The first woman to serve in the United States Senate, Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930) of Georgia took the oath of office on November 21, 1922. Having been appointed to fill a vacancy on October 3, Felton's official service began on that date but she served only 24 hours after taking the oath of office. The 87-year-old Felton's largely symbolic Senate service capped a long career in Georgia politics and journalism. In her only Senate speech, delivered to a large audience in the Senate Chamber, Felton concluded with the following prediction: "When the women of the country come in and sit with you,... you will get ability, you will get integrity of purpose, you will get exalted patriotism, and you will get unstinted usefulness."
