Diane Lane

**Diane Ellen Walters Lane** (born November 2, 1940) is an American politician, author, and lawyer who has served in the Reagan, and both Shrub cabinets. She is currently serving the United States Senate.

A graduate of the University of Kansas, Lane served as Secretary of Labor under Owen B. K. Shrub and Secretary of Transportation under Owen K. Shrub before becoming Chairwoman of the RNC. She next was elected as a Senator from Wisconsin in 2016, and Wisconsin for the first time had an all-female Senate delegation. She is a member of the Republican Party and is former presidential candidate, running in 2008. She is married to former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, 1976 Republican vice-presidential nominee and 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Lane.

## Early Life and Family

Lane was born Diane Ellen Walters on November 2, 1940 in Wichita, Kansas, to Robert Walters, Jr. (1919-2002), and Katherine ‘Kitty’ Walters (*née* Mitchell; 1920-). She has two siblings, Robert Walters III (1948-), a retired bankruptcy lawyer, and Martha Davis (*née* Walters; 1951-), a real estate agent.

Lane‘s father was a hardware store owner who later served in World War II following Pearl Harbor. Following Walters’ return from the war in 1946, he would return to regular business, but becoming more active in his local community, sitting on town boards and coaching baseball for a local school. Her mother, Katherine, was a nurse.

She met her husband, Bob Lane, after interning in his office when he was a congressman. They married in 1975, and had one child, Thomas Lane (1977-), an actor. Lane has two stepchildren from her husband‘s previous marriage.

Lane would graduate from a public high school in Wichita, Kansas.

## Education

Lane would attend the University of Kansas and graduated with a bachelor‘s degree in political science in 1967 (no distinction). She was active in student life, and participated and was a member on the University’s debate team.

Here, Lane described her “political awakening”, finding that she had many sympathies and ideas shared with the Republican Party, and would actually join the University’s Republican Party, and be a committed member to it.

Following her undergraduate studies, Lane would move on to the University of Kansas’ Law School, and would graduate in 1970, among a mostly male-dominated class.

## Early Political Years

Lane would work in a private firm after graduating law school and passing the Kansas bar exam. However, in 1973, Lane would join the Kansas GOP’s legal staff in order to get back in politics.

After attaining the above position, Lane would use her connections to get a position on her former boss and mentor Bob Lane’s 1974 re-election committee. The campaign would be successful.

In 1975, Diane Lane would marry Senator Bob Lane.

Very quickly would Lane be thrust into the political arena, as her husband would be selected as President Gerald Ford’s running mate for the 1976 presidential election. She would serve as a surrogate many times throughout the campaign.

After the unsuccessful election, Lane would join the American Red Cross’ board among another corporate board. She would become more active in politics, as well.

In 1979, Bob Lane would run for President unsuccesfully, and dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses.

## Reagan Administration (1981-1989)

### Initial Nomination

Lane was offered an ambassadorship by the Reagan administration, however citing concerns over complications as her husband had to stay in Washington, she refused. Following that, she was offered a seat on the American Battle Monuments Commission, which Lane would accept.

However the Reagan administration would suffer a setback as their initial candidate for Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration was found using the services of an illegal immigrant maid, and withdrew themselves from consideration. Lane, in such short notice, was chosen as their replacement.

### Deputy Administrator of the SBA (1981-1985)

Lane would win confirmation by the Senate in a large margin, and would generally have a non-noteworthy term as Deputy Administrator. Generally, she was considered effective by the Reagan administration.

### Commissioner of the FTC (1985-1989)

Reagan would win re-election, and the (then) current Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission decided not to serve for Reagan’s second term. Lane would surface as a candidate for promotion, and was selected by the Administration in early January of 1984. Again, she would receive wide support for her nomination.

Here, Lane would again serve a rather un-noteworthy term, but generally would be considered diligent and reliable. However, she generated controversy after taking leave from the FTC in 1987 and 1988 to campaign for her husband’s presidential campaign at times.

## Shrub Administration, Secretary of Labor (1989-1993)

### Tenure

Lane was nominated by the newly elected Shrub Administration in early January 1989 to serve as Secretary of Labor, based on her experience and connections. Initially, she would have no tenure different than her other positions.

Here, Lane would develop her noted anti-union, anti-regulation streak.

