Once called the "conscience of the Senate," Margaret Chase Smith began her political career in 1940 when she was elected from her native Maine to finish the term of her recently deceased husband in the House of Representatives. After four terms there, she became the first woman elected to both houses of Congress when she claimed a seat in the Senate in 1948. One of Smith's best-remembered moments came in the early 1950s, when she roundly denounced the Communist-hunting smear tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Twice considered a possibility for the Republican vice-presidential nomination, she made a bid to become her party's presidential nominee in 1964.

In making this portrait, sculptor Liz Hart found herself hampered by Smith's longtime adviser and companion, William Lewis, who wanted a substantial say in how the piece should finally look. Only after Lewis's death did the artist feel free to complete the likeness to her own satisfaction.