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Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling
 
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Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling [Hardcover]

Eleanor Clift (Author), Tom Brazaitis (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)


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Book Description

Lisa Drew Books July 18, 2000

Two respected Washington pundits offer a forward-looking history of women in politics -- from envelope-stuffing in the 1960s to the prospect of a woman president in the next decade.

A striking aspect of our new century's first election season has been the vitality American women are injecting into the proceedings -- as candidates, strategists, and voters. In the 1990s, their influence redefined the nature of politics. Bill Clinton won his elections largely on the strength of women's votes, and Senator Bob Packwood was compelled to resign in the face of women's outrage over his sexual misconduct. So how did we get here?

From journalists Eleanor Clift and Tom Brazaitis comes a story of passion, determination, and triumph. They chronicle women's remarkable progress -- from their coffee-fetching days to their ability to make or break candidates in the new millennium -- in chapters such as "A Call to Arms" and "The Rules for Women." From there, the authors examine today's prospects and look ahead in "The Governor Gap," "Hurrying History," and "Women in Waiting," identifying those most likely to have an impact on the future. Highlighting all the key players, from Elizabeth Dole and Dianne Feinstein to Hillary Clinton and Christine Todd Whitman, the book also introduces up-and-comers with superstar potential. And in the prescient "Coda: A How-to for Women," Clift and Brazaitis provide twelve essential tips for women seeking higher office.

Certain to spark controversy, Madam President is an unrivaled look at the new political world.


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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At least things have gotten better since the chair of the House Armed Services Committee F. Edward Hebert suggested his Democratic colleagues Pat Schroeder and Ron Dellums share a chair because in his view "a girl and a black" were, as Schroeder remembers him saying, "worth only half of one 'regular' member." But things still aren't exactly great for women in politics. At the rate the United States is going, it will take another 250 years to raise to parity the number of female senators and representatives from the current 9 and 65 respectively.

Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling begins with a quotation from Hillary Clinton's predecessor and spectral interlocutor Eleanor Roosevelt, who wrote in 1940: "In government, in business, and in the professions there may be a day when women will be looked upon as persons. We are, however, far from that day as yet." Though veteran Washington journalists and pundits Eleanor Clift and Tom Brazaitis note that women make up more than 25 percent of state legislators and hold three governorships and 18 lieutenant governorships, Roosevelt's words still ring true. When the abortive non-run of Elizabeth Dole and the production of Barbie President 2000 (available in an assortment of races) are held up as role models, you know that the fight for women to be taken seriously as political candidates is still very much in play. Similarly, a shudder of recognition is still caused by the old feminist joke about how the first woman president is standing on the stage about to be sworn in--her hand on a Bible held by her husband--and her mother nudges the person seated beside her in the audience and declares, "You see that woman up there? Her brother is a doctor."

This book makes great use of the access Clift and Brazaitis have to the busy and powerful in D.C. It is a terrific overview of the situation of female elites in electoral politics, full of the anecdotes, tidbits, and commentary that years on the political scene can bring. It looks at women in federal office and in the upper echelons of state politics. And it keeps asking what one male political consultant facetiously suggested for a campaign slogan for the first female presidential nominee from a major party: "Why not the broad?" If--as polls show they do--90 percent of Americans say they could support a woman for president, the question this book prompts is: So, where is she? --J.R.

From Publishers Weekly

Brimming with comments from unnamed sources as well as from plenty of heavyweight politicos, this is a sharp, insider's view of the quest to elect a female U.S. president. Clift, a Newsweek editor and McLaughlin Group panelist, and her husband, Brazaitis, an editor and columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer (co-authors of War Without Bloodshed), emphasize Geraldine Ferraro's watershed vice-presidential bid on the 1984 Democratic ticket with Walter Mondale, and how Mondale's loss was laid at Ferraro'sAand all women'sAfeet. They also probe George Bush's subsequent choice of youthful Dan Quayle, rather than seasoned Sandra Day O'Connor, as a running mate, and why Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who they contend is smarter and more ambitious than her siblings, has had to struggle for electability despite her dynastic connections. Clift and Brazaitis assert that women win as often as men when they run, if they can get over the fund-raising hurdle, which stops many campaigns before they startAmost recently Elizabeth Dole's much-touted bid for president and New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman's senate run. From the election of Margaret Thatcher in England to the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas debate, Clift and Brazaitis explore the catalysts that have spurred women to challenge the old boy network, as well as President Clinton's groundbreaking appointments of the first women to hold such key positions as attorney general and secretary of state. According to the authors, it is inevitable that a woman will be elected president in the next decade (the likely choice: Hillary Clinton). Melding the immediacy of a breaking news story with savvy investigative journalism, this lively analysis of women's political struggles over the past two decades exposes the impact of feminism on the Beltway. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (July 18, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0684856190
  • ISBN-13: 978-0684856193
  • Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,251,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Original, Insightful and Inspriational, June 21, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (Hardcover)
Eleanor and Tom have written a classic. It's about time someone has taken the role of women in high political office seriously. I'm buying copies for my daughters and nieces.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all women, July 9, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (Hardcover)
I really enjoyed the book. I could't put it down. It was enlightening and very interesting to see that these highly placed women are confronted with some of the same issues as other women. I began to understand why there aren't more women occupying seats of power. Very relatable and valuable for women who want to shatter the glass ceiling in their own organizations.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting and enjoyable read, June 21, 2000
By 
Ron (McLean, VA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (Hardcover)
When I first picked up this book I wasn't sure if it had enough new information to hold my interest. Boy way I wrong (I'll never judge a book by its cover again). Unlike so many other inside-the-beltway tomes, this book has something important to say. It's pithy, polished and unpretentious. I'm enjoying every delicious page!
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