Carol Moseley Braun is an American politician, lawyer, and the first African American woman to serve in the United States Senate. She was elected in 1998 after serving in the Illinois Senate for two years. Braun was the Democratic nominee for the 2004 presidential election. She was defeated in the election by U.S
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Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Although her second marriage ended in divorce in 1997, she remained active in public life until her death on June 30, 2012.
Braun was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 29, 1949 to Herman Moseley and his wife Bertha Mae (née Hill). Her father was a veteran of World War II who worked as a security guard at O'Hare Airport.
After graduating from high school in 1967, Braun attended Knox College (now University) where she earned her bachelor's degree in political science and history. She then earned her Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law in 1974; she was admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of Illinois after taking and passing the bar exam on her second attempt.
After graduating from law school, Braun worked as an assistant state's attorney for Cook County, Illinois; she later served as an assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Before running for office, Braun worked as a partner at the law firm of Daley & Block, specializing in civil litigation and personal injury cases.
Braun was first elected to the Illinois Senate after winning a three-way race for District 20 against Republican Joseph Carlino and Independent Carol Moseley-Braun with 61% of the vote on November 8, 1992.
During her time there she served on the Appropriations Committee and chaired its Subcommittee on Criminal Justice Finance and General Legislation.
In 1993 she won re-election to a second term with 68% of the vote against Carlino who ran on an independent ticket while Moseley-Braun ran on an independent ticket with 22%. On January 9, 1995 she resigned from the senate to become vice president of government affairs at Verizon Bell Laboratories' central offices located in Princeton, New Jersey; she received a $35,000 salary while working there.
After leaving that position, Braun became deputy chief counsel for Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary at DOE headquarters in Washington D.C.; she received salary increases during this time period while continuing to work full-time at Bell Labs during evenings and weekends while also doing some legal work at DOE headquarters.
