After joining the Senate, Dianne Feinstein began making a name for herself as a champion for a host of progressive causes, and the bane of the Republican party, but Feinstein had a long and sparkling political history even before. While completing her studies at Stanford, she campaigned for student body vice president, facing down hecklers and at one point, she was even drenched with water. In 1969, she became the first woman on the San Francisco board of supervisors, rising to a leadership role. She had no ambition to progress further – in fact considering retiring from politics – when the assassination of city mayor George Moscone made her the acting mayor.

On this day, December 4, in 1978, Dianne Feinstein reluctantly assumed the responsibilities of the mayor of San Francisco. But she did not shy away from her duties: she carried on the politics of the city and then ran for mayor in an election the following year.

Feinstein’s time in the mayor’s office reinvigorated her political ambitions, and by 1992 she decided to run for the open Senate seat of California. She easily defeated her opponents, and charted a middle ground in politics. She has been criticized by the gay community for opposing domestic partnerships and AIDS testing. Despite those criticisms. Feinstein has consistently had a majority approval of her senatorial record.