The Influence of Women Throughout Each Decade in the World of Politics

If you were to ask anyone in the modern day whether women have more power in the world of politics than they did a century ago, the answer seems simple and obvious; yes. Although the answer of “yes” is common and plain to see for most people, it's very easy to overlook just exactly how much progress has been made over each decade.

1920 - 1930: 1920 is widely considered as one of the most important years in women's history, as this is the year that the 19th amendment was passed. After the 19th amendment was passed, women in the US were officially allowed to vote in the presidential election, giving them a voice in politics they never had before. Throughout this decade, women continued to make their voices heard in politics by running for state legislature, mayoral races, governor positions, etc, something that hadn't been accessible to them before this time.

1930 - 1940: In this decade, women continued to forge new ground in politics, notably with Hattie Wyatt Caraway (a Democrat from Arkansas) becoming the first woman to be elected to the Senate by appointment and serving for a full two terms before stepping down.

1940 - 1950: Throughout the 40s, nothing extremely radical happened in terms of women's politics, but they continued to make strides and break boundaries. In 1948, Margaret Chase Smith (a Republican from Maine) became the first woman to be elected to the Senate without appointment, having been voted in by the people. She was also the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

1950 - 1970: In 1952, Charlotta Spears Bass became the first black woman to be nominated for vice president. Even though she ran for the progressive party and received less than 1% of the votes that year, it was still a pivotal moment for women's politics. Notably, in 1964, Margaret Chase Smith also became the first woman to be nominated for president.

1970 - 1990: In 1971, The Center for American Women and Politics was founded, which is an organization that is still intact in the modern day. The CAWP aims to conduct research and collect data about the participation of women in American politics in order to find ways to open more doors for the women who don’t currently have a way to share their voice. In 1974, we can also see the first openly gay woman run for office in the US, and she ended up winning a spot on the Michigan city council. Sandra Day O’Connor also became a prominent political figure during this time, as she was the first woman elected to the Supreme Court in 1981; only 44 years ago. 

1990 - 2010: Despite the fact that these two decades weren’t very long ago, there were still several firsts for women during this time period. Madeleine K. Albright, the previous US ambassador to the United Nations, became the first female Secretary of State for the US, a position that she held from 1997 to 2001. 2008 was also the first time that a woman was the primary candidate for the Democratic Party, with Hillary Clinton running against Barack Obama. Although Clinton didn’t win, it was still a monumental moment for women who didn’t think this could ever be possible.

2010 - present day: In 2016, Hillary Clinton once again ran for president against newcomer Donald Trump. Although Clinton ended up winning the popular vote, the electoral college ultimately fell in Trump’s favor, and Clinton lost the presidential election for the second time. History was also made in 2020 when Kamala Harris became the first woman and woman of color to be elected as Vice President of the United States. Harris also ran for president in 2024 against Donald Trump, but did not end up winning against him.

When you go through the political achievements of women decade by decade, it becomes much easier to see just how far we’ve come in just a little over a century. From giving women the right to vote in 1920 to the first female vice president being elected in 2020, the political progress we’ve made over just 100 years is clearly paramount. However, despite the progress we’ve made, there’s still so much work that needs to be done. By making the general population more aware of the struggles that women face in the political world everyday, we can ensure that all the progress we’ve made won’t stop or even reverse itself in the future as our political climate continues to shift and change.

Resources:

Center For American Women And Politics. “Milestones for Women in American Politics.” Cawp.rutgers.edu, Center for American Women and Politics, 2022, cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/milestones-women-american-politics.

“About CAWP.” Cawp.rutgers.edu, cawp.rutgers.edu/about.

Jozie Moll, Rogers, Arkansas, 12th grade, Instagram - jozie_moll