The End of an Era
A Farewell to Senator Dianne Feinstein
By Spencer A. Backman, Political Editor
California Senator Dianne Feinstein died at the age of 90 on Sept. 28, 2023, in her home in Washington.
As a veteran of the Senate and California politics, she was revered by members of her party and well-liked by her colleagues. She was both a maverick and a moderate, being the first woman in many of the offices she held.
Born Dianne Emiel Goldman, she was born in San Francisco on June 22, 1933. She and her two younger sisters, Yvonne and Lynn, were the children of Dr. Leon Goldman and Betty Rosenburg Goldman. Her mother suffered from an undiagnosed brain disorder which caused anger outbursts and irrational behavior, terrorizing Dianne and her sisters through their childhood.
Feinstein went on to attend an elite all-female Roman Catholic school, the Convent of the Sacred Heart, even though she decided to practice Judaism as a teenager. She graduated in 1951 and went on to attain a history degree from Stanford University in 1955. Her introduction to public service came from a Coro Foundation internship working in the district attorney’s office.
In 1956, she married Jack Berman, a prosecutor in that office and went on to have a daughter, Katherine Anne. Jack and Dianne divorced in 1959. She later married Dr. Bertram Feinstein, a neurosurgeon who died in 1978. In 1980, she married Richard Blum, an investor and philanthropist and became stepmother to Heidi, Annette and Eileen.
Feinstein began her political career as president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and went on to serve two full terms as mayor after serving as the interim mayor following the shooting of Dan Moscone and Harvey Milk. She was the first major party nominee for Governor of California but lost to Republican Pete Wilson. She later won Wilson’s seat in the United States Senate and remained in the Senate for 30 years.
Feinstein championed moderate policies over the years, changing positions on same-sex marriage, the Iraq War and the detainee program. She served on the Senate Judiciary Committee in recent years during the Brett Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett confirmations. Notably, she was a senator during five presidencies.
She is survived by her daughters and seven grandchildren.
