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Women Running For President
Jan. 20th, 2009 08:49 amIn this past election there was a lot of talk about women in the White House, and most of that seemed to revolve around Hilary Clinton being the first woman nominated for President and Sarah Palin being the first Republican woman nominated for Vice President, with mention of course about how the Democrats beat the Republicans to nominating a woman for VP when they nominated Geraldine Ferraro.
Hilary Clinton was not the first woman nominated for President. Not by a long shot. She may have been the first woman nominated by a "major party" for President, but the claim that she is the first woman nominated for President shows how deeply entrenched our nation is in the two-party system, to the point where we forget important history.
The first woman to run for President was Victoria Woodhull in 1872, a suffragist nominated by the Equal Rights Party. She chose as her running mate Frederick Douglass, a former slave and first African-American nominee for Vice President.
She was followed in 1884 by fellow Equal Rights Party nominee Belva Lockwood, a lobbyist for suffrage and temperance. Before running for President as the Equal Rights Party candidate she also went to school for law and had to convince the school to give her a diploma even after passing her classes. She then had to make the case for admission into bar. Then she had to lobby Congress to change legislation so she could become the first woman to practice before the Supreme Court.She chose Marietta Stow, editor of Woman's Herald of Industry, as her running mate.
Because of changes to the election laws that created a barrier for candidates, it wasn't until 1964 that women received any votes, whether in the election or a primary. From 1964 until this past election, women have received votes in every election either in a primary or the general election. With the exception of 2004, there have been women receiving votes in every general election for the office of President starting in 1968.
Here's an interesting article about women running for President, and you can also find a list of references used to compile the information for the article at the bottom of the page. It's a very fascinating read.
Hilary Clinton was not the first woman nominated for President. Not by a long shot. She may have been the first woman nominated by a "major party" for President, but the claim that she is the first woman nominated for President shows how deeply entrenched our nation is in the two-party system, to the point where we forget important history.
The first woman to run for President was Victoria Woodhull in 1872, a suffragist nominated by the Equal Rights Party. She chose as her running mate Frederick Douglass, a former slave and first African-American nominee for Vice President.
She was followed in 1884 by fellow Equal Rights Party nominee Belva Lockwood, a lobbyist for suffrage and temperance. Before running for President as the Equal Rights Party candidate she also went to school for law and had to convince the school to give her a diploma even after passing her classes. She then had to make the case for admission into bar. Then she had to lobby Congress to change legislation so she could become the first woman to practice before the Supreme Court.She chose Marietta Stow, editor of Woman's Herald of Industry, as her running mate.
Because of changes to the election laws that created a barrier for candidates, it wasn't until 1964 that women received any votes, whether in the election or a primary. From 1964 until this past election, women have received votes in every election either in a primary or the general election. With the exception of 2004, there have been women receiving votes in every general election for the office of President starting in 1968.
Here's an interesting article about women running for President, and you can also find a list of references used to compile the information for the article at the bottom of the page. It's a very fascinating read.
