President Dwight Eisenhower appoints Oveta Culp Hobby as secretary of health, education, and welfare; she is the second woman to hold a U.S. cabinet position.
1961
President John F. Kennedy establishes the President’s Commission on the Status of Women (chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt).
President John F. Kennedy stipulates that all women and men in the federal government must receive equal consideration for employment.
1963
Congress passes the Equal Pay Act of 1963, prohibiting discrimination in pay by gender for employees covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is published and sells five million copies by 1970.
1964
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the act forbids job discrimination on the basis of race and sex. It also establishes the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to adjudicate complaints.
1965
Supreme Court issues decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, permitting the use of contraceptives by married couples.
1966
Creation of the National Organization for Women.
1967
Executive Order 11375 adds prohibition of sex discrimination by federal contractors or subcontractors, amending Executive Order 11246 of 1965.
1968
EEOC bans sex-segregated help wanted ads in newspapers, a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court in 1973.
1969
At a February 6 press conference held by President Richard Nixon, Vera Glaser asks a key question regarding Nixon’s administration appointments of women.
On October 6, Helen Bentley designated chair of the Federal Maritime Commission and the highest ranking woman in the Nixon administration.
“A Matter of Simple Justice,” the report of the Task Force on Women’s Rights and Responsibilities, is transmitted to President Nixon on December 12; on June 9, 1970, the report is released by the White House.
1971
On April 12, Barbara Hackman Franklin begins work leading the White House’s first women recruiting effort.
On April 21, the Presidential Directive to Cabinet Secretaries and Agency Heads requires action plans for appointing and advancing women; plans are due to the White House by May 15.
1972
Senate passes ERA on March 22, 1972 and it is submitted to the states for ratification.
In April, on the one-year anniversary of the presidential directive, the number of women placed in policy-making positions has tripled from 36 to 105, and there are nearly 1,100 women placed in midlevel positions and 339 women appointed to boards and commissions.
On June 23, President Nixon signs the Education Amendments, which includes Title IX, forbidding sex discrimination in educational programs.
In July, Ms. magazine is first published.
On August 26, President Nixon issues the first proclamation of Equality Day, celebrating the anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.
On December 17, Anne Armstrong is named a counselor to the president, with cabinet rank, making her the highest-ranking women in the Nixon administration.
1973
Supreme Court issues decision in Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion.
1974
On August 9, Richard M. Nixon resigns the presidency.
On October 28, President Gerald Ford signs the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibits discrimination by sex in the granting of consumer credit.
1975
On October 7, President Ford signs legislation directing the military services to admit women to the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies.
Carla Hills is named as secretary of housing and urban development by President Ford.
First World Conference of the International Women’s Year is held in Mexico City.
1976–1979
President Carter names three women to cabinet positions during his administration: Patricia Roberts Harris, secretary of housing and urban development; Juanita Kreps, secretary of commerce; and Shirley Hufstedler, secretary of education.
1978
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women.
1981
In January, President Carter proclaims the first National Women’s History Week, incorporating March 8 as International Women’s Day.
Sandra Day O’Connor, nominated by President Reagan, is the first woman confirmed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.
1984
Geraldine Ferraro is the first woman vice presidential candidate of a major political party.
1986
In Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, the Supreme Court recognizes that sexual harassment is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
1992
“The Year of the Woman.” A record number of women run for public office and win. Twenty-four are newly elected to the House of Representatives and six to the Senate. They include the first Mexican American woman and the first Puerto Rican woman in the House, Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Nydia Velazquez (D-NY); the first black woman senator, Carole Moseley Braun (D-IL); and both senators from California, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, who are Democrats.
1993
Family and Medical Leave Act enables both men and women to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave if needed to care for a new child or a seriously ill family member, and under several other circumstances.
1994
Violence Against Women Act signed into law in response to the inadequacies of state justice systems in dealing with violent crimes against women.
1995
Lt. Col. Eileen Collins becomes the first American woman to pilot a space shuttle.
2000
Hillary Rodham Clinton elected U.S. senator from New York. She is the only First Lady ever elected to the United States Senate.
2004
Condoleezza Rice becomes the first woman national security advisor to a U.S. president.
2007
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) becomes the first woman speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
2008
Alaska governor Sarah Palin is selected as the first woman Republican candidate for the vice presidency.
Gen. Ann Dunwoody becomes the first woman to serve as a four-star general in the United States, heading the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
At his February 6, 1969, news conference, President Richard M. Nixon announced details of his upcoming European trip and then proceeded to take questions. Near the end of the news conference, which was dominated largely by foreign and defense issues, Vera Glaser, of the North American Newspaper Alliance, rose and asked, “Mr. President, in staffing your administration, you have so far made about 200 high-level Cabinet and other policy position appointments, and of these only three have gone to women. Can you tell us, sir, whether we can expect a more equitable recognition of women’s abilities, or are we going to remain a lost sex?”1
The president, in only his second formal press conference, seventeen days after the inauguration, “rolled his eyes upward for a moment in a kind of sighing chagrin,” as one reporter put it.2 He then smiled at Vera Glaser and quipped, “Would you be interested in coming into the Government?” There was some laughter, but apparently realizing that the issue, and the television audience, deserved more, he quickly added, “Very seriously, I had not known that only three had gone to women, and I shall see that we correct that imbalance very promptly.”3
Vera Glaser later recalled, “I had qualms as a journalist about asking the President the kind of question that I did. And yet in simple justice, you had to ask it.”4
