Ladda Tammy Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand on March 12, 1968. As a member of the Democratic party, she is the current junior U.S senator for Illinois. She had previously served as a member of the House of Representatives. Before her career in politics, Duckworth was a helicopter pilot serving in the U.S Army and fought in the Iraq War. Unfortunately, while in combat, her aircraft was struck by a grenade launched by Iraqi insurgents and resulting in the loss of her legs and partial mobility in her right arm.
For her heroic actions and service, she received a Purple Heart, a military medal awarded to those wounded or killed in action against an enemy of the U.S. Despite her injuries suffered from the war, Duckworth sought a medical waiver and continued to serve as a national guard and colonel. As a biracial Asian American born in Thailand, Duckworth came from a long line of veterans. Her father was a veteran of the U.S Army and Marine Corps and could trace his family’s roots back to the American Revolutionary War. It is no wonder that Duckworth followed her ancestors before her and joined the Army.
After leaving the service, she started her political career and was appointed the director of the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs. During her time as director, she started a program for helping veterans with PTSD and brain injuries. In 2009, former President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the US Department of Veteran Affairs.
After defeating incumbent Joe Walsh in 2012, she became the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability to be elected to Congress and the first member of Congress to be born in Thailand. In 2016, while being endorsed by Obama, Duckworth campaign for Senate and won against incumbent Mark Kirk and became the second female Asian American senator.
As the first woman to give birth while in office, Duckworth caused significant reforms for mothers in congress, such as bringing upon the permit of mothers to bring children under 1 for breastfeeding. As a senator she was involved in bills regarding the environment, foreign policy, gun control, health policies, and immigration. She was ranked 5th most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress as well as the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. During her time in Congress, she has sponsored 77 bills, 4 of which passed through the Republican-dominated Senate, and 2 eventually became law.
