Fiorina was devastatingly succinct and dispassionate: “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.”
She understood what all schoolchildren learn about the playground bully: You don’t fight back with your fists, but with your barely concealed indifference. Bravo!
But I couldn’t help feeling disappointed, later in the evening, when Fiorina declined to answer CNN host Jake Tapper’s question: “What woman would you like to see on the $10 bill?”
Dishearteningly, nearly half of the 11 candidates stumbled on this one. A few named wives, daughters, mothers. Mike Huckabee flippantly stated he would pick his wife Janet, so that she could spend money with her own face on it.”
Two candidates named women who weren’t American, including our our own Gov. John Kasich, who cited “Mother Teresa, who lived a life so much bigger than her own.”
Yes, she did, but so did Mahatma Gandhi, and you don’t see his face on American currency.
Jeb Bush named “Ronald Reagan’s partner, Margaret Thatcher.”
Well, of course. Her likeness would complement the bills honoring Benjamin Disraeli and Winston Churchill.
Fiorina replied, “I think, honestly, it’s a gesture. I don’t think it helps to change our history.”
It’s a thoughtful response, but it misses the mark. Lincoln’s face on the penny, after all, also is only a gesture. And the point isn’t to change our history — it’s to honor it.
This is the currency of national recognition, and there has been precious little of it for American women. “It bothers me that there are no monuments on the National Mall, no books on the women’s movement in high school libraries,” said Susan Hesselgesser, executive director of the League of Women Voters of the Greater Dayton Area. “I’m shocked it has taken this long for an American woman to be placed on the $10 bill.”
Her choice: suffragist Susan B. Anthony, previously honored on a silver dollar. “She wrote the 19th amendment, word for word, 48 years before it was adopted,” Hesselgesser said.
Anthony died in 1906, 14 years before women won the right to vote. “She never voted, except one time when she did it illegally and got arrested,” Hesselgesser said. “But she was out there every day, giving speeches, getting jeered. She just never gave up.”
Vivienne Himmell of Dayton is a 50-year member of the League of Women Voters and a passionate advocate for voter education and voters’ rights. Her pick? First Lady Abigail Adams. “She was right up front with her demands for equal rights for women long before the suffragist movement made history,” she said.
League member Valerie Lee picked the late poet Maya Angelou: “Through her talents, wisdom, and intellect she was able to overcome the effects of childhood trauma and leave a lasting and positive contribution to our society. As we’re drawn to the Pope primarily due to his perceived authenticity, I reflect back on this phenomenal woman. One of her quotes could be a mantra for the League’s voter registration efforts: If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt is the choice of former Montgomery County CASA director Barbara Buddendeck of Centerville. “Franklin Roosevelt may have had the bully pulpit that his cousin Theodore invented,” she said, “but Eleanor had the pillow talk and dinner conversations with the President that brought about the social changes from which we still benefit. She was the President’s eyes, ears and legs. She traveled around the country and the world to support the troops, to comfort the homeless, to improve education, to advocate for improved racial relations, to better working conditions for miners.”
Local activist Mary Sue Gmeiner of Clark County chose abolitionist Harriet Tubman — also the people's choice in a recent online straw poll (www.womenon20s.org). "In a country that values independence, but embraces conformity, Harriet Tubman represents those who will stand against the status quo," Gmeiner said. "I greatly admire people who live out the courage of their convictions."
These League members also lauded the choices of the candidates who did answer the question: civil rights champion Rosa Parks (Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz); American Red Cross founder Clara Barton (Scott Walker); Susan B. Anthony (Rand Paul); and Abigail Adams (Chris Christie).
“It’s a tough choice,” Himmell said.
Yes it is, isn’t it? And not because of a lack of worthy women, but an overabundance of them.
Let’s hear it for the face of the American woman.
What do you think?
Should Americans heed Pope Francis’ call to welcome refugees? And does Dayton’s status as a “welcome city” give it a special role in the Syrian refugee crisis? If America opens its doors to Syrian refugees, would you consider giving a family temporary refuge in your home? Contact this columnist at maryjomccarty@gmail.com.
About the Author