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The Growing Influence of Women in U.S. Political Decision Making

Home » The Growing Influence of Women in U.S. Political Decision Making
Date(s)Accomplishment
1869-1919National Women’s Suffrage Organization works to secure the voting rights for all women.
1916Jeannette Rankin (R-Montana) is elected to the House of Representatives. Women in most states were not allowed to vote, but a woman could be elected to national office.
1920On February 14, the 19th Amendment is passed, granting women the right to vote.
1920The League of Women Voters is formed under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt and Maude Woods Park, taking up the task of registering women as voters and training them about voting procedures. They intended to complete their work and dissolve within a few years.
1922Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-Georgia) becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
1923The League of Women Voters convenes a Pan-American Conference of Women, challenging the women of Latin America to exert their influence and gain the voting right.
1964Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the Presidency at a major party convention.
1980Gender-Gap issue awareness begins to receive noticeable importance among politicians and pollsters
1981Sandra Day O’Connor is appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States
1984Geraldine Ferraro is selected as the Vice Presidential candidate by the Democratic Party.
2002Jeanette Bradley becomes the first African American woman to be elected to statewide office in Ohio, and also becomes the first African American woman in the US to be elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor.
2005Condoleezza Rice becomes the first African American woman to serve as the US Secretary of State.
2006A record 71 women are elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and 16 women elected to the Senate
2007Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives
2010Maureen O’Connor becomes the first woman elected to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio.
2016Hillary Rodham Clinton is the first woman to accept the nomination for the Presidency by one of the two major political parties at their convention.
2020Kamala Harris becomes the first woman and first person of color elected to serve as Vice President.
2024Women occupy 28.2% of the US Congress, 31.9% of statewide elected executive offices, and 32.9% of seats in state legislatures, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.