Meet the first woman to run for president in the US
Source: The Hill
The first woman to formally declare herself a candidate for president of the United States did not build a national campaign or make a splash in debates. In fact, when Victoria Woodhull ran for office in 1872, she could not even vote for herself.
Woodhull, an unconventional social reformer who advocated for “free love” and women’s suffrage, was nominated to run for president by the newly established Equal Rights Party. Her run came decades before the ratification of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote.
Born Victoria Claflin, she came from humble roots in Homer, Ohio. She received essentially no formal education, though she and her sister Tennessee Claflin worked as traveling medical clairvoyants.
Woodhull fell ill at the age of 14 and eventually married the man who treated her, Canning Woodhull, when she was 15. He was her first of three husbands, one who didn’t bother to stop womanizing.
“She was fully aware at that time that there were men who had affairs like her husband and women were just stuck,” said Teri Finneman, an associate professor in the University of Kansas’s school of journalism and author of “Press Portrayals of Women Politicians.” “She found that to be grossly unfair and hypocritical, and that would help to greatly influence her views during the campaign.”
Click here to read the full article published by The Hill on 28 September 2020.
The first woman to formally declare herself a candidate for president of the United States did not build a national campaign or make a splash in debates. In fact, when Victoria Woodhull ran for office in 1872, she could not even vote for herself.
Woodhull, an unconventional social reformer who advocated for “free love” and women’s suffrage, was nominated to run for president by the newly established Equal Rights Party. Her run came decades before the ratification of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote.
Born Victoria Claflin, she came from humble roots in Homer, Ohio. She received essentially no formal education, though she and her sister Tennessee Claflin worked as traveling medical clairvoyants.
Woodhull fell ill at the age of 14 and eventually married the man who treated her, Canning Woodhull, when she was 15. He was her first of three husbands, one who didn’t bother to stop womanizing.
“She was fully aware at that time that there were men who had affairs like her husband and women were just stuck,” said Teri Finneman, an associate professor in the University of Kansas’s school of journalism and author of “Press Portrayals of Women Politicians.” “She found that to be grossly unfair and hypocritical, and that would help to greatly influence her views during the campaign.”
Click here to read the full article published by The Hill on 28 September 2020.
