Catherine Graham

Catherine Nancy Graham (March 26, 1948 – June 29, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 45th President of the United States from 2008 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party, Graham represented Florida in the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, during which time she served as the 54th Speaker of the House. Because there was a vacancy in the vice presidency, she ascended to the presidency upon the resignation of Greg Abbott in 2008 and was elected in a 538-vote landslide that year, becoming the first presidential candidate in U.S. history to do so. Graham is the first female and first Hispanic in American history to serve as both speaker and president.

Graham died of natural causes in her home in Miami, Florida. She was 77 years old at the time of her death.