A Man's 1963 Answer To Whether A Woman Would Make A Good President Still Holds True Today

Kamala Harris might have become the first woman of color to become the Vice-President-elect, the highest position a woman has occupied in the government to date, but America still has a long way to go to wrest power from the tight grasps of old white men. One only needs to look at the 2020 Presidential race to realize America has a long way to go to be more inclusive. Joe Biden, 77, beat Donald Trump, 74, to become the President-elect in the election earlier this month. Some people, primarily conservatives, voted against Hillary Clinton in 2006, citing her being a woman as an impediment to being president. It just showed how little progress America has made since 1963 when the question "Would a woman be a good president?" was posed to readers of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

Twitter user @natepentz shared the image of the responses to the question. Of the five respondents, four of them said a firm no, each providing different excuses for their sexism. "No. Today their mind is one way and the next day, it changes," said Frank Kampa, pushing the age-old stereotype that women have too many mood swings to take strong decisions. I would love for them to time-travel and try to make sense of Donald Trump's rants and decisions. Maureen Mellum wrote, "No. A man is more responsible. Women have enough problems without being president," said Maureen Mellum. Again, I would love for Maureen to meet the current president. However, what stood out in the responses was one from a certain Vern Hause, who replied, "She couldn't do any worse than some we've had." The response went viral with many praising him for being a feminist while a few others felt he was just being nihilistic, showing no faith in either government or women. People appreciated Hause's reply, with 87 of them leaving virtual flowers at his grave since the tweet was posted as a tribute. 

The responses from Mr. and Mrs. Romanowski also raised eyebrows. "No. I don't have much faith in women to let them run the country," said Romanowski, as his wife probably stood by waiting to give her opinion to the question. Mrs. Romanowski concurred with her husband's assessment and went one step further to dismiss the idea of a woman President and even hint at trouble in their marriage. "No. A woman is too likely to give in. They might not stand their ground when they should," Mrs. Romanowski. Many believed little had changed in the past 60 years, apart from newspapers not posing the question such questions to its readers anymore. 

It's not all gloom though. With the induction of the new Congresspersons, the House will be the most diverse, said the LGBTQ Victory Fund, reported The Hill. LGBTQ Victory Fund is a group that works to increase the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials in government. The group said nine LGBTQ candidates running in House races secured victories in the recently concluded elections. Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres, two openly gay Black men won their election to Congress, becoming the first to do so. The group stated that there are now currently seven openly LGBTQ members in the House and two in the Senate.

Mayor Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said in a statement that the next session of Congress "will have the largest and most diverse group of LGBTQ leaders in history and with increased representation comes increased political power." "These LGBTQ members of Congress will influence how their constituents and colleagues view our community and ensure issues of equality remain a priority," she continued. The group also said that 25 openly LGBTQ+ candidates won Democratic or Republican congressional primaries this year, a new record.