Olympia Jean Snowe is an American politician and former United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. Snowe has become widely known for her ability to influence the outcome of close votes, including whether to end filibusters. In 2006, she was named one of America's Best Senators by Time Magazine. Snowe was famously known for her ability to compromise and her strong sense of bipartisanship. On February 28, 2012, Snowe announced that she would not seek reelection in November 2012, and retired when her third term ended on January 3, 2013. She cited hyper-partisanship leading to a dysfunctional Congress as the reason for her retirement from the Senate. Her seat went to an independent when popular former Governor Angus King won the election to succeed her; King is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. [More at Wikipedia]

February 21st, 1947 in Augusta (Age 77)