Susan Collins
The Senate's pivotal centrist dealmaker from Maine, whose vote has repeatedly decided the fate of landmark legislation and Supreme Court nominees.
Born 1952 (age 74)·American politician·Birthday: December 7·Baby Boomers
Biography
Susan Collins was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 as Maine's moderate Republican. She chairs the Appropriations Committee. Her power derives from her position as a crucial swing vote in a narrowly divided chamber. Collins focuses on fiscal responsibility, constituent service, and crossing the aisle. Her votes on tax cuts, judicial confirmations, healthcare, and infrastructure have placed her at the center of Washington's most dramatic negotiations. She deliberates publicly before casting votes, underscoring her self-styled role as an independent thinker. This approach has drawn praise from centrists and criticism from both flanks. Her career exemplifies a slowly vanishing brand of politics that values coalition-building and compromise.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Susan was born in 1952, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Susan Was Born
The biggest hits of 1952
#1 Movie
The Greatest Show on Earth
Best Picture
The Greatest Show on Earth
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Susan's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1952Born
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1957Started school
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1965Became a teenager
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Could drive
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1970Could vote
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Turned 21
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1982Turned 30
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 40
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 50
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 60
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 70
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2026Age 74 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Maine's longest-serving member of Congress and the longest-serving Republican woman in Senate history.
- Became Chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee in 2025.
- Played a key brokering role in the 2013 agreement to end a government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.
- Was one of three Republican senators who voted to acquit President Bill Clinton during his 1999 impeachment trial.
Did You Know?
She is the daughter of a sixth-generation Maine family who owned and operated a lumber business in Caribou.
She worked as a staffer for former Maine Senator William Cohen for 12 years before running for office herself.
She has not missed a single roll-call vote in the Senate for over 25 years, maintaining a perfect voting attendance record.
“I do not believe that the Founders ever intended for our nation to be ruled by a handful of individuals who sit on the Supreme Court.”
