Barbara became the first African American woman elected to the Texas state senate in 1966 and as a congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representative in 1972. She gained national prominence for the position she took and the statement she made at the 1974 impeachment hearing of President Richard Nixon. In casting a “yes” vote, Jordan stated, “My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total.” Jordan was chosen as a keynote speaker for the Democratic National Convention in 1976, and again in 1992. She was the first Black selected to keynote a major political convention. Barbara Jordan died of complications from pneumonia on January 17, 1996.