By 1807, the Garden State followed suit. Two years later, women in Utah were given back the right to vote, only to have it taken away seven years later. It was during this turbulent period, in 1892, that the first woman, Victoria Woodhull, attempted a bid for the Oval Office. There are no recorded votes for her presidency. Which is why, says former governor of Massachusetts and onetime presidential candidate Michael Dukakis , we shouldn't be surprised that a woman hasn't yet been president.
Interest needs to develop and the pool needs to get bigger.
Nancy Gruver MPA 1996, publisher of New Moon and HUES magazines, agrees. Women need the experience of holding elected office and voters need the experience of being governed by women. According to Rutger University's Center for American Women and Politics , at the end of the 1998 elections, women held only 11.8 percent of congressional seats and 25.7 percent of statewide elective executive offices. This is a problem, say some, because these offices often serve as the starting point for future presidents. It would be much easier to go through the process of running for president if you had already gone through it for a different political office.