Olympia Snowe Bio
Olympia Jean Snowe (née Bouchles; born February 21, 1947) is an American businesswoman and politician who represented Maine in the United States Senate for three terms from 1995 to 2013. A lifelong member of the Republican Party, Snowe built a reputation as one of the chamber’s most moderate members and played a decisive role in closely divided votes, including the bipartisan Gang of 14 compromise. She was recognized by Time magazine in 2006 as one of “America’s Best Senators.” After retiring from the Senate, Snowe took on senior roles at the Bipartisan Policy Center and joined several private-sector boards.
Early Life and Background
Olympia Jean Snowe was born in Augusta, Maine, on February 21, 1947, the daughter of Georgia (née Goranites) and George John Bouchles. Her father had emigrated to the United States from Sparta, Greece, and her maternal grandparents were also Greek. When Snowe was eight years old, her mother died of breast cancer, and less than a year later her father died of cardiovascular disease, leaving her an orphan.
She was raised in Auburn, Maine, by her aunt, a textile mill worker, and her uncle, a barber, alongside their five children, while her brother John was raised separately by other relatives. Snowe attended Saint Basil Academy in Garrison, New York, for grades three through nine before returning to Auburn, where she graduated from Edward Little High School. She went on to attend the University of Maine in Orono, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1969.
Path to US Politics
Snowe’s first entry into public service came with a seat on the Board of Voter Registration, and she then worked for U.S. representative William Cohen, who would later serve in the U.S. Senate and as U.S. Secretary of Defense. On December 29, 1969, shortly after college, she married Peter Snowe, a Republican member of the Maine House of Representatives. After his death in a 1973 automobile accident, Snowe ran for and won his Auburn-based seat in the Maine House at the age of 26, beginning a career in elected office that would last 35 years.
Olympia Snowe Career
Early Career (1973-1978)
Snowe won election to the Maine House of Representatives in 1973, representing an Auburn-area district, and was re-elected in 1974. In 1976, she moved to the Maine Senate, representing Androscoggin County, and that same year served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, which nominated Gerald Ford for president. Her steady ascent through state-level office set the stage for her move to federal politics.
U.S. House of Representatives Breakthrough (1979-1995)
In 1978, Snowe won election to the U.S. House of Representatives for Maine’s 2nd congressional district, which included most of the northern two-thirds of the state, becoming the youngest female Republican ever elected to that chamber. From 1979 to 1995, she served on the House Budget and House Foreign Affairs committees. In August 1983, she voted for the bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday, and in March 1988 she supported the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 and the override of President Reagan’s veto of that legislation.
In February 1989, Snowe married John R. McKernan Jr., then Governor of Maine, after the two had served together as U.S. representatives from Maine between 1983 and 1986. From 1989 to 1995, she served simultaneously as First Lady of Maine and as a member of Congress. She made history as the first woman to serve in both houses of a U.S. state legislature and both houses of the U.S. Congress.
U.S. Senate Era (1995-2013)
In 1994, Snowe ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Andrews 60 to 36 percent and carrying every county in Maine. She was re-elected easily in 2000 against Maine Senate president Mark Lawrence, 69 to 31 percent, and again in 2006 against Jean Hay Bright, winning with 74 percent of the vote. In each of her three U.S. Senate races, Snowe won every county in the state.
During her Senate career, Snowe served on the Armed Services Committee, becoming the fourth woman to do so and the first woman to chair the Subcommittee on Seapower, which oversees the Navy and Marine Corps. In 2001, she became the first Republican woman to secure a full-term seat on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. In 2006, she was the only female senator selected by Time as one of “America’s 10 Best Senators.” She was awarded honorary degrees from Bates College in 1999 and from the University of Delaware in 2008.
Notable Events and Milestones
In May 2005, Snowe joined 13 other senators in the bipartisan Gang of 14, which brokered a compromise that averted the so-called “nuclear option” and shaped the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. On February 27, 2012, citing excessive partisanship, she announced she would not seek re-election, and she left the Senate on January 3, 2013, when she was succeeded by independent Angus King.
Olympia Snowe Career Wins
Over a 35-year career as an elected official, Olympia Snowe never lost an election, winning seats at the local, state, and federal levels in Maine.
U.S. Senate Highlights
Snowe won three U.S. Senate elections in 1994, 2000, and 2006, carrying every county in Maine each time. Her 1994 victory over Tom Andrews came 60 to 36 percent, her 2000 win over Mark Lawrence was 69 to 31 percent, and her 2006 win over Jean Bright was 74 to 20.6 percent.
Other Wins and Achievements
Before reaching the Senate, Snowe won elections to the Maine House of Representatives in 1973 and 1974, the Maine Senate in 1976, and the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978, going on to serve continuously in the U.S. House from 1979 to 1995.
Olympia Snowe Family
Family Background and Public Service
Snowe’s parents, George John Bouchles and Georgia (née Goranites), were of Greek heritage; her father emigrated from Sparta, Greece. After both parents died when she was a child, she was raised by her aunt and uncle in Auburn, Maine. Her first husband, Peter Snowe, was a Republican member of the Maine House of Representatives whom she married in 1969. In 1989, she married John R. McKernan Jr., then Governor of Maine, with whom she served concurrently in Congress.
Personal Life
Snowe was first widowed in 1973 when her husband Peter Snowe died in an automobile accident, and she later lost her stepson Peter McKernan in 1991 to a heart ailment at the age of 20. She is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.