Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait?: Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote

by Tina Cassidy

In this “heroic narrative” ( The Wall Street Journal ), discover the inspiring and timely account of the complex relationship between leading suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women’s equality.

Woodrow Wilson lands in Washington, DC, in March of 1913, a day before he is set to take the presidential oath of office. He is surprised by the modest turnout. The crowds and reporters are blocks away from Union Station, watching a parade of eight thousand suffragists on Pennsylvania Avenue in a first-of-its-kind protest organized by a twenty-five-year-old activist named Alice Paul. The next day, The New York Times calls the procession “one of the most impressively beautiful spectacles ever staged in this country.”

Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? weaves together two the trajectories of Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson, two apparent opposites. Paul’s procession of suffragists resulted in her being granted a face-to-face meeting with President Wilson, one that would lead to many meetings and much discussion, but little progress for women. With no equality in sight and patience wearing thin, Paul organized the first group to ever picket in front of the White House lawn—night and day, through sweltering summer mornings and frigid fall nights.

From solitary confinement, hunger strikes, and the psychiatric ward to ever more determined activism, Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? reveals the courageous, near-death journey it took, spearheaded in no small part by Alice Paul’s leadership, to grant women the right to vote in America. “A remarkable tale” ( Kirkus Reviews ) and a rousing portrait of a little-known feminist heroine, this is an eye-opening exploration of a crucial moment in American history one century before the Women’s March.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, American History, Womens, Biography

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 5, 2019

About the author

Tina Cassidy writes about women and culture. In addition to Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the Right to Vote, she is the author of Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born; and Jackie After O: One Remarkable Year When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Defied Expectations and Rediscovered Her Dreams. A former journalist who spent most of her career at the Boston Globe covering business, fashion and politics, she is the Chief Marketing Officer of GBH. Cassidy serves on the board of The Conversation US. She lives in the Boston area with her husband, the author Anthony Flint, their three sons, and a Norfolk Terrier named Dusty.

Reviews

[Tina Cassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only did I read this book, I wrote it. :)

[Sugarpuss O'Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I've read a few books on the Suffragist movement, most are told through the prism of Carrie Chapman Catt & the NAWSA. Alice Paul is almost always shoved aside, lucky to be mentioned at all. Quite frankly, Alice Paul did the things Ms Catt was too afraid or unwilling to do. Ms Paul's & the NWP's acts of Civil Disobedience laid the foundation that other oppressed groups follow to this day. Now, as for Mr Wilson.... The only reason he even remotely considered the Susan B Anthony Amendment was so that his party could hang on to power. Period. After all, if you weren't a rich, white, Anglo-Saxon male, you didn't matter to Woodrow Wilson. And if it weren't for WWI pushing his blatant racism & sexism into the background, he wouldn't be as revered as he is today. That being said.....

This book does a good job explaining the forces behind this 19th Amendment debate. Quite often, when discussing two different personalities with clashing points of view, the reader tends to get lost. Not in this case. Ms Cassidy does a great job keeping the story concise and engaging. This is a highly enjoyable read.


PS: The perfect complement to this book is THE WOMAN'S HOUR by Elaine Weiss. It's about the Ratification fight, and I highly recommend it.

[Amber Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It made me so grateful for all that these women went through and all they sacrificed - even health and decent strength - to obtain the vote for women. Every time I vote, I will think of these incredible women and their strength.

[Khris Sellin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I visited the Belmont-Paul House a few years ago after it was designated as a National Park site, and I was so inspired then by these women's stories. This book builds on that foundation and details the timeline of events, really delving into what Alice Paul and all the women involved in the suffrage movement did for the cause. You get a true sense of their dedication and how much they were willing to suffer to achieve their goal. Told on a parallel track with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson and how he slowly, slowly came around to supporting the cause. Every woman -- every human -- should read this and never take for granted your right to vote (dammit!) and honor the memory of these incredibly brave women by exercising that right!

[Kate Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I had some idea of how the final years of the American women's suffrage struggle played out, this gave me a much greater depth of understanding. I hadn't realized that the suffragists who picketed the White House didn't just go out there once in awhile, but kept up the pressure almost daily. To do so frequently meant harrassment, arrest, imprisonment and the torture of force-feeding. It is unbelievable that the Wilson administration was in agreement with treating them so harshly! In addition, the women of the National Woman's Party continued to travel around the country lobbying politicians and of course had to fundraise to keep the operation going.
Party leader Alice Paul was particularly tireless and committed. We learn not only of her heroic efforts to win passage and ratification of the Susan B. Anthony amendment granting women the vote, but all the work she did on behalf of women in the decades that followed. Two out of many examples were the drafting of 600 pieces of legislation to improve the rights of women (half became law), and the establishment of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Despite so many years of such work, she died penniless in a nursing facility in 1977. She was 92.

