FALL 2024 ISSUE - Flipbook - Page 32
Aiming High: Women Pursuing the
Presidency (Google Arts & Culture)
M
a n y
women in the past have sought to become
President of the United States. A number
of them received national attention, either
as pioneers in the electoral process, as
potential candidates, or as candidates of
minor parties with a signiocant national
presence. As early as the late 1800s, a very
small group of women were challenging
the status quo by asserting their right to
run for President at the same time that
women were struggling to secure the right
to vote. Women onally gained the right to
vote in 1920, although the nation has yet to
elect a woman president.
Victoria Woodhull (1872): Amongst
this group of women In 1872, Victoria
Woodhull, a stockbroker, publisher, and
protégé of Cornelius Vanderbilt, ran for
president of the United States on the
Equal Rights Party ticket. At the time, she
was only thirty-three years old, too young
to meet the constitutionally-mandated
age requirement of thirty-ove for the
presidency.
Balva Lockwood (1884), Belva Lockwood,
the orst woman admitted to practice law
before the U.S Supreme Court, ran for
president on the Equal Rights Party
Ticket in 1884 and again in 1888. Unlike
Woodhull, Lockwood ran a full campaign
for the presidency, although she did not
expect to win.
Margaret Chase Smith (1964), In (1964)
US Senator Smith (R-ME) was nominated
for the presidency by Vermont Sen.
George Aiken at the Republican national
convention, becoming the orst woman
whose name was placed in nomination for
the presidency at a major party9s convention.
Smith had established a record as a brave
and independent lawmaker, the orst to
publicly denounce Sen. Joseph McCarthy
from the Senate noor for his attacks on
people he labeled as Communists.
Shirley Chisholm (1972), In 1972,
Congresswoman Chisholm ran for
president in the Democratic primaries. She
won one primary -- a