By The Associated Press

The official portrait of the late U.S. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was unveiled Tuesday in Washington, giving her a spot in the Capitol where portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other famous Americans hang.

The oil-on-canvas portrait of the Skowhegan native was painted by Ronald Frontin of Thomaston. It depicts Smith at the height of her career, seen with her signature pearls and red rose.

Smith served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1940 to 1948 and in the Senate from 1948 until 1972, when she was defeated for re-election. She was the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress, and the first woman to be nominated for the presidency when she received 27 nominating votes at the 1964 Republican convention.

Smith died in 1995 at the age of 97.

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, along with Sens. Ted Stevens of Alaska, Bill Frist of Tennessee and Harry Reid of Nevada, spoke at the unveiling.

Snowe said Smith was credited with many firsts for women: the first to serve on the Armed Services Committee, first to serve as a ranking member of a congressional committee and first to break the sound barrier in an Air Force F-100F Super Sabre jet.

“It is no wonder, then, that she inspired millions of young girls and became a role model for millions more women across America who never before thought they could aspire to any kind of public office,” Snowe said. “Cited as one of the top 10 most admired women in the world in a Gallup Poll of that time, Margaret Chase Smith – through her talents, abilities and energies – was a living testimony to the possibilities that exist for women in America.”

The painting will hang on the third floor of the Capitol, sharing a hallway with former Sens. James Eastland and Blanche Kelso Bruce.

The Senate Commission on Art approved the Smith portrait in an effort to enhance the Senate collection of paintings of women who served in the Senate with distinction. Frontin was chosen to paint the portrait from among 30 applicants.

A portrait of former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell of Maine was unveiled earlier this year as part of the Leadership Portrait Collection honoring Mitchell’s work as Senate majority leader from 1989 until 1995. The Senate established the collection in 1999 to honor majority leaders.