And as somebody who was a pioneer at Harvard Law School, she s keenly aware of how times have changed since she began this journey, he adds. Women in leadership positions have come a long way. Besides serving as secretary for two Cabinet-level agencies, Dole headed the American Red Cross for eight years. The nation s top diplomat, Secretary of State Madeline Albright, is a woman, as is its top law enforcement official, Attorney General Janet Reno. Both positions had been viewed as traditional male roles.
Women hold the top five government positions in the state of Arizona.
But one could look at the numbers from another perspective. Here, at the end of the 20th century, the nation has only three female governors and only nine women U.S. senators. Only a handful of women would be looked on as credible candidates for president, Mandel says. And even though 82 percent said they d vote for a woman for president in 1987, there were still 18 percent who would not. There s always going to be a small percentage of people, Mandel said earlier in an interview with Politics Daily, who are going to be unwilling to vote for the first woman, the first African-American, the first Latino whatever it is who are not comfortable with change.