Jo-Anne L. Coe

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Jo-Anne L. Coe (1933-2002) was the first woman to serve as Secretary of the United States Senate (1985-87), appointed by Bob Dole during his term as Senate Majority Leader in 1985. After serving in this capacity, she founded and directed Senator Dole's Political Action Committee, Campaign America. When Senator Dole formed a Presidential Exploratory Committee in January 1995, she was appointed Finance Director and also served as acting campaign Manager until campaign manager Scott Reed joined the campaign staff. She continued in the role of Finance Director of the Dole's campaign committee (ref: United States presidential election, 1996) until she had raised the maximum allowable under federal campaign law, after which she transferred to the Republican National Committee as deputy finance chairman. A legendary powerhouse in the Washington fundraising community, after the campaign she became Senator Dole's Chief of Staff and assisted in raising money for the National World War II Memorial, the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, and numerous other non-profit groups in which Senator Dole has taken a leadership role, as well as for Republican political candidates.

She was born Jo-Anne Lee Johnson in Coronado, California, daughter of Admiral Roy L. Johnson, former Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (1965-67) and the former Margaret Louise Gross. While in college, she was briefly married to Benjamin Plaisted Coe and had one daughter, Kathryn Coe Coombs (1953- ), who was married to British Member of Parliament Simon Coombs from 1983-2002.