Reading Strategies practice

The Long Road to Putting a Woman in the White House

1 It would take 44 years after American women won the vote in 1920 for a major party to

seriously consider nominating a woman presidential candidate. And it would be another 44 before a

woman could be called a legitimate contender for the highest office in the land.

2 Republicans made history in 1964 when Margaret Chase Smith was among the party’s potential

nominees. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1940 to fill the unexpired term of her late

husband, Smith went on to serve four more terms in the House and four in the Senate. She came to

national prominence in 1950 when, in a speech on the Senate floor, she denounced the “fear,

ignorance, bigotry, and smear” campaigns being waged by Sen. Joseph McCarthy. The party’s

eventual 1964 nominee, “Mr. Conservative” Barry Goldwater, was trounced by Lyndon Johnson in

the general election.

3 In 1972 Shirley Chisholm, the first black congresswoman, became the first black woman to seek

the nomination of a major party. Running as a Democrat under the slogan “Unbought and Unbossed,”

Chisholm finished fourth in a field of 20 candidates at the party’s convention. The nomination went to

George McGovern who lost to Richard Nixon in a landslide.

4 The most notable presidential hopefuls since Chisholm were Democrat Pat Schroeder in 1988,

Republican Elizabeth Dole in 2000 and Democrat Carol Moseley Braun in 2004. All three had long

records of public service, and Dole had already held two Cabinet positions—Secretary of

Transportation under Ronald Reagan and Secretary of Labor under George H.W. Bush.

English 11 2nd semester exam Page 13 of 28

5 Schroeder, Dole and Moseley Braun all dropped out before the primaries, in part because of the

difficulty they had raising campaign funds. But their candidacies indicated that public opinion was

changing. It was only a matter of time until a woman had a real chance at becoming president of the

United States.

6 Sen. Hillary Clinton entered the presidential race in 2008. Clinton advanced further than any other

woman in a presidential contest as she vied against Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic

presidential nomination.

What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Women have little hope of ever becoming president.

B. Women make better presidential candidates than men.

C. Women must increase their participation in Congress before running for president.

D. Women have made significant strides in competing for the presidential nomination.