Public Support for a Female President
The lack of female presidents in the U.S. to date is not due to a lack of candidates.
Twenty women have declared their candidacy for President of the United States since the
nation’s inception, starting with New York publisher Victoria Woodhall in 1872. More notable
candidates include attorney Belva Lockwood who ran under the Equal Rights Party label in
1884; Senator Margaret Chase Smith who entered several Republican primaries in 1964; Shirley
Chisholm, a congresswoman from New York who won 151 delegates at the 1972 Democratic
Convention; and Elizabeth Dole who made a strong initial showing in the 2000 Republican
primary season. Geraldine Ferraro was nominated as vice-president on the losing Democratic
Mondale-Ferraro ticket against popular incumbent President Ronald Reagan in 1984. These
attempts to break through the ultimate glass ceiling of the White House have failed to leave even
a scratch on the tempered barrier, although public opinion polling might seem to suggest
otherwise.
Public opinion polls indicate strong support for a female president. According to some
polls, over 90 percent of Americans say they will vote for a qualified female presidential
candidate.
This number has increased steadily from 52 percent in 1955 to 73 percent in 1975
However, support drops dramatically to around 50 percent when
respondents are asked whether the country is ready for a female president, or if they think their
friends and family would vote for a female presidential candidate.
This lower level of support is
a better indicator of the actual level given the social desirability implicit in questions involving
gender. The problem of social desirability in surveys is best illustrated with surveys involving
race. For example, Sears et al. found that respondents exhibited less overt racism in responding
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