Women and politics: We’ve come a long way

A brief history of women in politics

- There have been 35 women in the U.S. Senate since the establishment of that body in 1789.
  
- In 1917 Jeanette Rankin, a Republican from Montana, became the first woman in  Congress upon being elected to the House.

- In the early days following the legalization of national women’s suffrage, most women elected to Congress were chosen as replacements for deceased husbands, called "widow’s succession."

- Women were granted the right to vote on Aug. 26, 1920.  

- The first woman in the Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton, who served for one day in 1922.

- Hattie Caraway became the first woman to win election to the Senate in 1930.

- In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro  became the first woman to run on a major party’s national ticket. She was  Walter Mondale’s vice presidential selection.

-  The senatorial representation of three states (California, Washington and Maine) is entirely female.

- In the Senate, there are 16 women, the highest number in history – Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.,  Maria Cantwell, D-Wash; Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Mary Landrieu, D-La; Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark; Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.,  Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Ark.; Patty Murray, D-Wash; Olympia Snowe, R-Maine; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

The Patriot Ledger