Olympia Snowe
President Obama Meets with Senator Olympia Stowe in the Oval Office in 2009. Photo: National Archives.
In February 2008, Sen. Olympia Snowe broke a world record: Standing at 122 feet, 1 inch tall, she entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest snowperson in the world. Built as a series of concentric circles filled with snow, “Olympia” had giant wreaths for eyes and 27-foot-long trees for arms. A community-wide effort that drew volunteers from Bethel and the surrounding area built her, much like the senator has described her own upbringing.
With the deaths of her parents before she was 10, Snowe grew up in Lewiston and Auburn in the home of her aunt and uncle where tight-knit neighborhood and Greek Orthodox Church communities taught her the basics of navigating childhood. Even though she ran her first election for dormitory president as an elementary school student at a Greek boarding school – and won –being a politician wasn’t something the young Olympia Bouchles had on her radar. Rather, she aimed to go to Washington, D.C., and work behind the scenes in government.
The death of her first husband, Peter Snowe, who was serving in the Maine House of Representatives at the time of his fatal car accident, brought her to an unanticipated choice: retreat into her grief or make a positive out of a negative by running for his seat in a special election. She ran – and won. She was 26 years old.
Five years later, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the youngest Republican woman, and the first Greek-American woman, ever elected to Congress. In 1995, after winning election to the U.S. Senate, she became the first woman in American history to serve in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of Congress. Following her marriage to then-Governor John McKernan in 1989, she concurrently served in Congress and as Maine’s First Lady.
When Snowe chose not to run for re-election in 2012, she ended a 40-year career as an elected official. In all those years, she had never lost an election. Her decision not to seek re-election was surprising, but Snowe had new plans for giving back to her community. She launched the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute, a three-year mentoring program that helps Maine high school girls develop the confidence and skills for leading in their communities.
Author: Stephanie Bouchard
