This post is one of a series of posts in observance of Women’s History Month.

In 1949 — and in the first question of its kind — Gallup asked people whether they would consider voting for a woman for vice president. That year, 53 percent said they would, but 43 percent would not. It is hard to know what prompted the question, as we had yet to see a woman rise to the top echelons of politics. In 1949, Eleanor Roosevelt was selected as the most admired living woman — today, that honor goes to Michelle Obama. Margaret Chase Smith, who won a House seat in 1940 and later a Senate seat in 1949, was the first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate. In 1964, she was the first woman whose name was placed in nomination for president at a major party’s convention. Perhaps the pollster was thinking of her.

In a 1971 Louis Harris survey for Virginia Slims, 43
percent said it would make no difference to them if a male presidential
candidate picked a woman as vice president. Meanwhile, 21 percent said it would
make them more likely to vote for the ticket, and a significant 25 percent said
they would be less likely to do so.     

When Walter Mondale selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in 1984, she became the first female major-party vice presidential nominee. In response to a Gallup/Newsweek poll from July 1984, 55 percent of registered voters said she was about as qualified as previous VPs, 10 percent better qualified, and 22 percent not as well qualified. When CBS News and The New York Times surveyed people who indicated they had voted in the 1984 election, 58 percent said what Ferraro said and did in the 1984 campaign would help other women’s chances to get elected to higher office, and 29 percent said her actions would make no difference. Only 10 percent said it would hurt them.

Kamala Harris began this year with a 53 percent
favorable rating in Gallup’s poll, a score identical to Joe Biden’s when he
became Barack Obama’s VP in 2009. Perhaps this is a sign that her gender has
neither a positive nor a negative impact on how Americans view her.

The post Women making history: A woman for vice president? appeared first on American Enterprise Institute – AEI.