Esther Coopersmith

Esther Lipsen was born on January 18, 1930, in Des Moines, Iowa; her father was an emigrant cattle dealer from present-day Moldova and her mother was a homemaker from Romania. She became actively involved in politics in 1952, when she filled in to chair an event for the presidential Democratic hopeful, Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver, who went on to win the Wisconsin primary election and 11 of the 15 others across the country, even defeating sitting President Harry S. Truman, who then withdrew his re-election campaign. Kefauver asked Lipsen to open and manage a campaign office for the Chicago convention. Not having any experience with such a job, she asked a rival politician's aides for advice. Despite Kefauver's popularity and campaign success, he lost the Democratic nomination to Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson II. Lipsen then organized Young Democrat campaign clubs to support Stevenson. Although Kefauver invited her to Washington, D.C., in 1954, he did not hire her, despite his desire to run in future presidential elections. ==Wife, diplomat, and ambassador==

While in Washington, D.C., Lipsen met real estate developer Jack Coopersmith. They married in 1954 and had four children within 8 years. In 1972, she supported Joe Biden when he ran in the United States Senate election. She even hosted a fundraiser for him at her home in 2023. During the 1978 Camp David Accords with President Jimmy Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Coopersmith hosted a party for the news media. One year later, Carter appointed her as a representative of the U.S. for the United Nations (UN), her first paying job since the 1950s. In 1984, the UN awarded her its Peace Medal, making her only the second woman at the time to receive the honor. In 1991, she accompanied then-governor Bill Clinton to Moscow to improve his knowledge of foreign policy for his plans to run for the U.S. presidency. In 2009, UNESCO named Coopersmith a Goodwill Ambassador "in light of her outstanding contribution to strengthening mutual understanding between peoples and her unfailing commitment to fostering intercultural dialogue." ==Personal life==

, Washington, D.C.|150px Following her husband Jack's death in 1991, Coopersmith sold their home in Potomac, Maryland, and bought and renovated a house in Kalorama Heights in D.C. == References ==