Page 175 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Speaking of . . .

Madam President

Not only are there more women entering and graduating
from college than men, women are playing an increasingly
signifi cant role in national and international politics. Profes-
sor Nichola D. Gutgold believes we are on the cusp of the
fi rst woman president in the U.S. as she explains in her new
book, Paving the Way for Madam President.
Professor Gutgold discusses the unique challenges
women politicians face and the role their public speaking
skills play in their success. Read her synopsis of the ever-
growing success of women in the political arena, and then
discuss with classmates what you would recommend to
women candidates about connecting with the diverse audi-
ences they will face on the road to the White House:
On January 4, 2007, when Representative Nancy Pelosi be-
came the fi rst woman Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives she said, “It is an historic moment for the Congress,
and an historic moment for the women of this country. It is
a moment for which we have waited over 200 years. . . . For
our daughters and granddaughters, today we have broken
the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaugh-
1
ters, the sky is the limit, anything is possible for them.” Her
optimistic prediction is likely to come true since there are
more women serving at every level of government than ever
before. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and several states
with women as governors are further proof that women are
serving at the highest political levels in the United States. ulate, and the only female voice to the chorus of Democratic
Still, Americans have yet to elect a woman President hopefuls. As the 2008 election approaches Hillary Clinton
of the United States. In 1984, New York Congresswoman has announced her bid. When Madam President takes of-
Geraldine Ferraro was on the Democratic ticket, as the vice fi ce she will owe a debt of gratitude to many women, in-
presidential candidate. The fi rst woman to run for president cluding Representative Pelosi, Secretary of States Rice and
was Victoria Clafl in Woodhull in the fall of 1872. More re- Albright, and all of the women who have run for president,
cently, Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith, the since they have paved the way for her to take her place in
moral voice of the Senate, brought attention for her 1964 the Oval Offi ce.
Presidential bid that took her all the way to the convention
Nichola D. Gutgold is associate professor of Communica-
hall. In 1972, Democratic Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm
tion Arts and Science at Pennsylvania State University, Le-
touted her message of being “unbought and unbossed”
2
high Valley Campus. She is author of Paving the Way for
in her groundbreaking presidential campaign. In 1988, out-
Madam President (Lexington Press, 2006).
spoken Democratic Congresswoman Pat Schroeder made
an exploratory bid that drew headlines in the end, for her
1 “Text of Nancy Pelosi’s Speech” San Francisco Chronicle,
tearful reaction during her withdrawal speech more than for
4 January 2007. [Retrieved from http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article
her bid. In 1999, Republican Elizabeth Dole, who has since .cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/04/BAG5ANCTQ27.DTL, 11 January 2007.]
become senator from her home state of North Carolina, 2 The phrase “unbought and unbossed” had been used by Shirley
discovered that, despite her fame and long political career, Chisholm to describe her presidential bid and she summed up her
it was hard to run against candidates who had unprece- candidacy announcement speech with the phrase. It is also the
dented amounts of money. In 2004 former Illinois Demo- title of one of her autobiographies: Shirley Chisholm, Unbought
cratic Senator Carol Moseley Braun briefl y brought an artic- and Unbossed. (Boston, MA: Houghton-Miffl in, 1970).

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