### 1991 OSHA Scandal

On March 13, 1991, a coal mine exploded in a West Virginia community. A carcinogenic material would leak, triggering the explosion that killed 13 workers. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) would investigate the incident, and it was revealed that severe safety violations were occurring. However, it also came to light that the last Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection of the mine was in 1979, and that even then, it was possible that flagrant violations were visible, and that in the state of West Virginia, there were only three qualified inspectors.

Soon, an internal investigation into OSHA was conducted and it was revealed that the organization suffered severely from a lack of qualified workers, that these workers were overburdened, low morale at the agency, and some instances of flagrant bribery and corruption. In the immediate aftermath of the release of this report, Lane would deny knowledge of the whole ordeal, repeatedly. This brought other issues to light, best displayed in the *New York Times* editorial, “What’s Worse: That Lane Knew and Did Nothing, or That She Knew Nothing At All?”

Lane faced some internal and external pressure to resign, like many other officers at Labor had before. She would stay firm, and refused to resign, saying, “As of now, I’m the only one who can fix the mess.”

She would stay, and ordered a new investigation into OSHA and had the agency cleared of many of the alleged “bad apples“.

However, despite the entire scandal, Lane’s image would stay relatively intact.

One perspective on the situation from noted feminist author Maria Sherman argued that if the Secretary of Labor was a male at the time, they would’ve received far less criticism.

## 1996 Republican National Convention

Lane‘s husband, Bob Lane, won the 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries. Diane Lane, had her husband won the general election in 1996, would have become First Lady, and had her husband’s ticket in 1976 won, Second Lady of the United States. She received recognition after the 1996 RNC for her well-received and frank speech about her husband’s personal qualities, avoiding politics.

## Second Shrub Administration, Secretary of Transportation (2001-2009)

After the contentious 2000 United States presidential election, the Shrub administration was scouting for candidates for the cabinet. Lane would be seen as an obvious choice for a position, and she was offered the position of Secretary of Transportation. Here, she would serve the entirety of the Shrub administration, and would have a much quieter time.

Following the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge collapse in 2007, Lane was generally praised for her leadership and actions during the aftermath of the crisis.

## 2008 Presidential Election and Candidacy

### Campaign Announcement

Despite all the build-up and preparation, Lane’s announcement to join the race for president in 2008 as a Republican came as a surprise to most pundits. Diane Lane’s main advantages going in were name recognition, fundraising, and an excellent ground game in key states like Iowa. She did not resign from office to campaign, causing some strife.

### 2008 Republican Primaries

Polling showed a consistent top three of candidates, which would be Arizona Senator James MacAbel, Massachusetts Governor Ron Glover, and Secretary of Labor Diane Lane.

Lane would achieve an important and early victory in Iowa, coming in first by a comfortable margin. She had early momentum, however, suffered a minor setback in New Hampshire, coming in third. In South Carolina, Lane just barely lost the state, coming in second. At this point, the Secretary‘s campaign was hoping for major wins on Super Tuesday. Lane would win five contests, and in post-Super Tuesday primaries, she would win three more, including her home state of Kansas. However, as time went on, MacAbel’s victories were getting even larger, and it would soon be numerically impossible to win against him, and when Super Tuesday II came, Lane would only win in Rhode Island. On March 5, 2008, Lane dropped out of the race, endorsing James MacAbel.

Throughout the campaign, Lane ran on an economically conservative platform, however flirting with near right-wing economic populism mostly in regards to China, but otherwise being in favor of free trade and right-wing economies, especially in regards to anti-union policies. Socially, she proved mostly moderate, however opposing abortion and favoring stronger legislation.

## Chairmanship of the RNC (2011-2013)

Lane, in 2008, following the 2008 United States presidential election, would make another shock announcement, announcing her intention to run for the Chairmanship of the Republican National Committee.

The former Secretary faced no serious competition after her announcement aside from former governor Tim Roth and representative Llena Perez, and in the final round, would win comfortably over.

### Tea Party Movement

Lane is often credited for successfully integrating the Tea Party movement into the larger Republic Party during her tenure as RNC Chairwoman, and transforming this into victories in elections.

