Blanche Lincoln

Blanche Lambert Lincoln (born Blanche Meyers Lambert; September 30, 1960) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Arkansas from 1999 to 2011.

She received her early education at the local public schools in Helena, and was the student council president at Central High School from 1977 to 1978.

Lincoln attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority.

She graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College (now known as Randolph College) in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1982, earning a Bachelor's degree in biology.

She originally sought to go into nursing.

After graduating from college, Lincoln served as a staff assistant for U.S. Representative Bill Alexander, a Democrat from Arkansas's 1st congressional district.

She remained in Alexander's office until 1984.

In 1992, Lincoln defeated Bill Alexander in the Democratic primary, by a margin of 60 to 40 percent.

She subsequently won the general election, beating Republican Terry Hayes with 70% of the vote.

Her election to the House coincided with the election of fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton as President of the United States.

She called herself a centrist Democrat and was among the minority of Democrats to support CAFTA.

She previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Arkansas's 1st congressional district from 1993 to 1997.

Lincoln was the first woman and the first Arkansan to serve as chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

She also served as the Chair of Rural Outreach for the Senate Democratic Caucus.

While in the House, she was one of only 17 Democrats to vote for the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1995 which sought to change federal employment laws.

The law was vetoed by President Bill Clinton.

She voted in favor restricting class action lawsuits and tightening rules on personal bankruptcy.

Lincoln was also one of the few Democrats in Congress to vote in favor of Bush administration's tax cuts and she supports the permanent elimination of the estate tax.

On April 5, 1995 she was one of only 27 Democrats in the House to vote in favor of the Contract With America Tax Relief Act, which was approved by the House.

Lincoln also co-sponsored and supported legislation to amend the constitution to require a balanced-budget amendment.

In 1996, she championed the Freedom to Farm Act.

Lincoln chose not to run for reelection in 1996; she was pregnant at that time.

She was reelected to a second term under her married name, Blanche Lincoln, and served in the House of Representatives until 1997.

A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to the Senate in 1998; she was the first woman elected to the Senate from Arkansas since Hattie Caraway in 1932 and youngest woman ever elected to the Senate at age 38.

In 1998, Lincoln returned to politics and ran for the Senate seat being vacated by incumbent Senator Dale Bumpers.

She defeated her Republican opponent, Fay Boozman, a state senator and the brother of future U.S. Representative John Boozman, 55 percent to 42 percent.

Lincoln concentrated primarily on issues involving farmers and rural issues.

She was one of the primary advocates of the Delta Regional Authority, which is designed to spur development in the lower Mississippi Delta region.

In 2004, Lincoln was re-elected, defeating Republican state Senator Jim Holt (R-Springdale) by 56%-to-44%, even as President Bush carried the state with 54% of the vote.

In March 2007, Lincoln called for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, claiming that the firing of eight federal prosecutors created a "serious breach between the Justice Department and Congress, a breach that I'm not sure can be repaired with Mr. Gonzales at the helm."

She and Senator Pryor were particularly upset that Gonzales reneged on a promise to have a replacement for Bud Cummins, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, go through a Senate confirmation.

Gonzales resigned in August 2007.

In 2007, Lincoln played a key role in brokering the compromise that led to passage of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.

Also known as the “farm bill,” this legislation provides resources for nutrition, conservation, rural development, and renewable energy.

Lincoln led the charge against defeating an amendment to the pending Farm Bill which would have capped government Agricultural subsidy payments at $250,000 per year, per farm.

In 2010, she ran for a third term, but was defeated in a landslide by Republican John Boozman, whose brother, Fay Boozman, she had defeated in 1998.

She is the founder and a principal of Lincoln Policy Group, a consulting firm.

A seventh-generation Arkansan, Blanche Lambert was born in Helena, Phillips County, the daughter of Martha (née Kelly) and Jordan Bennett Lambert.

Her father was a rice and cotton farmer.

Her older sister, Mary Lambert, is a film director.