Theodore F. Sheckels

The authors selected nine women, who are/were involved in politics, and in their view, could have been considered presidential/vice presidential candidates. Both Democratic and Republican women from various geographic regions are discussed. The women included in this scholarly book are primarily Senators or governors (thus having administrative experience) although Representative Nancy Pelosi is also included. The other women discussed include Nancy Landon Kassebaum, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Mikulski, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, Olympia Snowe, Christine Gregoire, Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius, and Linda Lingle. The information about each woman includes a brief biography with emphasis on her political experience, an examination of the woman’s rhetorical style, and an analysis why she was not chosen. The examination of the women’s communication style is not surprising since this book is in the Lexington Studies in Political Communication series.

The authors acknowledge that the requirements are higher for women than for men to be chosen. They also admit that nine women is too small a sample to be statistically reliable. However, after examining these nine women’s situations, in the last chapter the authors suggest eleven maxims a woman must have to be considered for the presidency.

Each of the authors wrote the chapters for three of the women. Unfortunately, the book was not very well proofread; several factual errors occur including saying that Pelosi became “majority” instead of “minority” leader in 2011 (p. 95), and listing Kathleen Sebalius as a Republican instead of Democratic governor (p. 157). Also, I would have preferred to have had several other prominent women such as Geraldine Ferraro and Hilliary Rodham Clinton included.… (meer)