Skip to main content

Carol Moseley Braun Fast Facts

(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of former US Senator Carol Moseley Braun.

Personal

Birth date: August 16, 1947

Birth place: Chicago, Illinois

Birth name: Carol Elizabeth Moseley

Father: Joseph Moseley, policeman

Mother: Edna (Davie) Moseley, medical assistant

Marriage: Michael Braun (1973-1986, divorced)

Children: Matthew

Education: University of Illinois, B.A., 1969; University of Chicago, J.D., 1972

Other Facts

First African American woman elected to the US Senate.

As a US senator, Moseley Braun was the first woman to serve on the Senate Finance Committee.

Timeline

1973-1977 – Serves as an assistant US attorney.

1978-1988 – Member of the Illinois House of Representatives. Becomes the first African American woman to serve as assistant majority leader.

1988-1992 – Recorder of deeds for Cook County, Illinois. Is the first woman and first African American to hold an executive office in Cook County.

1993-1999 – US senator from Illinois.

1998 – Defeated in the 1998 Senate election.

1999-2001 – American ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.

February 18, 2003 – Officially announces that she will be running for the Democratic nomination for president.

January 15, 2004 – Drops out of the race for president and endorses Howard Dean.

2005 – Founds an organic products company, Good Food Organics, which is the parent company of Ambassador Organics.

April 27, 2007 – Suffers a broken wrist after being attacked by a mugger outside her Chicago home.

November 20, 2010 – Officially announces her candidacy for mayor of Chicago.

February 22, 2011 – Loses to Rahm Emanuel in Chicago’s mayoral race.

September 2016 – Becomes a visiting professor of political science at Northwestern University.

January 2024 – President Biden nominates Moseley Braun to serve as Chairman of the US African Development Foundation’s Board of Directors. On March 8, she is confirmed by the Senate.

June 24, 2025 – Moseley Braun’s memoir “Trailblazer: Perseverance in Life and Politics” is published.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Georgia woman accused of throwing kittens out of moving vehicle

Click here for updates on this story    ATLANTA (WUPA) -- A Georgia woman is facing a felony charge of animal cruelty after police say she was spotted throwing kittens out a moving car.Valentina Tobon Henao was taken into custody on Wednesday by officers with the Brookhaven Police Department.According to an incident report obtained by CBS News Atlanta, an officer was called to the area near Peachtree Road and Osborne Road after a witness called in a report of animal cruelty.The emotional witness told the officer that she was driving on the road when she noticed something coming out of the driver's window of the car in front of her.When she swerved to avoid the object, the witness said that she noticed the other driver throwing two kittens out of the vehicle. The witness was able to get the driver's license plate and described one kitten as black with white paws. Police say an officer found a dead animal matching that description on the road.Using the license plate, officers identified the vehicle and determined that Tobon Henao was the driver. After meeting her at a nearby business, officers say Tobon Henao confirmed that she was driving the car in the area, but denied having any animals in the vehicle. The case remains under investigation. If you have any information that could help detectives, call the Brookhaven Police Department. Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
Read Next Story