Tammy Duckworth

Tammy Duckworth
Official portrait, 2017
United States Senator
from Illinois
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Serving with Dick Durbin
Preceded byMark Kirk
Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee
Assumed office
January 21, 2021
ChairJaime Harrison
Preceded byGrace Meng
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 8th district
In office
January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2017
Preceded byJoe Walsh
Succeeded byRaja Krishnamoorthi
Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs
for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs
In office
April 24, 2009 – June 30, 2011
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byLisette M. Mondello
Succeeded byMichael Galloucis
Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs
In office
November 21, 2006 – February 8, 2009
GovernorRod Blagojevich
Pat Quinn
Preceded byRoy Dolgos
Succeeded byDaniel Grant
Personal details
Born
Ladda Tammy Duckworth

(1968-03-12) March 12, 1968 (age 56)
Bangkok, Thailand
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Bryan Bowlsbey
(m. 1993)
Children2
EducationUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa (BA)
George Washington University (MIA)
Northern Illinois University (attended)
Capella University (PhD)
Signature
WebsiteSenate website
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1992–2014
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
UnitIllinois Army National Guard
106th Aviation Regiment, 28th Infantry Division
Battles/warsIraq War (WIA)
AwardsPurple Heart
Meritorious Service Medal
Air Medal
Army Commendation Medal
Combat Action Badge
Senior Army Aviator Badge
Dame Grand Cross (First Class) of the Order of the Crown of Thailand[1]

Ladda Tammy Duckworth[2] (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.

Born in Bangkok, Thailand and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war.[3] Despite her injuries, she was awarded a medical waiver to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard for another ten years until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.

Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk.[4]

Duckworth is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. She is the second Asian American woman to serve in the Senate, after Mazie Hirono.[5]

  1. ^ "ประกาศสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ให้แก่ชาวต่างประเทศ (พันตรีหญิง ลัดดา แทมมี ดั๊กเวิร์ด)" [Announcement of the Prime Minister's Office on granting decorations to foreigners (Major Ladda Tammy Duckworth)] (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). January 15, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2017.
  2. ^ Duckworth, Ladda Tammy; Iskra, Darlene. "Ladda Tammy Duckworth Collection" – via memory.loc.gov.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference HuffPOWar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Jennifer Bendery (November 8, 2016). "Tammy Duckworth Takes Back Obama's Illinois Senate Seat For Democrats". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  5. ^ "50 Women Who Made American Political History". Time. March 8, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2023.