuang49@syr.edu.

Published on October 1, 2023 at 11:36 pm