A woman president: what a novel idea. If someone would have told our founding fathers that a woman would be campaigning to be the President of the United States, they would have laughed their wigs off and pointed their quill pens in ridicule. Then again, they would have probably cringed at the idea of the Internet or our current national debt.
Women have progressed greatly since the inception of our nation when Abigail Adams made a plea to her husband to remember the ladies. A Civil War, two World Wars, and a Suffrage Movement have done a great deal to advance the roles of women in America, and admirable women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone have propelled women from the domestic sphere into the public sphere.
Today there is an opportunity for women to further shatter the glass ceiling and solidify their role in political life as Hillary Rodham Clinton has announced that she will officially run for the office of The President of the United States. However, the struggles that these women have faced are the very reason that Hillary Clinton is not the ideal first woman President.
The first woman President should be a role model that exemplifies all the values of integrity, perseverance, and honesty that the women’s movement deserves. This is not to say that the women of American history are without faults of their own, but the first woman president should be a woman of unquestionable integrity. Unfortunately, Clinton’s track record demonstrates the complete opposite.
Countless scandals, including Benghazi, Whitewater, and the latest email controversy, illustrate a political record plagued by corruption and, in total, do everything but paint Clinton as the ideal candidate. Not to mention her flip-flopping stance on gay marriage, which has become a joke on Twitter and has since gone viral.
No politician’s life is completely without some sort of improprieties, whether it is a mistake made as a teenager or a traffic ticket, but Clinton’s past and present records seem to be swamped by dishonesty. This creates considerable concern about what her future presidential decisions and actions could be.
Also, her notoriety comes from being a First Lady to husband, President Bill Clinton. What message does this send to young girls? You can become president if you marry the right man. There are plenty of women in politics who have risen through the ranks by their own accord. With a political career that hinges off of her husband’s, Clinton is hardly the poster child for overcoming the odds of being a female in politics.
This is not to say that Mrs. Clinton is not an influential woman. A graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School, there is no doubt that she is intelligent and a formidable power player in her own right. Also, her work on reproductive rights for women, the key role she has played with international issues, and her hardball techniques with members of Congress has garnered a large support base for the once First Lady. Even though Mrs. Clinton is intelligent, tenacious, and powerful, she is still not the idea first woman president.
For this reason, I urge voters, especially those who consider themselves feminists, not to rush to support Hillary Clinton simply because she is a woman. If you choose to support Hillary, do so because of her policies or ideas and not solely because of her sex. Electing a female president will not magically solve all of American women’s problems, so do not let the prospect of a female president seduce you into voting for a candidate whose policies might not align with your vision for America.
I encourage you to wait for the female President that American women throughout history and today deserve. Wait for the woman who will not need to be heroified in history because she is so great. Wait for the woman that all of America can support, and whose character cannot be questioned.
Most importantly, wait for the woman that will make all of America wonder why we have never had a female president before.
