The Woman Vote and American Presidential Elections

Before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1920, American women did not have the right to vote in presidential elections. However, this did not mean that women had no influence on American politics. For example, we know that both Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison advised their husbands, John Adams and James Madison, who both became U.S. presidents. After the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, women began organizing and lobbying for voting rights, but it took more than seventy years for this aspiration to become a reality.

Many men thought that women would vote the same way they did. However, over time it became clear that this was not the case. By the late 1980s, it was evident that men and women voted differently. Understanding how and why this divide emerged, and why it persists today, helps shed light on the shifts in American politics and the key issues that influence presidential elections.