This image, although it is fairly simple, can tell us a lot about the political spectrum of the United States over the course of our existence. It's pretty obvious that for 232 years, we never were lead by anyone other than a white man who was fairly old. While these men differed in background and political belief, they were still the same with regards to race and gender. Today, however, we have much more diversity in our government. Seventeen of the one hundred US senators are women, and while you might think that the tradition-loving Republican party would only nominate men, eight of these women are members of the GOP. No woman has advanced to the top of the legistative branch to the positon of Speaker of the House, and likewise no woman has ever been elected President (obviously) or Vice President. However, three women who are very familiar to the American public have been nominated Secretary of State: Madeleine Albright (under Bill Clinton), Condoleezza Rice (under George Bush), and Hillary Clinton (under Barack Obama). For the past ten years, women have been in charge of all of the United States' foreign affairs. Have they been successful? It's tough to judge - the past decade was a rough one for American politics, especially relating to overseas. In the Judicial Branch, only three women have ever served as Supreme Court Justices. Sandra Day O'Connor was the first, in 1981, and she's been followed by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor (who are both still serving and will be forever; Justice is a lifetime position).
If you look at the amendments that have been made to the US Constitution over the years, there is a progressive expansion of who's allowed to vote. In the beginning, it was just white men over the age of twenty-one. After the Civil War and in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, voting was expanded to men of all races over the age of twenty-one. Inspired by the success of the Civil Rights Movement, feminists launched a campaign that ended in Women's Suffrage - expanding the right to vote to all citizens over the age of twenty-one. When the Vietnam War was being fought, many young soldiers had a problem with the fact that they could fight (and die) for their country without voting to elect their leaders. Lawmakers saw that the teenagers had a very good point, so they lowered the voting age to eighteen.
I think the progression of who's allowed to vote will be mirrored by who's elected President. Naturally, when white males were the only population voting, one of their own was guaranteed to win. Last election season, the first major Presidential candidate to come from a racial minority ran - and won. This man is the standout at the very end of the cartoon above, his name is Barack Obama. In the next few years, I think it's inevitable that a woman will be Commander in Chief of the United States. It's been displayed on TV (on Fox's hit show, 24) and Hillary Clinton is in position as Secretary of State; she's gaining experience in foreign policy, and everyone knows that her hunband - Bill Clinton - was among the most effective and well-liked Presidents ever. I predict a close race between Clinton and Obama for the 2012 election, and if Obama wins the Democratic Party's nomination then I think Clinton will undoubtedly be nominated - and probably win - in 2016. After we check off a minority and a female, the Amendments predict that the ages of the Presidents will gradually get younger as Americans aged 18-25 begin to listen to P. Diddy and vote.
This image, although it is fairly simple, can tell us a lot about the political spectrum of the United States over the course of our existence. It's pretty obvious that for 232 years, we never were lead by anyone other than a white man who was fairly old. While these men differed in background and political belief, they were still the same with regards to race and gender. Today, however, we have much more diversity in our government. Seventeen of the one hundred US senators are women, and while you might think that the tradition-loving Republican party would only nominate men, eight of these women are members of the GOP. No woman has advanced to the top of the legistative branch to the positon of Speaker of the House, and likewise no woman has ever been elected President (obviously) or Vice President. However, three women who are very familiar to the American public have been nominated Secretary of State: Madeleine Albright (under Bill Clinton), Condoleezza Rice (under George Bush), and Hillary Clinton (under Barack Obama). For the past ten years, women have been in charge of all of the United States' foreign affairs. Have they been successful? It's tough to judge - the past decade was a rough one for American politics, especially relating to overseas. In the Judicial Branch, only three women have ever served as Supreme Court Justices. Sandra Day O'Connor was the first, in 1981, and she's been followed by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor (who are both still serving and will be forever; Justice is a lifetime position).
If you look at the amendments that have been made to the US Constitution over the years, there is a progressive expansion of who's allowed to vote. In the beginning, it was just white men over the age of twenty-one. After the Civil War and in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, voting was expanded to men of all races over the age of twenty-one. Inspired by the success of the Civil Rights Movement, feminists launched a campaign that ended in Women's Suffrage - expanding the right to vote to all citizens over the age of twenty-one. When the Vietnam War was being fought, many young soldiers had a problem with the fact that they could fight (and die) for their country without voting to elect their leaders. Lawmakers saw that the teenagers had a very good point, so they lowered the voting age to eighteen.
I think the progression of who's allowed to vote will be mirrored by who's elected President. Naturally, when white males were the only population voting, one of their own was guaranteed to win. Last election season, the first major Presidential candidate to come from a racial minority ran - and won. This man is the standout at the very end of the cartoon above, his name is Barack Obama. In the next few years, I think it's inevitable that a woman will be Commander in Chief of the United States. It's been displayed on TV (on Fox's hit show, 24) and Hillary Clinton is in position as Secretary of State; she's gaining experience in foreign policy, and everyone knows that her hunband - Bill Clinton - was among the most effective and well-liked Presidents ever. I predict a close race between Clinton and Obama for the 2012 election, and if Obama wins the Democratic Party's nomination then I think Clinton will undoubtedly be nominated - and probably win - in 2016. After we check off a minority and a female, the Amendments predict that the ages of the Presidents will gradually get younger as Americans aged 18-25 begin to listen to P. Diddy and vote.