What Will It Take to Make A Woman President?: Conversations About Women, Leadership and Power (47 page)

MS
: That’s such an important point that often gets lost, because sometimes this is viewed as a women’s issue, when it really is something that affects
families and the whole of humanity. Your name has come up, not only as one of the most admired women leaders, but even as somebody who could have been a potential presidential candidate. Is that something that you envision, or have ever envisioned, for yourself as a possible path?

KBH
: Oh, I had, in the past. But when George Bush was elected from Texas, for two terms, I felt like there would probably not be an opportunity for another Texan right after that, so my time was just not the right time. And now I’ve got twelve-year-old children and I’m not thinking about it at all. But there was a time when I did, and I would like to have had that opportunity, but president Bush was elected. And I even thought if he didn’t run a second time, that would still be an option, but he did, so that was that.

MS
: Do you think we will see a woman president in your lifetime? Do you feel optimistic about that?

KBH
: Yes, I do. I think we will. I think we’ve got the women in the pipeline now, in both parties, frankly.

MS
: Many women may feel discouraged to pursue this as a career, because it does look pretty daunting—both just the experience of running and from some of the dysfunction they see in Washington today, it can seem very challenging. What would you say to them? You had a very long and successful career—why should women consider this and what are the special rewards or fulfillment that comes from a career in public service?

KBH
: I do think that women are uniquely qualified for leadership. And I think that it is very rewarding to make a difference—to do something that you know makes a difference in quality of life
is
the reward. There’s
a lot that’s hard about public service, there’s no question about it. But it’s very rewarding to have an impact, and I really think that is something that women should step up to the plate and do, if they can financially, and if it’s right for their family and their time. I just hope we have more and more.

MS
: I’ve spoken to quite a few congresswomen for this project. What I really love to hear about is the bonding that goes on between the women in Washington, regardless of their political affiliation. What was your experience like working with the other women that were there, and did you have a sense of feeling like a minority or was that something that didn’t really affect your experience?

KBH
: When you are such a small part out of 100, when you’re seven or nine, there’s an adjustment on the other senators’ part and on your part. And I would say that because you are an equal and you have an equal vote and you’re part of the same committees and everything is done on seniority, there’s no discrimination at all, but you tend to gravitate to the people with whom you have the most in common. And the women certainly had great relationships and we’d have bipartisan dinners together on a routine basis, and that was fun. But I think in the actual functioning of the Senate, that your vote is the same. And now we’ve got women committee chairs and we have for quite a few years, and when you’re the committee chairman or you’re the ranking member, your power is the same as the male person with whom you’re dealing.

MS
: I’ve been very moved by the fact that you’ve written all these books, including your most recent book, that are meant to celebrate the accomplishments of women that inspire you. I’m very aware, even in my girls’ education, of the lack of focus on women’s history or women historical
figures in general. Did you feel that there was a real need to spotlight women like this? What was your motivation behind doing these projects?

KBH
: The motivation was to show girls that women have had obstacles in America from the beginning, but they’ve overcome the obstacles and have paved the way for the following generations to excel and fulfill their potential. And I felt like the biographies are written about our Founding Fathers, but you don’t find much about Abigail Adams and the Founding Mothers, who did so much. I wanted the record to show the women who broke the barriers and how far we’ve come. And in my books, I’ve highlighted the women who broke the barriers, but also the contemporary women. In my first one, it was so much fun, because in the areas where I profiled a barrier-breaking woman, I could interview the women still breaking barriers in the same field. So Amelia Earhart in aviation—I interviewed Sally Ride, the first woman in space. And I profiled Margaret Chase Smith and then interviewed Madeleine Albright and Sandra Day O’Connor and Condoleezza Rice. So we all have stood on the shoulders of those who came before. And that’s why I think we have the women senators and governors and CEOs in business. I think a lot of it is seeing that progression in the way that it’s done and that there’s so much potential. If you’re just willing to hang in there and be tough and follow your dreams with commitment and courage, you can do anything.

MS
: I think that’s so important, this idea of just admitting that sometimes there are obstacles, or barriers, and that no matter what your story is, there are things that you have to transcend. On your journey, were there limiting obstacles that you faced that you had to overcome?

KBH
: Oh, yeah [
laughs]
. My first office was in 1972 when I was elected to the Texas Legislature, and I was the first Republican woman elected to the
Texas Legislature, ever, so I had to prove myself. I had to overcome the obstacles just to get elected, and that process was hard. And it was tough, but I hung in there and took that first step. Then there was no statewide elected Republican in Texas when I ran for state treasurer; there had been a governor and a senator, but never a lieutenant governor or an attorney general or a state treasurer. And I ran anyway, and won. And so that was another barrier. So, you know, all those barriers, and now no one thinks that it’s unusual that there are a number of Republican women in the state legislature. And we have statewide office holders and it’s no big deal. That’s what I want: for it to be no big deal.

MS
: In the course of these interviews, people sometimes raise the remarkable fact that it was not too long ago that women did not even have the right to vote, which still seems sort of mind blowing. Where do you feel we are in terms of the status of women here in the United States and around the world?

