Today in Herstory: Democratic Nominee for President Urges His Party to Reconsider Suffrage

Today in Herstory: Democratic Nominee for President Urges His Party to Reconsider Suffrage

July 7, 1920: To the surprise of many long-time suffragists and veteran political observers, it’s starting to look as if it may be Democrats, not Republicans, who will be responsible for the final step needed to put woman suffrage into the Constitution.


Ohio Governor James Cox, the newly-named Democratic Presidential nominee.

Governor James Cox of Ohio, who officially became the Democratic nominee for President yesterday on the 44th ballot, began his first full day as his party’s nominee by sending a telegram to the head of the Democratic State Committee of Louisiana urging reconsideration of that State’s recent rejection of the Susan B. Anthony (nationwide woman suffrage) Amendment.
He said that:
… the Legislature owes it as a duty to the Democratic Party to ratify at once.



It was only due to the overwhelming support of Republicans (91.3% in the House and 81.8% in the Senate vs. only 59.8% House support and 54% support in the Senate by Democrats) that the Anthony Amendment got the 2/3 supermajority required in Congress. Of the 35 States which have ratified thus far, 26 are controlled by Republicans, 6 by Democrats, and in three, one party controls the House and the other the Senate. Of the 9 States which have rejected ratification, 8 are Democratic. So, this is a very welcome, if belated, show of support.

Alice Paul was quite pleased with Governor Cox’s enthusiasm, and noted that:
By taking action on the day following his nomination to secure ratification by a Southern State, Mr. Cox is making an excellent beginning. He is evidently striving to make the suffrage plank of his platform an actuality. If his efforts continue with sufficient vigor there is little doubt of ratification by at least one of three possible Democratic States – Louisiana, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Of course, the entire ticket needs to be working for the cause, and the National Woman’s Party intends to meet with the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York. Though not well-known nationally – or even to Governor Cox – Secretary Roosevelt was described by his running-mate today as a “vigorous, upstanding, courageous and progressive Democrat.”

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http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/07/07/today-in-herstory-democratic-nominee-for-president-urges-his-paty-to-reconsider-suffrage/