Jackie Hagan

Jacqueline Kay Hagan (born August 27, 1958) is an American politician who is currently serving as the junior U.S. Senator from the Northeast since 2005. A Democrat, Hagan previously served as a U.S. Representative, representing the 1st district from 1999 to 2005 and the 5th district from 1993 to 1994. Hagan also served as the 50th Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 1994 and as the 6th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1997 to 1999.

Hagan ran for the speakership with little opposition and won upon the start of the 103rd Congress. She is the first woman in American history to serve as Speaker of the House, as well as the first freshman representative to serve as speaker since William Pennington in 1860. After a motion to recall her failed on August 5, 1994, Hagan resigned from the House of Representatives.

Hagan was brought back into the federal government with a nomination to serve as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1997. Following her confirmation hearing in the Senate, she was confirmed and sworn into that position on December 21, 1997. After being elected to the House of Representatives in the 1998 midterm elections, Hagan resigned from her post at the FBI on January 3, 1999.

After taking the helm as Chairwoman of the Democratic Party following the 2000 elections, Hagan became House Majority Leader on January 3, 2001. She was appointed to the Senate following the resignation of Jacky Cameron on August 6, 2005.

Early Life and Education
Hagan was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina. The eldest daughter of Kacey Hagan, a homemaker, and Willie Hagan, a car salesman, her grandparents on her mother's side immigrated from Ireland in 1906, while her father is of Italian and English ancestry. Both Hagan's father and younger brother served in the United States Coast Guard.