Gabrielle Giffords is a former Arizona congresswoman who made headlines when she became the victim of an assassination attempt, from which she later recovered. Born in Arizona in 1970, Gabrielle Giffords worked as an urban planner before winning election to the Arizona State House of Representatives in 2002. She was elected to U.S. Congress in 2007—only the third Arizona woman to do so. Giffords was the victim of an assassination attempt in 2011. She recovered in time to see her husband command the last flight of the space shuttle Endeavor, and to vote on the debt-ceiling bill, before resigning from Congress in 2012.
