This is a historic moment in American history and feminist history, regardless of the outcome of the next presidential election. Even if a woman is facing an unprecedented challenge in this year’s presidential race, women’s participation in government is still appalling in the current political environment. Women still make up fewer than 20% of the National Congress and barely 25% of state legislature seats nationwide.
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady (1815–1902)
Throughout her life, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an ardent campaigner and is recognized as one of the pioneers of the women’s rights movement. She was initially involved in the abolitionist movement, but after being denied access to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840, she and the other female delegates were motivated to shift their focus to women’s rights.
She called the Seneca Falls assembly in 1848, where participants drafted their “Declaration of Sentiments,” which demanded the right to vote for women among other things.
Woodhull, Victoria (1838–1927)
Similar to Stanton, Woodhull never held public office, but her goals were a little higher: she was the first woman to run for president in 1872, nearly 50 years before women were granted the right to vote. By that time, she had previously pursued a variety of careers, including those as a stockbroker who founded the first brokerage firm managed by women, a clairvoyant for the Spiritualist movement, and the publisher of a radical weekly journal.
She had spoken to Congress about women’s suffrage and founded the Equal Rights Party to promote more rights for women before she announced her candidacy for president.
1860s Susanna Salter (1961)
Susanna Salter became the first female mayor and elected to a political post in the United States when she was chosen to serve as mayor of Argonia, Kansas in 1887. Salter’s campaign began as a cruel joke by a group of men in her town who were out to destroy the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), despite being a significant historical event. The organization was established in 1883, the year Kansas granted women the ability to vote in local elections, with the intention of upholding the state’s proscription laws. A few men in the town developed an identical list, with the exception that Salter was running for mayor, when Argonia’s WCTU approved an all-male list of pro-temperance candidates for the 1887 election.
The men had selected Salter because she was the only WCTU candidate who qualified as a local resident, and they believed that only the most radical members of the organization would ever support a woman. Salter announced she would serve if elected, even though she was unaware she was running, and leading Republicans in the community chose to back her in an effort to silence the anti-temperance clowns. With more than two-thirds of the vote, she ultimately prevailed.
Rankin, Jeannette (1880–1973)
Although a number of women succeeded Susanna Salter in state-level roles, it wasn’t until 1916 that a woman was elected to the federal government, as Representative Jeannette from Montana did. Even though Rankin was elected four years before the 19th Amendment was passed, she declared, “I may be the first woman member of Congress, but I won’t be the last,” after being elected.
As promised, she established the Committee of Woman Suffrage in her first term in office and was the only member of Congress to vote against both World War I and World War II.
Ross, Nellie Tayloe (1876–1977)
The first woman to hold the post of state governor was Nellie Tayloe Ross, who led Wyoming as governor following her husband’s death in 1924. She was also the first to benefit from the “widow’s mandate,” an unofficial political custom in which a wife takes over her late husband’s position. Although there has been discussion about this practice recently, at first it made it easier for many women to enter the political arena.
Because of the close proximity of her husband’s passing to a general election, Ross was asked to run in the next election by the state Democratic Committee chairman. Many close friends, including her brother, encouraged her not go, fearing she would be perceived as too ambitious and distraught over an expected defeat.
Caraway, Hattie Wyatt (1878-1950)
As the first woman to hold a Senate seat in the United States and succeed her late husband in politics, Hattie Wyatt Caraway upheld the “widow’s mandate” tradition. She was chosen by Arkansas Governor Harvey Parnell to take over for her husband for the balance of his tenure following his death in 1931.
Parnell was considering a run for the job, and Caraway was a safe pick because it was expected that she would resign at the conclusion of her husband’s term. But when Caraway announced that she was running to keep her seat in the 1932 election, everyone was taken aback. She was able to win the seat with the assistance of her husband’s longtime friend and fellow populist senator from Louisiana, Huey Long. She held the position for two terms before losing it in 1945.
Perkins, Frances (1880–1965)
Frances Perkins became the first female member of the Executive Branch when she was appointed secretary of labor in 1933, making her the first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet. She attended Mount Holyoke for her education and worked as a biology and physics teacher before developing an interest in social reform. She relocated to New York City and attended Columbia University to obtain a master’s degree in economics and sociology.
She fought for her right to maintain her last name in court after being married in 1913 because she was determined to do so. She was appointed to the New York State Industrial Commission in 1918, held the position of commission chair in 1926, and was the secretary of the New York Consumer League in 1910 before being named to the Cabinet.
Chisholm Shirley (1924-2005)
Throughout her political career, Shirley Chisholm accomplished an astounding amount of firsts: she became the first African American congresswoman, as well as the first African American woman to compete for president and the Democratic Party’s presidential candidacy. She worked as a teacher and assembly member for New York State before deciding to run for and be elected to the House of Representatives in 1968. As a representative, she championed legislation to safeguard the rights of immigrants, increase access to education, and increase the amount of food stamps provided by the government.
She experienced discrimination on two fronts: as a woman and an African American, she revealed that she was taken aback to discover that her gender was the bigger obstacle. “I experienced more prejudice for being a woman than for being black,” she is renowned for having stated. “Men are men.”
Sandra Day O’Connor, ( 1930-)
The U.S. Supreme Court became the final branch of government to have a female member when Sandra Day O’Connor was appointed as the first woman to the position. Before enrolling as one of three female students at Stanford Law, O’Connor grew up on her family’s cattle ranch. After graduating from law school in 1952, she had trouble finding employment and temporarily worked for the county attorney of San Mateo before being married and relocating abroad with her spouse.
After a while, she relocated to Arizona, where she worked as an assistant attorney general, was elected to the Maricopa County Superior Court, and eventually rose to the rank of state senator. Ronald Reagan nominated her to the Supreme Court in 1981, two years after she was appointed to the Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly confirmed her nomination.
Ferraro Geraldine (1935–2011)
Geraldine Ferraro holds the distinction of being the first (and one of only two) woman to run for president on a major political party’s ticket, despite the fact that several women have entered presidential races. She was Walter Mondale’s vice presidential pick in 1984. Although Mondale lost the election, her candidacy showed that there was progress toward having a woman in the White House.
Prior to running for vice president, Ferraro taught in the public schools of New York. She graduated from law school in 1960 and was elected assistant district attorney for Queens County in 1974, where she established a dedicated victim’s bureau. She was chosen to serve three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives after winning election in 1978. Ferraro was a gifted public speaker and a quick study of US politics, but throughout her campaign, she ran against allegations of financial misbehavior and an extremely well-liked incumbent president.