[Susan Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic & informative read on a subject I’m ashamed to say I knew little about. Alice Paul and the other suffragists were incredibly brave and unrelenting in their quest for the vote. Today’s current political climate makes me feel we have not gone too far in 100 years. (Library)

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I studied women’s suffrage in grad school, so whenever a new book about the movement comes out, I always groan a bit. Yes, I want to read it because I want to know what’s going on in the research in this field. But the likelihood of my finding any fresh take or new perspective? Virtually nil. Most histories of the movement are tediously repetitious — repeating the same stories, probably for the same audiences.

This book, though, was unexpectedly fresh. Yes, most of the stories about Alice Paul have been covered before (over and over and over). I assume you could say the same about Wilson, although I haven’t read as much about him. But putting their stories side-by-side is really illuminating. For me, it put into much better focus the nuances of each side.

Plus, I really enjoyed how well-researched the book was. I have already read repeatedly about the parades, the picketing, the hold-the-party-in-power-accountable strategy, the imprisonments, etc. But there are new details here. Or, if there’s not new, they are presented in a lively, engaging style that makes them feel new, that wakes me up.

I wonder if it’s perhaps because so many histories of women’s suffrage up until very recently were written by scholars — and addressed to scholars. That is, heavy on the research and theory but light on the storytelling. This book reads surprisingly like a novel — but unlike historical fiction novels (ugh, always makes me groan because so many details get changed or exaggerated), this one sticks really tightly to the history.

I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book and by how easy it is to recommend it to anyone wanting to understand the last decade of the movement and how the radical fringe successfully applied political pressure on the executive leader that ultimately worked.

There are lessons here for social activists. But more than that, there is a great book just for reading.

[Brett Van Gaasbeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author clearly has passion and the storytelling of these people is very good, in spurts. The writing does get bogged down at times in mundane details that really do not advance the narrative of the suffrage fight or the Wilson administration. It is a solid rundown of the quest for suffrage in the final stages of the fight, as very little is discussed prior to the Alice Paul efforts of the 1910s. If you are intrigued by the connections to Stanton and Anthony, other than the mere mention of their efforts, this is not the book for you. To be fair, the author makes it very clear at the beginning that this is primarily a telling of the showdown between Paul and Wilson, with some intriguing people in the mix that get little to no play in the typical history of the time period. Interesting read about a glossed over chapter of our history.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Paul should really be more of a household name than she is - monomaniacal, zealous, inventive, and amazing - a true radical in every sense of the word. This book had an interesting premise - following the suffrage movement through both Wilson's and Paul's lives. I think I had expected for there to be more overlap/meetings between the two of them, but the lens was still an effective way to explore a movement that shaped American democracy. My one other quibble with the book was that I think it shortchanges Carrie Chapman Catt and the more moderate wing of the suffrage movement - I think they both needed each other. While CCC and Paul had their differences, CCC is a shero in her own right (and probably deserves her own book!).

[Danica is Booked · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read. Well written and researched.

I have only recently begun to learn more about Alice Paul—the good she did, those she left behind, and everything in between.

This is a very in-depth book in the topic for those who want to see the interplay of Wilson and Paul. It switches back and forth between both of them and their perspectives and the timeline.

Alice is an interesting character. It’s interesting to see the civil disobedience that they employed and how it was received.

It doesn’t touch much on issues of race here or Alice’s statements on that. Or really some of the criticisms of Paul along those lines.

[Brittney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. I had no idea that women were tortured in American prisons for their efforts to obtain the vote. I was also fascinated by the patterns in political protests in our history. And wtf President Wilson?! Not great.

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much history I didn’t know. Fascinating juxtaposition of Alice Paul’s tireless crusade for women’s suffrage and the presidency of the ghastly Woodrow Wilson. When you think about it, women getting the right to vote not only one of the most significant of the 20th century but of all time.
Thanks to my friend Marianne at the Darien Library for the recommendation.

[Brett Milam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d never heard of Alice Paul until July 2021, more than 100 years after the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. For the record, it’s wild to me that we outlawed alcohol with the 18th Amendment and Prohibition before enfranchising American women.

Thanks to the fast-paced, absorbing book, Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote by Tina Cassidy, a former journalist, I now have, and I have to say, Paul ought to be considered among the greatest, most important Americans who has ever lived.

And yet! I’d never heard of until two weeks ago. That distresses me. In fact, as a further indictment of the 19 years of education I received — yes, 19 years, between kindergarten and high school, as well as seven years for my undergraduate degree in philosophy — I didn’t learn much at all about woman’s suffrage and the push for the 19th Amendment.

Thanks again to Cassidy, I now have and it’s a deeply affecting, fascinating story, and of course, enraging. Sitting here in 2021 reading this book and writing about it, it’s so hard to understand how it was a serious and long-held position that women ought not vote. It seems crazy, right? Of course they should be able to vote! But we’re barely a century removed from it actually happening. And I suppose, when you look at the current political landscape and how Republicans primarily are hell-bent on making it harder, not easier, to vote, it’s actually not all that crazy.

Perhaps the two most extraordinary things to me about Paul off-the-bat are:

1.) She was only 25 when she organized the most extraordinary counter-protest in American history to the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson on March 4, 1913. To be sure, there were older, status quo women in the suffrage movement who had contributed a great deal to it, but Paul came in with a new vision and a new path to achieving the goal. She rocked the boat and was hated in many quarters, even among those women, for it. And despite only being 25, she was incredibly well-read, well-educated, well-traveled and well-experienced.

