Madam President, Revised Edition: Women Blazing the Leadership Trail

by Clift,Eleanor

• ISBN13: 9780415934329
• ISBN10: 041593432X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2003-02-07
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The first Madam President will be sworn in sooner than most people think. But the gender gap in politics is still shockingly broad, say two of America's most readable political commentators in this "timely look at the nation's sputtering efforts to envision a woman in America's top job."(The Boston Globe). Charting the transformation of women's power in American politics from the first female presidential candidate (Victoria Woodhull in 1872) to the shattered presidential hopes of Shirley Chisholm and Elizabeth Dole, Madam President presents tales of passion, determination, set-backs, and triumph from nearly all national women politicians and most leading state politicians "in the pipeline." With insight garnered from years on the Washington political scene and candid interviews with leading politicians like Christine Todd Whitman and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Clift and Brazaitis explain why the barriers to women are still formidable: There are only 3 female governors (one of the best routes tothe White House) and at the current rate it will take 250 years before there are as many women Senators and Representatives as men. A forward-looking, savvy analysis of women in politics,Madam Presidentgives the first inside look at how America's female politicians got there, stayed there, and what it will take for them to make it to the presidency.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why Not a Woman?	vii
Getting Organized	1	(28)
Women Raising Money for Women: The Creation of Emily's List	29	(16)
Women Running and Winning: The Post-Ferraro Babies	45	(22)
Competing to Win Elective Office: The Obstacles Women Face	67	(26)
The 2000 Election: No Women Wanted	93	(42)
Senator Clinton	135	(28)
Go West, Young Woman	163	(16)
The Governor Gap	179	(28)
The Un-Kennedy	207	(20)
Governor Swift: A Cautionary Tale	227	(12)
Careful and Cautious	239	(12)
Women in the House	251	(36)
Hurrying History	287	(28)
Coda. A How-to for Women	315	(8)
Source Notes	323	(8)
Index	331