Remembering US senator Diane Feinstein's trailblazing and pragmatic legacy

US Senator Diane Feinstein, who died at age 90 on Thursday, has left behind a legacy of a groundbreaking politician whose pragmatism allowed her to work with Republicans and progressives on critical issues but whose age and health appeared to take a toll in her final years.

The San Francisco-born Democratic politician was thrust into the spotlight in 1978 following the shocking assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, whose body she found after the incident. She then gave a speech on the steps of City Hall to unify a city in crisis.

As president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, she was next in line to take the position as acting mayor and was then voted in.

Though considered a moderate in a liberal city, she held several key positions from the left, often due to circumstances or coaxing from colleagues and constituents. 

A new era for California

"She was sort of a transitional figure for California politics. When she first got into politics, California was not the deep blue state that it is now." J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, tells The New Arab of her ability to evolve with the times. 

Following the fatal shootings at City Hall, she became a dedicated advocate for gun safety, a position she later carried to the US Senate when she helped pass a federal assault weapons ban in 1994 (which was not renewed ten years later).

During the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s, she initially fell short of the hopes of gay rights advocates by not supporting domestic partnerships. She then came around on that issue and funding for AIDS, which was reportedly more than what then-President Reagan had allocated for the entire country for two years.

"In her time as mayor, she had the most power she'd ever had. She was exposed to what the city actually needed," said Suzanne Chod, professor of political science at North Central College in Illinois. 

As senator, she would vote against the Defense of Marriage Act, which banned recognition of same-sex marriage, and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prevented LGBTQ+ military members from coming out of the closet. 

Feinstein was elected to the US Senate in 1992, a year dubbed the year of the woman, with a record number of women elected to public office. She made a record that year, receiving the most popular votes of any US Senate election in history. She served in the Senate simultaneously as Barbara Boxer, putting the state in the unusual position of having two woman senators.

A pragmatist in the Senate

While in the Senate, she continued her path as a centrist, though she appeared open to change when necessary. In 2018, when Kevin de Leon unsuccessfully challenged her for her seat, running on an anti-death penalty platform, she changed her position on what had long been an unpopular policy in her state (in 2019, the death penalty was suspended in California). 

As for her Senate voting record, according to a 2021 report by GovTrack, a site that tracks congressional bills, Feinstein ranks 79th in the Senate, from the most far-right to the most far-left (six points further right than Elizabeth Warren and nine points further left than Chuck Schumer).

Like most of her colleagues, Feinstein tended to vote along party lines. She voted with the majority of Congress on key foreign policy issues, such as the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.  

However, there were certain positions she took on as a policymaker that showed her commitment to fundamental principles. 

International law and human rights

Feinstein oversaw a six-year review of the CIA's detention and interrogation programme, concluding with a 2014 report that resulted in anti-torture legislation. 

In 2015, she and her Republican colleague John McCain drafted legislation to prevent detainees' torture in US custody. Their bill required interrogation techniques only to include what's authorised in the Army Field Manual and requires access to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Though generally considered a centrist, Feinstein spoke up on fundamental human rights issues, which had become mainly a domain of her more progressive colleagues.

In 2014, she was among the few senators who didn't join an AIPAC letter condemning the Palestinian government for working with Hamas.

As a senator, she spoke up multiple times on Saudi Arabia's human rights record, particularly for women.

In 2019, she called out the country's mass executions of 37 people for charges related to terrorism, espionage and political dissent. 

In April 2022, she condemned Saudi Arabia's sentencing of a woman to 34 years in prison for her social media posts.

In 2018, possibly most consequential in her positions on the Middle East, Feinstein joined with Independent Senator Bernie Sanders to oppose an anti-BDS bill, which they argued would infringe on freedom of speech.

That same year, she joined the progressive senator in calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to demolish the Palestinian West Bank village of Khan al-Ahmar.

The last of the bipartisan senators?

Though Feinstein has been praised over the years for evolving on issues, in her final years, that openness and political savviness for which she had been known has been questioned following instances of frustration and confusion on her part.

In 2019, when young environmentalists visited her office to ask her to support the Green New Deal, she aggressively dismissed them, leading to a viral video moment. 

Some of her actions were probably more concerning for her party during the series of Senate confirmation hearings for the last administration's Supreme Court nominees. 

In 2020, during the hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, she hugged Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a move that led to her announcing her departure from the head of the Judiciary Committee, a position she'd held as the first woman in the post.

"She's a throwback to the days when people felt comfortable reaching across the aisle. Feinstein was the last reach acrosser," Patrick James, a professor of international relations at the University of Southern California, tells TNA.

"The golden age of Feinstein was working with McCain [on the torture bill] and doing things most of the public supported."

Though she faced growing criticism for staying in her position in her final years, the outpouring of grief and celebration of her life and legacy has shown her overall impact. 

To accommodate the public's wishes for a grand send-off of Feinstein, a funeral will be held Thursday on the steps of San Francisco's City Hall, where she started her public life in a moment of crisis and where she will be laid to rest.