KBH
: Oh, I think that America is the greatest place in the world to be a woman. I think we’ve had the respect from the beginning. We saw it in Alexis de Tocqueville’s America that the respect that women had, even back in the early 1800s, was there. Women were dealt with as equals. Their opinions were listened to, which he observed was different from the European women that he had been around. So we’ve had the respect from the beginning. We didn’t have the vote, which is hard to believe now, but our women had built on the respect, on the capability. They were running businesses, they were becoming a part of government. I think that maybe it was too slow, but it was a continuing progression forward. And I think that we are now accepted as equals; I think we have the capability to be judged on merit and without discrimination.

MS
: What words of encouragement or advice would you want to offer a young woman thinking about running for office or pursuing a career in public service today?

KBH
: My advice is to get enough experience before you get into politics, as opposed to running too young and before you know what you really believe. Know what you care about and have a firm political philosophy. You just have to have experience in the real world to be effective in representing people, because you need to understand the economics, you need to understand what role government should have and what it shouldn’t have. And if you experience the regulatory arena, if you have seen a problem in education that you care about, or the building of urban areas—whatever your issue is, it should come from experience in the real world.

GLORIA FELDT

“If we shift how we’re thinking about power from that old-fashioned, patriarchal, hierarchical, traditional power
over
to the expansive, innovative, infinite power
to,
it just changes everything. And it allows women who have been resisting taking powerful positions to take those positions. It frees us from the old strictures that have been in our minds. It’s like, ‘Who wants to be one of those old, white, male politicians?’ Right? That’s what a lot of young women say: ‘I don’t see myself in that picture.’ Well, change the picture. It’s your picture. It’s your turn. Put yourself in the picture, because the people who make the laws are the people who decide how you’re going to be able to live. You have a vested interest in this.”

G
LORIA
F
ELDT IS
the best-selling author of No
Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power
. Her expertise in women, power, and leadership comes from a deep well of personal knowledge gained on the front lines. Her journey from teen mom to president and CEO of the world’s largest reproductive health and advocacy organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, to highly acclaimed author inspires both men and women. Named by
Vanity Fair
as one of America’s Top 200 Women Leaders, Legends, and Trailblazers, and as
Glamour’s
Woman of the Year, she’s helped pave the way for women today. In January 2013, she cofounded a new women’s leadership
development movement called Take The Lead, whose mission is to bring women to parity in leadership positions across all sectors of work and civic life by 2025.

Feldt teaches a Women, Power, and Leadership course at Arizona State University. Her keynote speeches and Power Tool workshops offer fresh insight, inspiration, and practical takeaways participants can instantly use as leadership skills, concrete solutions, and goal-achievement plans. Feldt has been widely quoted and published in media such as
The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, The Daily Beast, More, Elle
, and
Ms
. She has appeared extensively on television, including CNN, MSNBC,
The Today Show, Good Morning America
, and
The Daily Show
. She serves on the boards of the Women’s Media Center and the Jewish Women’s Archive and cochairs U.S. Women Connect.

MARIANNE SCHNALL
: In your opinion, why haven’t we ever had a woman president?

GLORIA FELDT
: Well, we haven’t had a woman president because we, women, have had to completely change the world in order to make a woman president happen. Since Abigail Adams asked John to “remember the ladies” in the United States Constitution and he mocked her—and women were not mentioned in the Constitution of the United States—we have been on a long, slow, and sometimes meandering but constant path toward greater equality and our fair share of the table. And now I passionately believe it’s women’s moment to achieve equality and our fair share of the table. But
we
have to do it. The people who are in power, who are mostly men, have no reason to step aside for us. We have everything we need now, but it’s up to us to take that next step.

MS
: And what does that really mean? What changes or conditions are necessary to finally achieve some type of parity?

GF
: I think the power that we need is in our hands—if we can see it, if we can have the wisdom to see, and have the courage to use it. The world is looking at women now and saying,
This is your moment
, in everything from studies by Ernst & Young and McKinsey and many others that tell us businesses that have more women in top leadership positions make more money, to a
constant
flow of leadership-oriented books, articles, and speeches that say the characteristics that women bring to the workplace are exactly the kind of leadership we need today, in politics, in business, in any sphere of life. The attention to relationships. The tendency to want to collaborate. The notion that power doesn’t have to be about power
over
someone, but rather it’s the power
to
. It’s the power of possibility. It’s the power of making good things happen. Making the world better for my family, my kids, my community, my world. That’s how women can really make a difference. If we shift how we’re thinking about power from that old-fashioned, patriarchal, hierarchical, traditional power
over
to the expansive, innovative, infinite power
to
, it just changes everything. And it allows women who have been resisting taking powerful positions to take those positions. It frees us from the old strictures that have been in our minds. It’s like, “Who wants to be one of those old, white, male politicians?” Right? That’s what a lot of young women say: “I don’t see myself in that picture.” Well, change the picture. It’s your picture. It’s your turn. Put yourself in the picture, because the people who make the laws are the people who decide how you’re going to be able to live. You have a vested interest in this.