Trailblazing politician Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving U.S. senator from California, had died at the age of 90.
Here's a look back at some of the notable events in her life.
Dianne Feinstein's early years
Feinstein was born and raised in San Francisco. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco and later went on to study at Stanford University.
Dianne Feinstein's political start
Feinstein was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969 and became its first female president in 1978, the year Mayor George Moscone was gunned down alongside Supervisor Harvey Milk at City Hall by Dan White, a disgruntled former supervisor.
Following the assassinations, Feinstein was thrust into the role of acting mayor of San Francisco. She was officially elected as the mayor a year later.
After serving two full terms, Feinstein ran for California governor in 1990 but came up short.
Dianne Feinstein in Washington
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In 1992, Feinstein stepped onto the national stage. She became the first woman elected to the U.S. senate from the state of California.
In the Senate, she was the first woman to head the Senate Intelligence Committee and the first woman to serve as the Judiciary committee’s top Democrat.
Dianne Feinstein's later years
During her later years in the Senate, Feinstein's health visibly declined and she often became confused when answering questions or speaking publicly. In February 2023, she said she would not run for a sixth term the next year. And within weeks of that announcement, she was absent for the Senate for more than two months as she recovered from a bout of shingles.
Amid the concerns about her health, Feinstein stepped down as the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel after the 2020 elections, just as her party was about to take the majority.
In 2023, she said she would not serve as the Senate president pro tempore, or the most senior member of the majority party, even though she was in line to do so.
