That's Why They Call Them Mothers

Today would have been my mother's 77th birthday. I find myself thinking about her and the things she used to say to me, those "momilies" that we all have and hold on to. My mother loved politics and lived in New York and voted for Hillary when she ran for Senate. I think I got my love of politics from her. I used to impress her when we would watch the State of the Union or some political event with rattling off the names of the politicos on the screen.

It also is the 25th anniversary of the day that Congress sent the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. Although we all realize how that turned out.

I noted the other day in the Washington Post that Hillary Clinton had said during an appearance on the View, when asked if being a mother would help her as a presidential candidate, "We've never had a mother who ever ran for or held that position."

Um, Hil, grab a textbook for me, will ya? You are not the first mother to run for President. Not even close.

• Victoria Claflin Woodhull - She ran in 1872 (with Ulysses Grant and Horace Greeley getting all the press) and was also the first woman to own a Wall Street investment firm.
• Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood - 1884 (Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine) and 1888 (Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison). She was also the first woman lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court.
• Patsy Takemoto Mink - 1972 (Richard Nixon vs. George McGovern) Democratic Primary in Oregon. She was the first woman of color to serve in the Congress.
• Ellen McCormack - She ran in 20 primaries in 1976 (Gerald Ford vs. Jimmy Carter) and became the first woman to qualify for federal matching funds and Secret Service protection. She also ran again as the Right to Life candidate in 1980.
• Sonia Johnson - Headed the ticket of the Citizen's Party in 1984 (Ronald Reagan vs. Walter Mondale) and also qualified for federal matching funds.
• Lenora Fulani - The first woman and the first African-American to appear as a presidential candidate in all 50 states, when she ran for president for the New Alliance Party in 1988 and 1992.
• Carol Moseley Braun - Ran in the 2004 Democratic primaries and was also the only African-American senator from 1993 to 1999.

In fairness to Mrs. Clinton, there were three other female candidates who did not have children.

• Elizabeth Dole, who ran in the Republican primaries in 2000.
• Shirley Chisolm, the first African American woman to run (in 1972)
• Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to have her name placed in nomination by a major party (in 1964).