By Gary Barlow

Staff writer

Illinois’ prominent role in presidential history is evident every time “Land of Lincoln” rolls by on the bumper of a car from our state.

But if Edgewater native Hillary Clinton succeeds in winning the White House this year, her victory would cement Illinois’ already storied role in another facet of presidential history—the effort to elect the country’s first female president.

No woman succeeded in winning votes as a candidate for a major party’s presidential nomination until 1964—just 44 years ago. That woman was Margaret Chase Smith, the independent-minded Republican U.S. senator from Maine.

Smith had already carved new ground for women by serving as a senator for 15 years. In Washington she was well respected as a politician of few words, but one whose opinion carried substantial weight. Many credit Smith with being the first senator to stand up to red-baiting Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy in the 1950s.

In January 1964, with the Republican Party lacking a clear frontrunner in that year’s presidential race, Smith spoke at the National Press Club in Washington.

“There are those who contend that a woman should never dare to aspire to the White House because this is a ‘man’s world,’” Smith said. “A woman on the national ticket of a major political party would be a handicap…”

Smith went on, noting the conventional wisdom that she wouldn’t have “even the most remote chance of victory,” and the unfounded fear that “as a woman, I would not have the strength or stamina to run.”

Then, the diminutive Smith, trademark rose in her lapel, shocked the audience by declaring, “I have decided that I shall enter the New Hampshire and Illinois primaries.”

Smith was never one to campaign by spending lots of money. In New Hampshire, she spent almost nothing but tried to visit the state as often as she could without breaking her record of never missing a Senate vote. In the end, though, she and her leading opponent, Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, were swept away by a tide of votes cast for Massachusetts’ Henry Cabot Lodge, who didn’t even campaign.

But Smith vowed to stay in the race and a dedicated group of Illinois volunteers, mostly women, waged a relentless campaign in our state’s primary. The results were historic—while Goldwater won handily, Smith captured 26 percent of the votes, winning support from more than 209,000 Illinoisans. It was, as Smith aptly described it, “a victory for every woman in the United States.”

Four years ago, Illinois again played a role in the history of women vying for the White House, when former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun ran for the Democratic nomination and got on the primary ballot in more states than any woman in history. Braun’s campaign faltered, though, during a contentious primary race with nine other candidates.

Neither Smith nor Braun, nor Shirley Chisolm, Elizabeth Dole or any of the other women who’ve sought the presidency have come as close as Clinton is now. The New York senator, who grew up in Park Ridge and attended Maine East High School, is still arguably the odds-on favorite to become the first woman to be elected president.

“I think Hillary Clinton will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2009,” Mosemarie Boyd, president of American Women Presidents, said last week by telephone.

Boyd’s group has worked to put a woman in the Oval Office since 2001. It’s a stereotype, she said, to think men won’t vote for a qualified candidate such as Clinton if she wins her party’s nomination.

“I think Americans will always vote for the best candidate,” Boyd said. Nonetheless, she said, women seem to be rallying to Clinton’s side in recent weeks, awakened perhaps after Clinton lost the first contest of the year in Iowa.

“That’s my impression,” Boyd said. “I think a lot of us were frustrated by the results in Iowa.”

U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the first woman elected to federal office in the Badger State, was in Chicago Jan. 27, campaigning for Clinton at Sidetrack. Baldwin said she, too, believes Clinton is on the way to making history.

“I think it will have a big impact, both substantively and symbolically,” Baldwin said, recalling Geraldine Ferraro’s run as the Democratic Party nominee for vice president 24 years ago. “I can tell you what a pivotal moment it was for me in 1984 watching Geraldine Ferraro crossing the stage as the first woman to be a major political party nominee. …I’ll feel even more strongly that there are no limits left if I get to watch Hillary Clinton take the oath as president next Jan. 20.”

Baldwin, who’s also the first openly lesbian member of Congress, said being the first woman to win the White House would have an impact on Clinton’s presidency.

“None of us leave our life experiences at the door when we go to do our jobs everyday,” Baldwin said. “She has lived life as a woman, and I think that will influence her priorities. I think it already has.”

Ultimately, though, like Boyd, Baldwin said Clinton’s strongest asset as a candidate is that she’s qualified for the enormous job of being president, not that she’s a woman.

“She is the only candidate I see who is ready to do the job on day one,” Baldwin said.