Significant “Firsts” for Women in U.S. Politics

Here is a list of Significant Firsts for Women in the USA-

• 1869 Law allows women to vote in Wyoming territory; Utah follows suit in 1870.
• 1872First woman to run for the presidency (Victoria Woodhull) represents the Equal Rights party.
• 1917 First woman elected to the House of Representatives (Jeannette Rankin of Montana).
• 1924First women elected state governors (Nellie Taylor Ross of Wyoming and Miriam Ferguson of Texas); both followed their husbands into office. First woman to have her name placed in nomination for vice-presidency at the convention of a major political party (Lena Jones Springs).
• 1931First woman to serve in the Senate (Hattie Caraway of Arkansas); completed the term of her husband upon his death and won reelection in 1932.
• 1932 First woman appointed to the presidential cabinet (Frances Perkins, secretary of labor in the cabinet of President Franklin D. Roosevelt).
• 1964First woman to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency at the convention of a major political party (Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican).
• 1972First African American woman to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency at the convention of a major political party (Shirley Chisholm, a Democrat).
• 1981 First woman appointed to the US Supreme court (Sandra Day O’Connor).
• 1984 First woman to be successfully nominated for the vice-presidency (Geraldine Ferraro, a Democrat).
• 1988First woman chief executive to be elected to a consecutive third term (Madeleine Kunin, governor of Vermont).
• 1992Political “Year of the Woman” yields record number of women in the Senate (six) and the House (forty-eight), as well as (1) first African American woman to win election the U.S. Senate (Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois). (2) first state (California) to be served by two women senators (Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein). and (3) first woman of Puerto Rican descent elected to the House (Nydia Valasquez of New York).
• 1996First woman appointed secretary of state (Madeleine Albright).
• 2000Record number of women in the Senate (thirteen) and the House (fifty-nine).
• 2000First “First Lady” to win elected political office (Hillary Rodham Clinton, senator from New York).