Madeleine Kunin
Madeleine Kunin | |
|---|---|
| United States Ambassador to Liechtenstein | |
| In office March 14, 1997 – August 16, 1999 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | M. Larry Lawrence |
| Succeeded by | J. Richard Fredericks |
| United States Ambassador to Switzerland | |
| In office August 19, 1996 – August 16, 1999 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | M. Larry Lawrence |
| Succeeded by | J. Richard Fredericks |
| United States Deputy Secretary of Education | |
| In office 1993–1996 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | David T. Kearns |
| Succeeded by | Marshall S. Smith |
| 77th Governor of Vermont | |
| In office January 10, 1985 – January 10, 1991 | |
| Lieutenant | Peter Plympton Smith Howard Dean |
| Preceded by | Richard A. Snelling |
| Succeeded by | Richard A. Snelling |
| 75th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont | |
| In office January 10, 1979 – January 10, 1983 | |
| Governor | Richard A. Snelling |
| Preceded by | T. Garry Buckley |
| Succeeded by | Peter Plympton Smith |
| Member of the Vermont House of Representatives | |
| In office January 5, 1973 – January 5, 1979 Serving with Evelyn Jarrett (1973–1975), Mary Evelti (1975–1979) | |
| Preceded by | George Little Jr., Evelyn Jarrett |
| Succeeded by | Mary Evelti, Pamela Erkson |
| Constituency | Chittenden 1-8 (1973–1975), Chittenden 4-8 (1975–1979) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Madeleine May September 28, 1933 Zürich, Switzerland |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Education | University of Massachusetts Amherst (BA) Columbia University (MA) University of Vermont (MA) |
Madeleine Kunin (née May; born September 28, 1933) is a Swiss-born American diplomat, author and politician. She served as the 77th governor of Vermont from 1985 until 1991, as a member of the Democratic Party. She also served as United States Ambassador to Switzerland from 1996 to 1999. She was Vermont's first and, to date, only female governor as well as the first Jewish governor of Vermont. She was also the first Jewish woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state. Since 2003, Kunin has been a James Marsh Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont.
Kunin also served as the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 1979 until 1983. She ran for governor in 1982, but lost to Incumbent Governor Richard Snelling.
Kunin was narrowly elected governor in 1984, won reelection in 1986, promptly after being elected by the Vermont General Assembly, and won a third term in 1988. In 1990, she did not seek reelection, and was succeeded by Snelling, who would serve for a little over seven months before he died in office. Since the death of Thomas P. Salmon on January 14, 2025, Kunin is the oldest living former Governor of Vermont.