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Women Presidential Candidates - United States

Women Who Have Run for United States President

By Jone Johnson Lewis, About.com

Hillary Clinton in her 2008 run for the Democratic nomination for US President came the closest so far that any woman has come to winning the nomination of a major political party in the United States. But Clinton is not the first woman to run for United States President, and not even the first to run for a major party's nomination. Here's a list of the female presidential candidates I've been able to discover, arranged chronologically by each woman's first campaign for the office.

Ellen McCormack

Democratic Party: 1976; Right to Life Party: 1980

Margaret Wright

People's Party: 1976

Deidre Griswold

Workers World Party: 1980

Maureen Smith

Peace and Freedom Party: 1980

Sonia Johnson

Citizens Party: 1984

Patricia Schroeder

Democratic Party: 1984

Gavrielle Holmes

Workers World Party: 1984

Isabelle Masters

Looking Back Party, etc.: 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004

Lenora Fulani

American New Alliance Party: 1988, 1992

Willa Kenoyer

Socialist Party: 1988

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