In her political career, rising from a position on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to serving as California’s Senior Senator, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has not just had a front row seat to the changing roles of women in politics; she’s been an important player.

“Women contribute on their own, and women get elected on their own, and women support other women,” Feinstein said of some of the changes she’s witnessed since first deciding on a career in public service.

Feinstein, 74, got her start on the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors in 1969 in what she says was an atmosphere of “women need not apply.”

“What existed then was, I think, a deep suspicion by women of other women,” Feinstein said. “Or, ‘What’s wrong with her? She must have a bad marriage.’ It was difficult.”

Feinstein served on the board for nine years and became its first female president. But two unsuccessful attempts to run for mayor of San Francisco in 1971 and 1975 had her worried there was still an enormous barrier for women.

“I was convinced even at that time that women were not electable,” she said.