List of female United States presidential and vice-presidential candidates

The following is a list of female U.S. presidential and vice-presidential nominees and invitees. Nominees are candidates nominated or otherwise selected by political parties for particular offices. Listed as nominees or nomination candidates are those women who achieved ballot access in at least one state (or, before the institution of government-printed ballots, had ballots circulated by their parties). They each may have won the nomination of one of the US political parties (either one of the two major parties or one of the third parties), or made the ballot as an Independent, and in either case must have votes in the election to qualify for this list. Exception is made for those few candidates whose parties lost ballot status for additional runs.

In 1872, Victoria Woodhull ran for president. While many historians and authors agree that Woodhull was the first woman to run for president, some have questioned the legality of her run. They disagree with classifying it as a true candidacy because she was younger than the constitutionally mandated age of 35, but election coverage by contemporary newspapers does not suggest age was a significant issue. The presidential inauguration was in March 1873, and Woodhull's 35th birthday was sixth months later in September. In 1884, Belva Lockwood followed with a run for president. Her running mate was Marietta Stow, who became the first woman to run for vice president.

The first woman considered for a major party presidential candidacy by an incumbent president was Oveta Hobby, by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower encouraged Hobby to run in 1960, but she declined. In 1964, Margaret Chase Smith announced her candidacy for the Republican Party nomination, becoming the first female candidate for a major party's nomination. She qualified for the ballot in six state primaries, and came in second in the Illinois primary, receiving 25% of the vote. She became the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency at a major political party's convention. In 1972, Shirley Chisholm became the first black candidate for a major party's presidential nomination, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's nomination. In the 1988 presidential election, Lenora Fulani and her running mate Joyce Dattner became the first women to achieve ballot access in all fifty states. Fulani was also the first African American to do so. In the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win a presidential primary, and the first to be listed as a presidential candidate in every primary and caucus nationwide. Despite losing the nomination in a close race against Barack Obama, Clinton won more votes in 2008 than any primary candidate in American history.

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