Victoria Woodhull, the First Woman to Run for President

Facts About the Woman Who Ran for President in 1872

1.) Her name was Victoria Woodhull and she ran in 1872, nominated by the Equal Rights Party. As women did not have the right to vote, she was not able to cast a vote for herself in the election.

2.) She was a newspaper editor, though not the first female newspaper editor, of Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, which was famous for publishing content on such taboo topics as the suffrage movement, spiritualism, and legalized prostitution.

3.) She was the first woman stockbroker on Wall Street, yet her newspaper was the first to print the Communist Manifesto in English (December 30, 1871.)

4.) The other candidates refused to debate her in public forum and simply resorted to slandering her to the point of having her (and her husband) forced from her home.

5.) She fought back by revealing the sordid details of the affair of her opponent and was jailed for her efforts. In all, Victoria was arrested 8 times for essentially publishing the truth.

6.) Even though she was acquitted of all crimes, she and her husband were financially ruined and they never received any of the restitution they were due.

7.) The possessions confiscated by the government in the 1870's (during Victoria's arrests) were never returned.

8.) The votes for Victoria were not officially tallied.

9.) Victoria was 88 years old when she died.

10.) She was married four times to three husbands.

11.) Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to speak to a joint session of the Judiciary Committee.

12.) She was opposed to organized religion but lived, by many accounts, a very Christian and charitable life.

13.) Victoria believed in life after death and was a well known spiritualist.

14.) After divorcing her husband Colonel Blood, she moved to England, remarried to banker John Biddulph Martin and remained there until her death in 1927.

15.) Victoria Woodhull attempted to run for president two more times in 1884 and in 1892.

16.) Part of Victoria's controversy stemmed from her fortune coming from being a "magnetic healer" early in her career, which many equated with being a "snake oil dealer" of the times.