Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, claims her place in history on Tuesday, July 27, after becoming the Democratic Party's nominee for U.S. President. She would be the first woman in U.S. history to lead the ticket of a major political party.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first woman to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was a leader of the suffragette movement along with Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony. She was also the editor of the feminist magazine "Revolution."
In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Republican from Montana was the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. entry in both World War I and World War II.
Feminist reformer Victoria Claflin Woodhull was the first woman to run for U.S. President from a nationally recognized ticket. She was the candidate of the Equal Rights Party in 1872.
Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve as a member of the President's Cabinet. She was appointed labor secretary by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.
Shirley Chisholm, a Democrat from New York, was the first African-American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She was elected in 1968.
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to run on a major party's national ticket. She was Walter Mondale's running mate.
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida, was elected in 1989. She is the first Hispanic woman and Cuban-American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Carol Moseley Braun, a Democrat from Illinois, was the first African-American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate. She served from 1993 to 1999.
Dee Dee Myers was the first woman to serve as White House press secretary. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton and held the position from January 1993 to December 1994.
Madeleine Albright was the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state. She was appointed to the position by President Bill Clinton in 1997.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, is the first openly gay woman to be elected to Congress. She was elected to the House in 1999 and to the Senate in 2012.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, is the first woman to lead a party in Congress.
Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009.
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, is the first woman of color to serve in both chambers of Congress. Hirono was elected to the House in 2007 and to the Senate in 2012.