Collins, Susan Margaret,
, 1952- , American politician, b. Caribou, Me., St. Lawrence
University (BA, 1975). Both of Collins’s parents were involved in
politics, with her father serving in the Maine State Senate. Upon graduating
from college, she worked as an assistant to William S. Cohen, then a member
of the House of Representatives from Maine, from 1975-87. After holding
government positions in Maine and Massachusetts, and briefly serving as
chair of the Small Business Associate’s Boston office in 1992, she
was the first Republican woman to run for Maine’s governorship in
1994, but failed to win that election. In November 1996, she won election to
the U.S. Senate, replacing her old mentor, William Cohen, who had retired.
She has become a leading voice of moderate Republicans in the Senate, and
currently is serving her fifth term in office.
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