# Who was the most influential woman in WWII? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256 "2017-07-27T12:18:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/1 "2017-07-27T12:18:30Z")
See topic. I’ve read quite a lot of WWII history but when I thought up this question I couldn’t think of anybody. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/2 "2017-07-27T12:29:57Z")
I’d put Eleanor Roosevelt near the top of the list. She worked behind the scenes mostly but championed and advanced civil rights before it was on anyone’s political radar. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/3 "2017-07-27T15:16:27Z")
Clare Boothe Luce. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/4 "2017-07-27T15:20:08Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > See topic. I’ve read quite a lot of WWII history but when I thought up this question I couldn’t think of anybody. But there has to be. By saying “most” influential, even if Eva made Dolfie choose coffee over tea one day, you are constraining the question so that even that tiny thing would make her the “most” influential. I would vote either Betty Grable or Hedy Lamarr. The former for giving our boys something to fight for, and the latter for [frequency-hopping spread spectrum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor). ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/5 "2017-07-27T15:32:13Z")
Clementine Churchill. Without Winston Churchill’s leadership, Britain arguably wouldn’t have survived its darkest hour and successfully repelled the Nazi menace. But without his wife, Clementine, Churchill might never have become prime minister. By his own admission, the Second World War would have been “impossible without her” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/6 "2017-07-27T15:49:47Z")
How about the Queen Mother - [Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_The_Queen_Mother) whom Hitler is said to have called “the most dangerous woman in Europe.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/7 "2017-07-27T15:55:15Z")
The Dragon Lady (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) in the early 1940s was regarded by some as “the most powerful woman on earth” and was [very influential](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/24/world/madame-chiang-105-chinese-leader-s-widow-dies.html?mcubz=0) in gaining American support for her husband’s crooked dictatorship in China. It could be argued that propping up Chiang’s regime instead of giving support to more effective fighters like Mao’s troops prolonged the war in Asia. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/8 "2017-07-27T16:39:53Z")
Betty Pack was an english spy who served in Washington DC who slept with a bunch of Vichy french diplomats and got useful intelligence which the Allies were able to use in the Mediterranean theater. Marina Raskova was a pilot who convinced Stalin to organize three regiment of female pilots which fought with distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/9 "2017-07-27T17:08:30Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It could be argued that propping up Chiang’s regime instead of giving support to more effective fighters like Mao’s troops prolonged the war in Asia. While it may have made the conflict bloodier, I wouldn’t say it prolonged the war simply because logistics ensured the war would always have to go at a certain pace. Pre-war Japanese war games with a war starting in mid-1941 always had the war end in a complete Japanese loss in mid-1945 which is incredibly close to the real time table. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/10 "2017-07-27T17:35:45Z")
Assuming you’re not only looking for women who were among the good guys, Leni Riefenstahl has to be right up there. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/11 "2017-07-27T17:37:33Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > …Hedy Lamarr…for [frequency-hopping spread spectrum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor). According to the article that technology was not used in WWII. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/12 "2017-07-27T18:14:47Z")
Lyudmila Pavlichenko \*directly \*influenced at least 309 Germans. Influenced them right in the head (or other body part). That’s a lot less abstract. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/13 "2017-07-27T18:24:47Z")
Would \*\*Tokyo \*\*\*\*Rose \*\*merit a (dis)honorable mention? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/14 "2017-07-27T18:38:27Z")
Mention must be made of Jackie Cochran, creator of the WASP’s. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/15 "2017-07-27T18:44:22Z")
Betty Grable, inspiring tens of thousands of pieces of airplane nose art ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/16 "2017-07-27T19:28:09Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > According to the article that technology was not used in WWII. She was influential…and in WWII. Her influence was just not felt for a while!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/17 "2017-07-27T21:35:18Z")
[Lise Meitner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lise_Meitner) didn’t do much _during_ WWII that was influential, but her prewar work definitely influenced the outcome of the war. She (along with Otto Hahn and others) were the first to discover and correctly explain nuclear fission induced by neutron bombardment. Without that work there would have been no Manhattan Project and no atomic bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/18 "2017-07-27T23:47:16Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The Dragon Lady (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) in the early 1940s was regarded by some as “the most powerful woman on earth” and was [very influential](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/24/world/madame-chiang-105-chinese-leader-s-widow-dies.html?mcubz=0) in gaining American support for her husband’s crooked dictatorship in China. > > It could be argued that propping up Chiang’s regime instead of giving support to more effective fighters like Mao’s troops prolonged the war in Asia. Wrong. “Mao’s policy was strict. Communist forces were not to fight the Japanese unless attacked.They were to conserve their strength for seizing territory from the Nationalists. Mao made it clear that Chiang Kai-shek was their ultimate opponent, their enemy number 1”. Anthony Beevor. “The Second World War” Beevor also says the Chinese Communists and Japanese had secret agreements not to attack each other. [The Second World War (book) - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_World_War_(book)) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/19 "2017-07-28T02:36:37Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But there has to be. By saying “most” influential, even if Eva made Dolfie choose coffee over tea one day, you are constraining the question so that even that tiny thing would make her the “most” influential. > > I would vote either Betty Grable or Hedy Lamarr. The former for giving our boys something to fight for, and the latter for [frequency-hopping spread spectrum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor). Lamarr got the patent all right, but it was never developed for practical use until long after the war ended. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256/20 "2017-07-28T03:45:52Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Betty Grable … for giving our boys something to fight for, Yes, but Mae West got the life preserver named after her. The one that had two inflated sections that rested on the wearer’s chest. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-most-influential-woman-in-wwii/792256.md?page=2)