Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927)
“I have an inalienable, constitutional and natural right to love whom I love.”
It’s 1872 and Victoria Woodhull wages a presidential campaign. Wait. That can’t be right. True, but a loophole allowed her to add her name to the ballot even though she wasn’t old enough to legally hold the office. She was the kind of woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer. She lost, of course, but not before raising awareness to women’s rights, even if she had to spend a night in jail. In addition to being the first woman to run for president she was also the first woman to address The House of Judicial Congress when she argued that women had already won the right to vote when the country passed the 14th and 15th amendments.
Amazing, no? But it wasn’t until 2016 that a monument to honor her accomplishments was erected. Well, it wasn’t exactly a monument or even a proper statue but an eye-catching addition to a bell clock tower that sits atop the west side wall of the Robbins Hunter Museum in Homer, Ohio. Every hour a replica of Victoria Woodhull pops out of the grand clock to say hello (don’t even think cuckoo clock!). Victoria, whip smart and full of charisma, wakes up the world every hour on the hour with this eminent message: Wake up everyone. It’s time for a woman president.
Why should we listen to her? Here’s what we know so far about her. She wasn’t born into high society although she became upwardly mobile due to multiple marriages. Some people who were jealous of her success called her a gold digger. Other naysayers called her “Mrs. Satan” and “Impudent Witch.” Tsk, tsk. But that didn’t stop her. In 1868, she met Cornelius Vanderbilt after he hired her as his “spiritual advisor.” Mr. Vanderbilt, whom some claimed became entangled romantically entangled with her sister, helped the sisters to create a weekly pamphlet where they discussed unpopular topics such as birth control, free love, divorce, and women’s rights. She and her sister even organized the first Equal Rights Party. Then the two women, along with Mr. Vanderbilt’s assistance, started a business and became the first women stock brokers. Some naysayers referred to the sisters as “Bewitching Brokers” But the joke was on the spoiled sports – in their first six weeks of business, the duo reportedly made 13 million dollars (in today’s net worth). By the time Ms. Woodhull ran for president, she had some cash to spend and ran on issues that all Americans needed: regulations of monopolies, 8-hour workdays, fair taxation and welfare for the poor. Nonetheless, she lost. But she made history as well-behaved women never do. After she lost the election, she moved to England where she ended up suing a British Museum for libel. But with her strong will, intelligence, and perseverance she prospered. You just can’t keep a good women down.
It’s hard to believe that this remarkable women was almost erased from history. To find out more about Ms. Woodhull, there’s lots of resources you can explore such as, The Improbable Victoria Woodhull by Eden Collinswoeth; a NY Times article, Victorious, by Jennifer Szalai; numerous websites such as savingplaces.org/stories/meet-Victoria; robbinshunter.org/news and You Tube clips, such as (Ohio History Connection/Victoria Woodhull: Pioneering Women’s Rights and Presidential Aspirations)
Last words from Victoria: “If Congress refuses to listen to and grant what women want, what is left to pursue but to became the “mother of future government?” VW
It’s 2026, 154 years since Victoria put her hand in the ring, and so far only a few women have been on the ticket for President of the United States. That could all change in 2028.
Women. Wake up! Now is the time to change the world. Become the “mother of future government.”