Victoria Woodhull

In 1872, Victoria Claflin Woodhull became the first woman ever to run for President of the United States, directly challenging the boundaries of American political life at a moment when women could not legally vote[1]. This remarkable feat capped a series of bold initiatives across finance, journalism, and activism that made Woodhull a significant figure in the history of women’s rights and social reform.

Born in 1838 in Homer, Ohio, Victoria Claflin emerged from a background of poverty and adversity in a family of ten children[2]. Forced by circumstances to support her family early on, she worked as a medium and fortuneteller, talents that later drew the attention of the wealthy industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt. Her first marriage, to Canning Woodhull, ended in divorce after years marked by hardship and infidelity, shaping her later advocacy for women’s autonomy in marriage and fueling her involvement in the free love movement[3]. In 1866, Victoria married James Harvey Blood, a Union Army veteran who supported her ambitions and activism.

By 1868, Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Claflin had moved to New York City, where their work as mediums introduced them to Vanderbilt, who sought their services to contact his late wife[4]. Vanderbilt’s financial advice proved lucrative, helping the sisters amass a small fortune—about $700,000 in six weeks—and securing their independence during a turbulent period in the stock market. In 1870, the sisters founded Woodhull, Claflin & Company, making history as the first female-owned brokerage on Wall Street; their unusual status earned them nicknames such as “the Queens of Finance.” They quickly put their capital to further use, launching Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly, an outspoken newspaper advocating women’s rights, free love, labor reform, and social equality[5]. The Weekly did not avoid taboo subjects—among its notable publications were the first English translation of Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and exposés on issues ranging from sex education to well-publicized moral scandals[3].

Woodhull’s political career advanced rapidly. In January 1871, she became the first woman to address a congressional committee, arguing that recent constitutional amendments already granted women the right to vote and pressing for explicit suffrage guarantees[5]. Her advocacy won respect from leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, even as her “free love” beliefs and activism made her a polarizing figure.

Just one year later, in 1872, Woodhull declared her candidacy for President as the nominee of the Equal Rights Party. She campaigned for women’s suffrage, labor rights, the nationalization of railroads, direct taxation, and regulation of business monopolies, and she even chose abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass (who never formally accepted) as her running mate[2]. Her vote totals were too small to be officially counted, but the symbolic impact of her candidacy was immense. Throughout her activism, Woodhull was known for her provocative rhetoric, exemplified by her call: “Let women issue a declaration of independence sexually, and absolutely refuse to cohabit with men until they are acknowledged as equals in everything, and the victory would be won in a single week.”

The later 1870s brought a shift in Woodhull’s life and public standing. Increasingly controversial, she and her sister left the United States and resettled in England in 1877. Woodhull married the British banker John Biddulph Martin, adopting the name Victoria Woodhull Martin and establishing herself in British society. Despite her departure from the turbulent American scene, her earlier work continued to influence debates about marriage, sexual freedom, suffrage, and the legitimacy of women’s leadership in business and government[1].

Woodhull’s enduring legacy extends across women’s rights, social reform, finance, and journalism. She is remembered not only as the first female presidential candidate, but as a speaker before Congress, as publisher of a weekly that dared to address taboo issues, and as the co-founder of Wall Street’s first female-owned brokerage. After her death in 1927, Woodhull’s place in history was cemented by her induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame, and by the continued relevance of her causes: suffrage, sexual freedom, and equal participation in public life[1].

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