The Highest Glass Ceiling: Women’s Quest for the American Presidency

“Ellen Fitzpatrick’s wise and winning, The Highest Glass Ceiling, is destined to become the Profiles in Courage of the 2016 Presidential election, situating this year’s presumptive Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton in a historic field of bold female contenders, with special focus on the three who previously came closest―Victoria Woodhull, Margaret Chase Smith, and Shirley Chisolm. What enabled these women to ‘step out of context and into history,’ as a Los Angeles Times reporter wrote of Smith, to ‘shake it up, make it change,’ as Chisolm aimed to do? Fitzpatrick’s compelling portraits supply not just the how and when, but also the why, teaching valuable lessons that everyone who cares about American presidential politics will be grateful to learn.” —Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Margaret Fuller

“Why has it taken so long for a woman to be taken seriously when she runs for President of the United States? There are stories to be told about that and Presidential historian Ellen Fitzpatrick does so superbly in The Highest Glass Ceiling. Her account of the women who did, in fact, go for the top job makes for great reading as well as a much-needed filling of important gaps in American political history. This is a terrific book that is chock full of small tidbits that add up to important surprises for anyone who thinks they already know everything about presidential politics.” —Jim Lehrer, former executive editor, PBS NewsHour