# What woman has been closest to the Presidency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163 "2004-05-26T11:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/21 "2004-05-26T16:27:31Z")
> [@muttrox](#): > > Well, let’s see. Of all the VP candidates nominated by the two major parties, half are actually elected, right? So Ferraro’s chances were roughly 50% to become VP of the USA, and thus being one step away from the presidency. Ferraro’s chances of becoming VP were 50% in 1984? I’m dubious. 🙂 > [@](#): > > What are your daughter’s chances of getting nominated? Probably not as good, I’d guess. And you don’t even know her! > [@](#): > > I don’t see the comparison at all. My point is that Ferraro was never in the line of succssion, so her “steps” can’t really be compared to their “steps”. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/22 "2004-05-26T16:29:40Z")
[extremely minor, slightly off-topic nitpick] There actually is a bill (S 148) pending in Congress, passed by the Senate already, that would put the Homeland Security secretary right behind the Attorney General in the presidential succession order. I’m not sure if the position needs to be formally added by law to put Ridge in the line of succession, however. It could be that, by default, HLS goes right behind Veterans Affairs, unless Congress says otherwise. My feelings on the present administration aside, I do agree that I would much rather see a Homeland Security secretary ascending to the presidency rather than the person in charge of national parks or farm subsidies. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_G.Rekshun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@Hugh\_G.Rekshun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_G.Rekshun)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/23 "2004-05-26T17:10:46Z")
I wonder why there hasn’t been a female president since women do make up the majority of the USA. I assume this means women also make up the majority of registered voters. So what’s the problem, ladies? ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/24 "2004-05-26T17:40:13Z")
> [@RM Mentock](#): > > My point is that Ferraro was never in the line of succssion, so her “steps” can’t really be compared to their “steps”. And my point was that Ferraro’s step is smaller than their steps – you originally made the comparison that it was larger. I made no comparison at all. (And I did say “roughly” 50%!) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/25 "2004-05-26T17:55:49Z")
> [@iwakura43](#): > > What woman has been closest to the Presidency? Given how close Condeleeza Rice is to the President, I expected someone to jokingly suggest her name, especially given the Freudian slip the unmarried National Security Advisor made a couple of weeks ago when she said, “As I was telling my husb. . . . I mean as I was telling the President.” ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/26 "2004-05-26T18:18:11Z")
Well, if we’re getting into the joke answers… Nancy Reagan was effectively President wasn’t she? Or was that Joyce Jillson? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/27 "2004-05-26T18:18:28Z")
> [@RM Mentock](#): > > Ferraro’s chances of becoming VP were 50% in 1984? I’m dubious. 🙂 Ferraro’s chances of getting elected in 1984 were equal to a snowball’s in hell. Dopers who weren’t around at the time should recall that her ticket only carried **ONE** state. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/28 "2004-05-26T18:31:20Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Well, the closest most recent one would be Madeline Albright as Clinton’s Secretary of State. Janet Reno was Clinton’s AG, and Condeleeza Rice is Bush’s Secretary of Defense. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t it Condoleezza Rice, not Condeleeza Rice? ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/29 "2004-05-26T19:14:18Z")
> [@SNenc](#): > > I’m not sure if the position needs to be formally added by law to put Ridge in the line of succession, however. It could be that, by default, HLS goes right behind Veterans Affairs, unless Congress says otherwise. While the succession order is more or less consistent with the order in which Congress created the offices, that’s because Congress has chosen to maintain that relationship each time it has created or abolished a Cabinet office, not because of any necessary connection between the two. Congress did not elect to put Homeland Security into the succession order when creating the Department, so the Secretary of Homeland Security isn’t in the order. See [3 U.S.C. § 19(d)](http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t01t04+10326+0++%28%283%29%20ADJ%20USC%29%3ACITE%20AND%20%28USC%20w%2F10%20%2819%29%29%3ACITE%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20). ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/30 "2004-05-26T19:29:07Z")
Rep. Nancy Pelosi from California is pretty close, but in a different direction. She’s the minority leader of the house right now. It would be kind of tough to go from minority leader to speaker of the house just by people dying though. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/31 "2004-05-26T19:52:04Z")
