Women political pioneers

Women have run for the presidency before. Some people may stretch their memories to the 1984 election when the Democratic Party featured Geraldine Ferraro as a running mate to Walter Mondale. Reagan’s landslide victory may have dulled the significance of a female vice presidential candidate.

However, go back a little further.

The 1972 Democratic and 1964 Republican primaries should be highlighted as major benchmarks in piercing the glass ceiling and enabling women to run for the executive office. The candidates were Shirley Chisholm and Margaret Chase Smith, and while they were not elected president, each offered a sincere if not cogent reflection of politics during their time.

In 1968, Chisholm overcame steep odds to become the first African American woman elected to Congress. However, she faced challenges. As a rookie U.S. representative, she was assigned to the House Agriculture Committee. This appointment did not sit well with her, since she represented a predominantly urban district.

Yet through determination and ability to navigate the political landscape, she was able to work her way up to the prestigious Education and Labor Committee. Just three years later she announced her candidacy to run for president for the Democratic Party.

Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman to run for president and first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. It would be a tough task, but she did it as she stated “in spite of hopeless odds ... to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.” She did not have deep pockets and began her campaign with just $300,000, which limited the impact of her campaign.

In the end, she did not win any primaries, but she did win delegates, including 23 in Ohio. Her best showing was in California, where she received 157,000 votes or 4 percent of the total. She would finish in fourth place behind eventual nominee George McGovern.

Just eight years prior, Margaret Chase Smith had become the first woman to run in a Republican primary. Her husband’s death in 1940 propelled her to run for a House seat. She served nine years before successfully running for the Senate.

Chase-Smith would be the first woman to serve in both houses. Her 1950 Declaration of Conscience speech railed against Senator Joe McCarthy’s interrogation of people associated with communist activities. She felt McCarthy’s inquiries were counterproductive, as she stated: “Those of who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism, the right to criticize, the right to hold unpopular beliefs, the right to protest, and the right to independent thought.”

Chase-Smith targeted 1964 as the year to run. This was a difficult time for the country, especially with the recent assassination of President Kennedy. In January 1964 before the Woman’s National Press Club, she announced her candidacy to run for the Oval Office. She stated there were a lot more reasons for her to run for office than accept the beliefs that “no woman should ever aspire to the White House.”

Chase-Smith, like Chisholm, may have had the right idea to enter the political primaries, but she did not employ the best means to ensure success. Chase-Smith’s campaign had no press bus, no advance team, no headquarters, no chartered planes and no rallies. Her tepid approach, shadowed by her continued dedication to Senate responsibilities, stalled any serious presidential advancement.

Ultimately both Chisholm and Chase-Smith challenged the status quo, spoke up with conviction and made important inroads for women to run for president. Chisholm’s campaign slogan of “unbought and unbossed” is a reminder for all candidates that the public good traverses personal benefit.

Chase-Smith took on one some of the toughest and most entrenched people in Congress. Do any of the candidates offer such resolve? What is clear is that these trailblazers have a special place in our nation’s political discourse. They opened doors which removed the stubborn glass panel and made this election possible.

This story was originally published August 14, 2016 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Women political pioneers."