Honestly, if you asked most people who the first woman to run for president was, they’d probably guess Hillary Clinton or maybe Shirley Chisholm if they know their history. But neither is the right answer. The real story belongs to a woman named Victoria Woodhull, and she was way more "out there" than anyone you’ll see on a ballot today.
She ran in 1872.
Think about that for a second. In 1872, women couldn't even vote. They were basically legal property in many states. Yet here was this woman—a former "medical clairvoyant" who grew up in a traveling medicine show—telling the world she was going to be the next leader of the United States.
It wasn't just a publicity stunt, though some treated it like one. Woodhull was a powerhouse. She was the first woman to operate a brokerage firm on Wall Street and the first to testify before a House committee. But her run for the presidency? That was her biggest gamble.
The KEYWORD Nobody Talks About: Who Was the First Female to Run for President?
When we talk about who was the first female to run for president, we aren't talking about a polished politician. We’re talking about a woman who spent Election Day in a jail cell.
Victoria Woodhull was nominated by the Equal Rights Party in May 1872. She was 33 years old, which is actually a hilarious detail because the Constitution says you have to be 35. She wasn't even legally old enough to hold the office she was seeking.
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Her platform was wild for the time. She didn't just want the vote. She wanted:
- Universal suffrage for everyone, regardless of race or gender.
- An 8-hour workday (radical at the time!).
- The abolition of the death penalty.
- "Free Love," which basically meant the government shouldn't have a say in who you love, marry, or divorce.
That last one, "Free Love," is what really got her in trouble. People called her "Mrs. Satan." They weren't being metaphorical. The media at the time portrayed her as a literal demon trying to destroy the American family.
The Frederick Douglass "Ghost" Running Mate
Here is a weird fact: her running mate was Frederick Douglass.
Except, he didn't actually agree to it. The Equal Rights Party just... picked him. Douglass never acknowledged the nomination, never showed up to the convention, and actually campaigned for the incumbent, Ulysses S. Grant. It was a bold move by Woodhull to try and bridge the gap between the women’s suffrage movement and the fight for Black civil rights, even if it was totally one-sided.
Why her candidacy is often ignored
You’d think the first woman to run for the highest office in the land would be a household name. She isn't. Why?
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Kinda comes down to the fact that she was too radical even for other suffragists. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton eventually distanced themselves from her. Woodhull wasn't interested in being a "respectable" lady. She was a spiritualist. She'd been married and divorced (twice!).
Then there was the scandal.
Just days before the 1872 election, Woodhull published an article in her newspaper, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, exposing an affair between a famous preacher named Henry Ward Beecher and a married parishioner. She did it to point out the hypocrisy of men who preached morality while living secret lives.
The government responded by arresting her for "obscenity" sent through the mail. She spent the night of the election behind bars. She didn't get a single electoral vote, and since her name wasn't on many ballots, we don't even know if she got any popular votes.
Victoria Woodhull vs. Belva Ann Lockwood
Some historians argue about who was the first female to run for president because of the technicalities. If Woodhull was too young and didn't appear on the actual ballots, does it count?
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If you're a stickler for rules, you might look at Belva Ann Lockwood. She ran in 1884 and 1888. Unlike Woodhull, Lockwood was over 35, and she actually appeared on ballots in several states. She even won a few thousand votes! Lockwood was a lawyer—the first woman allowed to practice before the Supreme Court—and her campaign was seen as more "legit" by the standards of the day.
But honestly? Woodhull got there first. She broke the seal.
What Really Happened with the 1872 Election
The 1872 election was a mess anyway. Ulysses S. Grant won in a landslide, but his main opponent, Horace Greeley, actually died before the Electoral College could even meet.
In that chaos, Woodhull’s "Equal Rights" ticket was barely a footnote. But her impact was huge. She forced people to imagine a woman in power. She used her brokerage money to fund a newspaper that printed the first English translation of The Communist Manifesto in America. She was a disruptor before that was a buzzword.
Eventually, Woodhull moved to England, married a wealthy banker, and spent her later years living as a lady of the manor. She lived long enough to see women finally get the right to vote in 1920. Imagine being 82 years old and watching the country finally catch up to where you were 50 years ago.
Actionable Insights: Lessons from the First Female Presidential Run
If you're looking into who was the first female to run for president, don't just stop at the name. There are actual things we can learn from her "failed" run:
- Understand the "Technical" vs. the "Impactful": Woodhull wasn't legally eligible (age) and wasn't on ballots, but she changed the conversation. When you're researching history, always look for the people who didn't "win" but moved the needle.
- Look for Primary Sources: If you want the real tea on Woodhull, look up the digital archives of Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly. It’s a trip to see what she was writing in the 1870s.
- Acknowledge the Complexity: Woodhull wasn't a perfect hero. She was messy, controversial, and often her own worst enemy. Real history is rarely about "perfect" people; it's about people who are loud enough to be heard.
- Visit the History: If you're ever in Ohio, she was born in a tiny town called Homer. There isn't much left there, but the Robbins-Hunter Museum in Granville has a few markers and items related to her life.
Woodhull's story is a reminder that being "the first" usually means getting hit the hardest. She didn't get the White House, but she did get the last laugh by outliving almost all of her critics.