> [@robcaro](#): > > Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t it Condoleezza Rice, not Condeleeza Rice? That’s correct, with two z’s. IIRC her name is unique (excepting any small kids named after the Dr.); her mother was a pianist and transformed the Italian phrase _con dolcezza_ (a direction to play “with sweetness”) into what you see. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/32 "2004-05-26T22:15:43Z")
Monica Lewinsky might qualify as “closest to the Presidency”. We know she had her mouth on one. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/33 "2004-05-27T01:14:32Z")
> [@RM Mentock](#): > > How many steps away was Elizabeth Dole? Hilary Clinton? Libby Dole was #10 in the Pennsylvania Avenue Massacre scenario. Hillary Clinton was nowhere in the Presidential Line of Succession. Nor were Edith Wilson or Nancy Reagan or Jackie or Eleanor. _The OP text’s **factual question** is specifically about accession to the post of President of the United States, NOT about political influence, power-behind-the-throne, or sneaking a peek at the launch codes while hubby was otherwise distracted._ Mrs. Wilson’s extralegal nod-and-a-wink “regency” was an artifact of the politics of the time, aided by how the laws that existed then only provided for the VP to step in in the case of _vacancy_ of the Presidency, not of the incapacitation of the person holding the office. With Woodrow Wilson, or more likely his political/personal inner circle, unwilling to hand over the office to Marshall, the VP had no way around it. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/34 "2004-05-27T01:45:39Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > …the political pressure to have someone in charge who could actually walk and talk would be too intense to withstand. Then how the hell did you guys end up with Quayle? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/35 "2004-05-27T02:11:21Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > You’re right, my bad. Sometimes I get Rumsfeld and Rice mixed up. They do look so much alike. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/36 "2004-05-27T02:49:52Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > Given how close Condeleeza Rice is to the President, I expected someone to jokingly suggest her name, especially given the Freudian slip the unmarried National Security Advisor made a couple of weeks ago when she said, “As I was telling my husb. . . . I mean as I was telling the President.” Did she really say that? I’d love a cite if you can track it down. Her name comes from “con dolcezza”, huh? Very cool! Why change the “c” to “e” though? Ms. Ferraro, as the only woman to run on a (major party) presidential ticket, deserves mention in this thread, however badly that ticket got creamed. Jeez, everything has to devolve into political sniping around here! ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/37 "2004-05-27T02:54:49Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > You’re right, my bad. Sometimes I get Rumsfeld and Rice mixed up. I’m _not_ going to go there … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/38 "2004-05-27T03:41:18Z")
> [@Greg Charles](#): > > Did she really say that? I’d love a cite if you can track it down. Admittedly, this is tangential to the OP, but [here](http://nymetro.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/n_10245/) is a link to a New York magazine column where the story was told. It’s sort of a gossip column, so take it with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/39 "2004-05-27T04:07:00Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Mrs. Wilson’s extralegal nod-and-a-wink “regency” was an artifact of the politics of the time, aided by how the laws that existed then only provided for the VP to step in in the case of _vacancy_ of the Presidency, not of the incapacitation of the person holding the office. With Woodrow Wilson, or more likely his political/personal inner circle, unwilling to hand over the office to Marshall, the VP had no way around it. The Constitution has always provided that the Veep can step in the Prez is incapacitated. See [Article II, Section 1](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/article02/): > [@](#): > > In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or **Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President** … The problem is that the provision is ambiguously worded, and I think it would have taken a very courageous Vice-President, with lots of personal political support in Congress, to assert that the President was incapable of discharging the powers and duties of the office, especially if the President maintained that he was competent. That was one of the reasons for the [25th Amendment](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment25/): to provide a clearer mechanism for the issue to be resolved. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163/40 "2004-05-27T05:58:48Z")
As pointed out by **SmackFu** , Pelosi will become the Speaker of the House if the Democrats win a majority of the seats in November. Presuming the Democrats take the House, she will become #3 in succession. The only woman I’ve heard bandied about for Kerry’s VP is Janet Napolitano (governor of Arizona), and I believe she is considered an outside shot. I haven’t seen polling numbers for congressional races, either. So I have no idea if this is more or less probable than Ferraro-as-president scenario. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-woman-has-been-closest-to-the-presidency/247163.md?page=3)