Topline
Dianne Feinstein, the California Democratic senator who died Thursday night at age 90, was thrust into the mayorship of grieving San Francisco in 1978 after its mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed, a position she would hold for a decade before launching a Senate career that would become the longest for any woman in history.
Feinstein died Thursday night at age 90. (Photo by TOM WILLIAMS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Key Facts
Feinstein, then the president of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, discovered Milk, the first openly gay man elected to office in California, after he had been shot and killed in San Francisco City Hall by former supervisor Dan White, with whom Milk frequently clashed, on November 27, 1978.
White also shot and killed Moscone, which automatically made Feinstein the acting mayor of San Francisco, and she was formally elected as its first woman mayor by the Board of Supervisors the following week.
Just minutes after the murders, Feinstein gave a statement to the press, announcing that “both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed” to groans and screams from the crowd.
Feinstein would later consider the murders a formative moment for her political career, which she considered abandoning before assuming San Francisco’s mayorship, and her press conference became a staple of her own campaign advertisements that political observers reportedly praised as effective.
The assassinations made gun control a personal issue for Feinstein: As San Francisco’s mayor, she proposed and signed a ban on handgun possession in 1982, and in the Senate, she authored the 1994 assault weapons ban (which expired in 2004) and repeatedly pushed for stricter gun laws, calling herself in 2018 “a woman on a mission to ban assault weapons.”
Feinstein also moved to support gay rights as mayor: She replaced Milk as supervisor with another openly gay man, Harry Britt, dedicated funding to HIV/AIDS research early in the crisis and organized the first national AIDS task force through the U.S. Conference of Mayors, though she occasionally clashed with gay constituents, including when she vetoed health benefits for unmarried gay domestic partners.
Key Background
Milk and White were both elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978, and Feinstein, who had already served eight years, was elected board president. White would reportedly clash with fellow supervisors in tense debates, including one over a drug rehabilitation center planned for his district that he vehemently opposed. Milk voted for the center, despite reportedly initially promising to support White. White was also the only supervisor to vote against an ordinance that banned discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation, stating he feared residents upset by “demands” of “large minorities” would react negatively. White, a former police officer and firefighter, abruptly resigned on November 10 because of financial constraints—he could not simultaneously hold his jobs as a supervisor and firefighter—and because of his disdain for “corrupt” city politics. Days later, he asked Moscone for his job back, and the mayor initially agreed, but turned back on his promise after Milk lobbied against White’s reinstatement. White demanded a meeting with Moscone on November 27, and shot and killed him and Milk. White was charged with first-degree murder but later was convicted of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter, outraging the local gay community and sparking the “White Night” riots. White died by suicide nearly two years after being released from his five-year prison sentence.
Crucial Quote
“I saw him come in. I said, ‘Dan, can I talk to you?’ And he went by, and I heard the door close, and I heard the shots and smelled the cordite, and I came out of my office. Dan went right by me. Nobody was around, every door was closed. I went down the hall. I opened the wrong door. I opened (Milk’s) door. I found Harvey on his stomach. I tried to get a pulse and put my finger through a bullet hole. He was clearly dead. I remember it, actually, as if it was yesterday. And it was one of the hardest moments, if not the hardest moment, of my life,” Feinstein told SF Gate in 2008, recounting her experience of the assassinations 30 years later.
News Peg
Feinstein died Thursday night at age 90, her chief of staff James Sauls confirmed Friday morning. Prior to her death, Feinstein—who was the oldest member of the U.S. Senate—had increasingly come under criticism over whether she was fit for office. Some reports indicated Feinstein’s mental abilities had faded, frustrating colleagues, and she suffered a bout of shingles that left her out of the Senate for more than two months earlier this year, causing complications like encephalitis and vision and balance impairments. Feinstein resisted calls, including from some fellow Democrats, to resign before the end of her term, but pledged in February not to run for reelection in 2024.
Further Reading
Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dies At 90—Longest-Serving Female Senator (Forbes)
‘It was a day of infamy’: Dianne Feinstein recounts Harvey Milk, George Moscone killings (SF Gate)
The shocking San Francisco assassinations that forged Feinstein’s political path (LA Times)
Gun violence has defined Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s career. The issue is more important than ever for her now (LA Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/09/29/how-the-murder-of-lgbt-icon-harvey-milk-propelled-dianne-feinstein-to-political-fame/