Test Your Knowledge of These Female Firsts in Politics

A constitutional law expert, Mary Robinson served as Ireland’s first female president from 1990 to 1997. She helped modernize her nation’s image on the world stage and became an advocate for humanitarian and civil rights. In 1997, after her tenure as president ended, Robinson became head of the United Nations’ Human Rights Office.

In 1969, Golda Meir became Israel’s first female prime minister and the Middle East’s first female head of state. Born in what is now Ukraine and raised in America, Meir was a committed Zionist and played a key role in the creation of the state of Israel. Despite efforts to improve relations with Arab nations, her premiership saw the outbreak of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and she resigned in 1974.

Carol Mosely Braun came to the Senate as part of the “Year of the Woman,” a 1992 election that saw an unprecedented number of women elected to office. Representing Illinois, Moseley Braun served one term, losing reelection after controversies eroded her popularity. She later served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.

In 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected governor of Wyoming, succeeding her recently deceased husband. She served only one term but became an influential player in the Democratic Party. In 1933, Ross became the first female director of the U.S. Mint, and served in the high-ranking governmental position for 20 years.

In 1916, Montana’s Jeanette Rankin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, four years before American women won the right to vote. Rankin served one term but was reelected in 1940 for an additional term. A committed pacifist, Rankin paid a political price for her beliefs when she voted against America’s entry into both world wars.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike famously became the world’s first female Prime Minister on July 21, 1960. She served three non-consecutive terms and was best known for her address to the United Nations in 1971, calling for the establishment of a Peace Zone in the Indian Ocean.

During the 1984 presidential campaign, the Democratic Party pushed for a woman to run as Vice President with presidential nominee Walter Frederick Mondale. The incumbent, President Ronald Regan, would go on to win the election, but Ferraro still inspired women and men around the country during her campaign.

In 1887, Susanna Salter became the first female mayor in U.S. history when she won the mayoral election in Argonia, Kansas. It was an unlikely victory: As a vocal supporter of Prohibition, Salter was placed on the mayoral ballot without her knowledge by Prohibition opponents hoping to discredit the pro-temperance group. To their shock, she won in a landslide.

When Victoria Woodhull ran for President in 1872, women didn’t yet have the right to vote, and she was below the legal age to hold the office. Many suffragettes even distanced themselves from her. What’s more, Woodhull nominated abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass as her running mate — a bold but unsuccessful move. Though Douglass did not agree to join the ticket, the daring campaign paved the way for many women after her.

The first woman appointed to the United States Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia in 1922. But it wasn't until 1993 that California became the first state to have two concurrent female senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. Boxer served until 2017, while Feinstein is still in the senate today.

The presidential cabinet has long been dominated by men, but in 1933, Frances Perkins became the very first woman to break the cabinet’s glass ceiling. Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Perkins to the Secretary of Labor post, where she served for more than 10 years. She fought to limit employment of underage children, and to institute a maximum workweek, minimum wage, and unemployment compensation.

The first democratically elected female President was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland. She narrowly won the 1980 election, beating three male candidates, and went on to be reelected three times before retiring from the position in 1996.

The first Asian American woman and the first woman of color elected to the House of Representatives, Patsy Mink represented Hawaii from 1965 to 1977 and again from 1991 until her death in 2002. A tireless champion of women’s rights, Mink played a key role in the passage of Title IX, which ensured equal access and funding for women’s education, including school and college sports programs.

The first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton, a Georgia Democrat. She took the oath of office on November 21, 1922, but only served 24 hours in the role. Her position was symbolic in nature: At the time, Felton was 87 years old and had served in the state's political and journalism scene for decades, and the position was awarded in recognition of her work.

Victoria Woodhull made history by becoming the first female candidate for President in 1872. Running against President Ulysses S. Grant as an Equal Rights Party candidate, Woodhull stood tall on a platform of progressive reforms in the workplace and beyond, despite most women not even having the right to vote until 1920.

Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and others, the July 1848 Seneca Falls Convention launched the women’s suffrage movement. The two-day conference drew more than 300 attendees and became notable for Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments, a manifesto based on the Declaration of Independence that called for equality of civil, political, and social rights for women.

Janet Reno built a successful decades-long judicial career in her native Florida before being tapped by President Bill Clinton for the post of attorney general in 1993. Reno’s tenure featured a number of high-profile cases, including the Oklahoma City bombing, the Unabomber, and the raid on cult leader David Koresh’s compound in Waco, Texas, which brought her both criticism and praise.

A Stanford Law graduate, Sandra Day O’Connor initially struggled to find work as an attorney due to discriminatory hiring practices of the era, but she persevered and rose through the judicial ranks in her native Arizona. After her nomination to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan, O’Connor was unanimously confirmed and became a key swing vote in several cases before retiring in 2006.

More than 70 years after the Seneca Falls Convention, the 19th Amendment gave American women the right to vote. Legislation proposing women’s suffrage was first introduced in Congress in 1878, launching a decades-long struggle. Many Western states adopted suffrage amendments, but organizers kept pushing for national voting rights. The 19th Amendment was passed in 1919 and ratified in 1920.

Nominated in 1996 by President Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright was the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state. She served for four years and was the highest-ranking female official in the nation's history at the time. This distinction lifted the "glass ceiling," helping pave the way for more female leaders in the government.