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 This is a list of United States ambassadors to the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein. History Since 1997, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland has also been accredited to the Principality of Liechtenstein. Appointed on F ...

from 1996 to 1999. She was Vermont's first and, to date, only female governor as well as the first

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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 The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

. Kunin also served as the

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont The lieutenant governor of Vermont is elected for a two-year term and chosen separately from the Governor of Vermont, governor. The Vermont lieutenant governor's main responsibilities include acting as governor when the governor is out of state o ...

from 1979 until 1983. She ran for governor in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, but lost to Incumbent Governor

Richard Snelling Richard Arkwright Snelling (February 18, 1927August 13, 1991) was an American businessman, politician, and the 76th and 78th governor of Vermont from 1977 to 1985 and from January 10, 1991, until his death. A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, ...

. Kunin was narrowly elected governor in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, won reelection in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, promptly after being elected by the Vermont General Assembly, and won a third term in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. In

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, 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 Thomas Paul Salmon (August 19, 1932 – January 14, 2025) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 75th governor of Vermont from 1973 to 1977. Early life Thomas P. Salmon was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 19, 1932, th ...

on January 14, 2025, Kunin is the oldest living former Governor of Vermont.

Life and career

Kunin was born on September 28, 1933, in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland, the daughter of Renee (Bloch) and Ferdinand May. Her family were

German Jew The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

s escaped to Switzerland after the Nazi rise. Kunin's father, Ferdinand May, suffered depression and died by suicide in a lake near Zurich. She moved to the United States as a child. She received her bachelor's degree in history from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

(1956), a master's degree from the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

, and a master's degree in English from the

. Prior to seeking elective office, she worked as a journalist for ''

The Burlington Free Press ''The Burlington Free Press'' (sometimes referred to as "BFP" or "the Free Press") is a digital and print community news organization based in Burlington, Vermont, and owned by Gannett. It is one of the official "newspapers of record" for the St ...

'', as a tour guide at the World's Fair, and as a part-time college professor. She was also involved in community activities, particularly in the area of women's rights, children, and literature. In 2012 her book, ''The New Feminist Agenda: Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work, and Family'', was published by Chelsea Green Publishing.

Political career

In 1972, Kunin was defeated in her bid to join the Burlington

Board of Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands ( wethouder) and Belgium ( schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking mem ...

. Later that year she was elected a

Vermont State Representative The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives are ...

, where in her first term she served as a member of the Government Operations Committee. Following her reelection in 1974, she was elected

Minority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips ...

of the State House and appointed to the Appropriations Committee. After being elected to a third term in 1976, she was appointed Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, the first woman to assume this position. Kunin has written that when she served on the Appropriations Committee during his chairmanship, Emory A. Hebard, a conservative Republican who later served as

Vermont State Treasurer The State Treasurer's Office is responsible for several administrative and service duties, in accordance with Vermont Statutes. These include: investing state funds; issuing state bonds; serving as the central bank for state agencies; managing th ...

, was a mentor, and gave her significant responsibilities despite her status as a member of the minority Democrats. When Hebard left the House, he successfully lobbied his former colleagues to name Kunin as chairwoman of the committee. In 1978 she was elected to the first of two terms as the 75th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. Serving with Republican

Richard A. Snelling Richard Arkwright Snelling (February 18, 1927August 13, 1991) was an American businessman, politician, and the 76th and 78th governor of Vermont from 1977 to 1985 and from January 10, 1991, until his death. A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, ...

, Kunin primarily served as President of the State Senate and worked with citizens around the state. She produced various studies in areas such as energy and daycare and made policy recommendations to the Governor and Legislature. Kunin was a frequent speaker statewide during her time as lieutenant governor. Kunin did not run for reelection as lieutenant governor in 1982, instead challenging Snelling for the governorship. She was unsuccessful, but in 1984 Snelling did not run for reelection, and Kunin was the successful Democratic nominee, defeating Republican John J. Easton Jr. to win the first of her three terms as governor. In 1986 Kunin ran for her second term as governor. Her opponents were Republican

Peter Plympton Smith Peter Plympton Smith (born October 31, 1945) is an American educator and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from the U.S. state of Vermont, the 76th lieutenant governor of Vermont, and an education a ...

and independent

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

. Smith received 38 percent of the vote, Sanders 14 percent, and Kunin won with 47 percent of the vote. She is the first woman in U.S. history to have been elected governor of a U.S. state three times. As governor, she focused on the environment, education, and children's issues. She appointed the first woman to the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The court ...

and created her state's

family court Family courts were originally created to be a Court of Equity convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law, including custody of children, and could disregard certain legal requirements as long as the petitioner/plaintif ...

system. After rising unpopularity due to significant budget cuts and economic downturn within the State, Kunin declined to seek reelection in 1990. She was a member of the administration of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, serving as deputy secretary of education of the United States from 1993 until 1997 when she became the ambassador to her native Switzerland, as well as to

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. Prior to joining the Clinton Administration, she worked in Clinton's campaign as a member of the search committee for the vice presidential nominee and on the transition team. Switzerland-United States relations entered a tense phase during the World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks starting in 1995. The U.S. federal government adopted a delicate policy of supporting the heirs of the Holocaust victims, while formally opposing sanctions against Switzerland. Ultimately, the Swiss banks agreed to a 1.25 billion dollar settlement with Holocaust survivors and their heirs in 1998. Furthermore, in the wake of the lawsuit, the Swiss government established steps to re-evaluate the role of Switzerland during World War II. One of the steps taken was the publication of the names of the owners of dormant accounts in Swiss banks, with the surprise result that Renee May, Kunin's mother deceased in 1970 was among the names.

Personal life

Kunin is the author of the books ''Coming of Age: My Journey to the Eighties'' (2018), ''The New Feminist Agenda: Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work, and Family'' (2012), '' Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead'' (2008) and ''Living a Political Life'' (1995) which chronicles her career prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education. She is a resident of

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

. Kunin is the mother of four children, including her daughter Julia Kunin. She divorced her first husband, the academic Arthur Kunin, in 1995. She married John W. Hennessey Jr., a professor at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, in 2006. Kunin was the sister of the late

Edgar May Edgar May (June 27, 1929 – December 27, 2012) was an American journalist and politician. He served in the Vermont House of Representatives 1973–1983 and the Vermont Senate 1983–1991 and he was the elder brother of three-term Vermont Gov ...

, who was a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

–winning journalist and a member of both the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

and

Vermont State Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator represents at least 20,300 citizens. ...

Awards and honors

Governor Kunin has received more than twenty honorary degrees. In 1995, Kunin received the Foreign Language Advocacy Award from the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in recognition of her support for education, equal access for all children and equitable salaries for teachers.

References

External links

*
Video clip of Kunin documentary

Madeleine May Kunin
at the

Jewish Women's Archive The Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to document "Jewish women's stories, elevate their voices, and inspire them to be agents of change." JWA was founded by Gail Twersky Reimer in 1995 in Brook ...