Victoria Woodhull didn't just break the glass ceiling. She basically took a sledgehammer to the entire building.
Honestly, most people assume that the first woman to run for president of the US must have been some polite, buttoned-up suffragist from the mid-1900s. You've probably heard names like Margaret Chase Smith or Shirley Chisholm thrown around in history class. But the real story starts way back in 1872. That is nearly 50 years before women even had the legal right to vote in America.
Victoria Woodhull was the candidate. She was a radical, a Wall Street broker, and a "medical clairvoyant" who believed she could talk to spirits. Her life was chaos. And her run for the presidency? Even weirder.
The Wild Rise of Victoria Woodhull
Victoria wasn't born into the elite. Not even close. She grew up in rural Ohio in a family that was, to put it mildly, a bit of a traveling circus. Her father was a suspected arsonist. She spent her childhood telling fortunes and selling "elixirs" out of the back of a wagon.
By the time she reached New York City, she had reinvented herself entirely. Along with her sister, Tennessee Claflin, she managed to charm the legendary railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. Some say she helped him contact his dead wife through séances; others say she just gave him savvy advice. Regardless, Vanderbilt helped the sisters open the first female-owned brokerage firm on Wall Street in 1870. The press called them the "Bewitching Brokers."
They were rich. They were famous. And Victoria decided that wasn't enough.
She wanted the White House.
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On April 2, 1870, she sent a letter to the New York Herald announcing her candidacy. She didn't wait for permission. She didn't ask the men in charge if it was "her time." She just did it.
Why the 1872 Campaign Was Absolutely Bonkers
When we talk about the first woman to run for president of the US, we have to talk about the Equal Rights Party. This was the group that officially nominated Victoria in May 1872 at Apollo Hall in New York.
Her platform was lightyears ahead of its time. Seriously. She campaigned for:
- Universal suffrage (not just for white women, but everyone)
- An eight-hour workday
- Civil service reform
- The abolition of the death penalty
- "Free Love"
Now, don't let the term "Free Love" confuse you with the 1960s hippie movement. For Victoria, it was about the right to get a divorce. Back then, women were essentially the legal property of their husbands. If a man was an abusive drunk, the woman was stuck. Victoria argued that if the love was gone, the marriage should be over. Period.
To make things even more interesting, her running mate was Frederick Douglass. Yes, that Frederick Douglass. There is a catch, though: he never actually acknowledged the nomination. He didn't show up to the convention, and he never campaigned with her. He basically left her on read, 19th-century style.
The Massive "Too Young" Controversy
Here is the kicker that historians love to argue about. According to the U.S. Constitution, the President must be at least 35 years old.
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On Election Day in 1872, Victoria Woodhull was 34.
She wouldn't turn 35 until September 1873, several months after the inauguration would have happened. Because of this, some people argue she wasn't a "legal" candidate. But she was on the ticket. People talked about her. She was a national figure. Whether the government would have let her take the oath is a question we'll never answer because, well, she didn't win.
In fact, we don't even know how many people voted for her. Her name wasn't on many official ballots because the system back then was a mess of printed "party tickets."
The Jail Cell on Election Night
Most candidates spend Election Night at a fancy party or a campaign headquarters. Victoria Woodhull spent it in a jail cell.
She had used her newspaper, Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly, to expose a massive sex scandal involving a famous preacher named Henry Ward Beecher. She was tired of the double standard—men could have affairs and stay respected, while women were ruined for wanting a divorce. She called him out for hypocrisy.
The authorities weren't thrilled. They arrested her and her sister for "obscenity" for sending the story through the mail. While Ulysses S. Grant was winning his second term, the first woman to run for president of the US was sitting behind bars in Ludlow Street Jail.
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What This Means for You Today
Victoria Woodhull eventually moved to England, married a wealthy banker, and lived a much quieter life. She died in 1927, long enough to see the 19th Amendment pass.
So, what’s the point of knowing all this?
It’s about the fact that progress isn't a straight line. It's messy. It’s loud. Sometimes the people who start the fire are the ones society tries to put out first. Woodhull was flawed, she was controversial, and she was "too much" for 1872. But she set a precedent that made every future female candidate possible.
If you want to dive deeper into this history, here is what you should do next:
- Check out the National Women’s History Museum digital archives. They have some incredible scans of her original newspaper.
- Read "The Woman Who Ran for President" by Lois Beachy Underhill. It’s probably the most detailed biography out there that doesn't sugarcoat the weirdness of her life.
- Visit the Belva Lockwood Inn if you're ever in Owego, New York. Belva was the second woman to run (in 1884), and unlike Victoria, she actually appeared on official ballots in several states.
History isn't just a list of dates. It's a collection of people who were brave enough—or maybe just crazy enough—to think they could change the world. Victoria Woodhull definitely fit the bill.