On Presidents’ Day, we reflect on the legacy of the presidents who have led our nation since our founding. These leaders have differed in their ideologies, their policies, their professional experience, their age, their marital status. But in over 230 years of United States presidents, not one of them has been a woman.
Author: Cynthia Richie Terrell
Cynthia Richie Terrell is the founder and executive director of RepresentWomen and a founding board member of the ReflectUS coalition of non-partisan women’s representation organizations. Terrell is an outspoken advocate for innovative rules and systems reforms to advance women’s representation and leadership in the United States. Terrell and her husband Rob Richie helped to found FairVote—a nonpartisan champion of electoral reforms that give voters greater choice, a stronger voice and a truly representative democracy. Terrell has worked on projects related to women's representation, voting system reform and democracy in the United States and abroad.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Remembering the First Black Woman to Run for President; Teenage Girls Are in Crisis
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: We honor Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to become a member of U.S. Congress and to run for president; teenage girls are increasingly “engulfed in a growing wave of violence and trauma”; Scotland’s leader Nicola Sturgeon will be stepping down; and more.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: The Legacies of Black Women Leaders in Law and Politics; Stacey Abrams ‘Will Likely Run Again’
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: The state of representation in Congress; meet Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s State of the Union guest; the legacies of Black women leaders in law and politics; Stacey Abrams “will likely run again”; and more.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Women in Congress Lead Committees That Control U.S. Spending; Celebrating Suffragists of Color
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: The leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are all women, as is the top White House budget official—the first-ever all-women team to lead the congressional committees that control government spending; new research about women of color involved in the suffrage movement; the power of knitting; and more.
Men Should Think Twice When Entering a Race With Strong Women Candidates Already—Starting With Adam Schiff
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has not yet announced her retirement, but that hasn’t stopped fellow Democrats from vying for her seat. After building a massive war chest over the past few years, Rep. Adam Schiff has announced his candidacy. But just because he can run doesn’t mean he should.
Ranked-Choice Voting Is on the Rise—From the Academy Awards to the Texas Legislature
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: Academy Award nominations used multi-winner, proportional ranked-choice voting; Columbia University names its first woman president; some members of the New York City Council continue to have questions about ranked-choice voting, despite its giving voters more voice and more choice; and more.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: 14 States Consider Ranked-Choice Voting; NZ’s Jacinda Ardern Resigns; Massachusetts Gets Its First Black Woman AG
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: 14 states have already introduced bills proposing ranked-choice voting; New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s resignation reminds us of the structural barriers women in public office face; Massachusetts has sworn in its first Black woman attorney general; Aruna Miller becomes Maryland’s first woman of color lieutenant governor; and more.
‘Historic’ 118th Congress Still Not Reflective of the U.S. Population
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: Colorado’s 74th General Assembly has the largest number of women legislators in history; women make up more than half the U.S. population and less than one-third of Congress; Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) announced her run for Senate; women lawmakers have been more likely to sponsor bills focused on women’s health, and more involved in policy debates addressing gender equity; and more.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: How the House Speaker Delay Hinders Democracy; Two Women Are Now First and Second in Line for U.S. Presidency
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: as the House begins its fourth day of speaker voting, a reminder that ranked-choice voting could save time and energy; Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has been elected president pro-tempore, making her third in line to the presidency; the percentage of women in Congress is just 27.9 percent; and more.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Georgia Considers Ranked-Choice Voting, Not Runoffs; Biden Confirms Most Women Judges in History
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: Feminist icon Dorothy Pitman Hughes was a critical voice for issues of race, class and motherhood; Georgia could save voters and taxpayers time, energy and money with ranked-choice voting, rather than runoffs; South Korea’s new president is trying to end the Gender Equality Ministry; remembering feminist icon Dorothy Pitman Hughes; and more.