### 2010 Midterm Elections

Under her leadership, the GOP made a gain of six seats in the Senate, and 63 seats in the House of Representatives, in the latter gaining a majority, As the RNC successfully capitalized on resentment over Winston and Democratic legislation and reform, such as the ACA.

## United States Senate Career (2017-Present)

### Election

Initially, the Wisconsin GOP nominated representative Micheal Martins as their candidate for the Senate seat in 2016. However, just after securing the nomination, Martins suffered a deadly heart attack, and the GOP, without a candidate, struggled to find one. Lane, who was now living in the affluent town of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, was approached on short notice to see if she was willing to be a paper candidate for the election. The former Secretary complied.

Generally, many doubted Lane’s ability to win, however as time went on and presidential nominee Calvin Reed and the Republican Party gained momentum, her poll numbers increased, and in a shocking result, she won over incumbent independent Senator Eric Woljtalewicz in the election with a margin of 49.7% to his 33.4%.

### Senate Tenure

In the Senate, Lane has been described as a maverick, with a moderate streak. She argued against the Balanced Budget Amendment, and voted against some Reed nominees, but she has voted within Party lines on most Senate matters.

Diane Lane, along with fellow Senators Stacey Allison, Theresa Blyth, Zachary Fowler, and Sam McGareth, proposed a bill titled “Common Sense Gun Control Act of 2017” that would’ve put in new gun control laws. However, it had numerous legal flaws, and after questioning, the bill was withdrawn. The incident is usually referred to as the “Gang of Five Gun Control Incident”.

## Political Views

### Social Issues

##### Abortion

Lane, throughout her career, has been consistently pro-life. She is sympathetic to the idea of allowing abortion in cases of rape or a direct threat to a mother. Her 2016 candidacy for the Senate was supported by the Susan B. Anthony List.

##### Gun Rights

Lane is generally supportive of the gun rights and the second amendment but is rather moderate comparative to Republican colleagues. She supported and sponsored the "Common Sense Gun Control Act of 2017", which instituted new gun control laws.

##### LGBT Rights

Lane hasn't been supportive of rights for LGBT individuals throughout the majority of her career. Prior to the *Obergefell v. Hodges* decision, she argued for the 'sanctity of marriage' and thus against gay marriage rights. However, she has stopped mentioning the issue since then. She is generally quite mum on most issues in this regard.

### Economic/Domestic Issues

##### Healthcare

Lane has never been supportive of any universal healthcare reforms and thus was outspoken in her opposition to WinstonCare, or the Affordable Care Act. She believes it to be 'expensive and against the ideals of the free market'.

##### Trade

Lane has mostly been in favor of free trade for the majority of her career. In her 2008 presidential run, she voiced skepticism of free trade, mostly in regards to China, but has voiced support for the TPP and NAFTA after and before.

##### Welfare

Lane supported President Shrub's attempt to privatize Social Security in 2006. However, besides that incident, she has not been firmly in favor of any drastic measures except for cutting out "extra fat" out of programs where visible.

##### Union Rights

As Secretary of Labor, Lane advocated strongly against 'overreaching' union power, and cracked down on them strongly, encouraging legislation to dismantle their 'stronghold on the workplace'. Right-to-work legislation is a favorite of Lane's and has submitted one bill to the senate that goes under this category.

##### Immigration

Lane supported the border fence under President Shrub. But she does generally not believe in any drastic measures or reforms and has voiced support for building upon the existing system. Lane has been supportive and open to legal immigration and a pathway towards citizenship for illegals residing within the US for a long time, most of these views developing during her time as RNC Chairwoman as a way for the GOP to appeal to minorities.

### Foreign Policy

Diane Lane has been characterized as a moderate hawk, a humanitarian interventionist, and as pro-military.

##### Israel

Lane believes in the two-state solution, while also being strongly in favor of the United States' continued alliance with Israel.

##### Syrian Civil War

Lane believes that the US should continue to support rebels against the Assad regime, and if the said regime is deposed, she has commented, "then nothing of value will be lost."

##### NATO

Lane believes it is the most important alliance for the United States and for maintaining the current world order. Expanding it and encouraging more military spending from members are top priorities.

## Electoral History

**Republican National Committee Chairmanship Election, 2009**

 Tim Roth
 Llena Perez

**United States Senate Election in Wisconsin, 2016**

 Independent
 Democrat
 Libertarian
 Progressive