Claire McCaskill is a 4th-generation Missourian who has spent her entire life in the Show-Me State. Born in Rolla and raised in Lebanon and Columbia, Claire has never forgotten her roots. Claire's first home was Houston, Missouri, where her father William worked at the McCaskill feed mill. Later, the family moved to Lebanon, hometown of Claire's mother, Betty Anne.
Claire attended Hickman High School in Columbia, while her father served as a state insurance commissioner and her mother became Columbia's first woman city council member. At Hickman High School, Claire graduated near the top of her class and was a member of the cheerleading squad, served as president of the Pep Club and was elected homecoming queen. She also worked in a fabric store and sewed her own clothes along with dancing and singing in school plays.
The day after graduation, Claire left town for a job bussing tables at Lodge of the Four Seasons at Lake of the Ozarks. Waitressing for six years helped Claire work her way through college and law school at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Claire clerked for the Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City and then got a job as an assistant prosecutor in Kansas City handling arson cases. In 1982, McCaskill won a seat in the State Legislature. She juggled the responsibilities of both mother and legislator and was the first woman to ever give birth while actively serving in the Missouri Legislature.
Claire broke new ground again in 1993 when she became the first female Jackson County Prosecutor, a position she held until she was sworn in as Missouri Auditor in 1999.
As State Auditor, Claire has been credited for revolutionizing the office and making it into a true watchdog for taxpayers and citizens. In 2004, Claire took on her own party establishment and became the first person to ever defeat a sitting Missouri governor in a primary election.
After seven years as a single mom, Claire married Joseph Shepard, a St. Louis businessman in April 2002. Together they have seven children: Benjamin, 30, Carl, 28, Marilyn, 26, Michael, 23, Austin, 18, Maddie, 16 and Lily, 14.
Claire is a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jefferson City and St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church in St. Louis.
Hear from Claire's Family