2.) I’m so happy she lived a full life and made it to the age of 92, dying in 1977. I was worried she wasn’t even going to see the fruits of her labor in the early 1900s with the passage of the 19th Amendment, much less get to live such a long life. Her health condition seemed so dire, primarily due to repeated hunger strikes fighting for suffrage in England.

You have to hand it to the Quakers. Paul comes from a lineage of Quakers and was raised in the Quaker tradition of public service. Whether it’s woman suffrage as here, or going back to abolition of slavery or to the founding ideals of the country in the American Revolution, some sort of Quaker influence or character manifest out of the Quaker tradition, has been there and influencing outcomes. I’d read the heck out of a book about the Quakers.

I digress. Cassidy’s book, as the subtitle suggests, is a breathless and riveting account of these two opposing forces and their inevitable clash over woman’s suffrage, Paul and Wilson. What blew my mind about Wilson, as Cassidy wrote, is that he was born of the Southern Confederacy mindset and was a boy during the Civil War. In essence, Wilson’s life was bookended by the two worst wars in American history, as well as the Spanish flu, no less. That’s rather remarkable to consider, but beyond an interesting trivia point, Wilson’s upbringing in the South most certainly influenced his outlook later in life, despite how much academic window dressing he put on.

To that, since I did my two big takeaways about Paul, my main two takeaways from Wilson are:

1.) He’s a racist. Plain and simple. But because of the political optics, he tries to be hands-off about it or appear as if it’s an academic exercise or, as he explained to one black man, segregation of blacks and whites was actually to the benefit of blacks. For as much as people want to credit Wilson for, whether it’s the eight-hour work week, “ending” child labor and some even credit him for “making the world safe for democracy” via the U.S. entry into WW1, one has to deal with the racism of Wilson and how he segregated the federal government (and I believe the military, too) and helped to usher in a resurgence of the Ku-Klux-Klan. He arguably left the country on a worse footing domestically in that regard after his two terms than prior.

2.) I’m not as convinced as historians are that Wilson’s views “evolved” on woman’s suffrage and he changed his mind accordingly. Not one bit of me thinks Wilson had a true, honest-to-god change-of-heart about woman’s suffrage and believed in the agency of women to be as deserving of self-government as men. As with racism, even once Wilson put his voice behind suffrage, he still did it in that mealy-mouthed way, where it doesn’t seem like he was as full-throated as he could have been. But anyhow, I believe he changed out of political expediency, political optics and importantly, the continued, unrelentingly brave campaign by Paul and her organization. Take Paul out of the picture and Wilson never “evolves.” That’s my counter-factual assessment, at least.

The women mentioned in the book, including Paul, are just unbelievably brave throughout the struggle through much of Wilson’s two presidential terms to get suffrage passed at the federal level. First, there’s the inter-movement disputes between Paul and those status quote women, wherein the latter believe a.) we should go state-by-state to achieve suffrage and b.) Paul and her tactics are too militant.

Part of Paul’s “tactics” included the Silent Sentinels, among the most incredible women in the history of the country. All they were doing was silently protesting with signs in front of the White House. Signs that said things like, “Mr. President, what will you do for woman suffrage? How long must women wait for liberty?”

That’s the thing, too: It’s easy for those with the power to demand patience of those without the power. Those without get tired of waiting and it’s not as if those with power will easily give it up. You have to be persistent and in a way, aggravating to those with the power until they can’t resist any longer.

But anyway, the Sentinels seem benign, right? Protesting in the White House would seem like the most American form of protest: Protesting at the front door, so to speak, of the most powerful human being on the planet. Instead, the status quo women saw it as uncouth; they were attacked physically by men, including soldiers and sailors, in both having their signs ripped down and literally being assaulted and dragged on the ground; and then they were arrested by the police in what is surely arrests without merits.

If that all wasn’t bad enough, judges were overly punitive to send a message and try to break the women. For what amounted to a mere traffic offense, the women, including Paul, were sentenced to months in jail in awful conditions and often they would rebel against the system by going on hunger strikes. Again, these women were unbelievably courageous and brave. I get goosebumps even typing this. They were political prisoners undoubtedly, even if the establishment wouldn’t recognize them as such.

Some added context to the woman’s suffrage movement is that in the final couple of years leading into the ratification of the amendment, WW1 was raging in Europe and then America got involved. At that point, it was especially seen as egregious to criticize the president during wartime. That helped fuel much of the animus toward the women, but it wasn’t just misguided patriotic fury, but that a good chunk of men (and some women) didn’t think women ought to vote. And more to the point, those women should know their place.

Not too many government officials in this book come out of it looking well and no, not just with the help of historical hindsight; there is no allowance for time, given that people in their time were arguing for suffrage.

One such character who looked downright awful, and would be silly if he didn’t have actual power with his vote, was Representative Jacob Meeker of Missouri. He said those of his colleagues in support of the 19th Amendment were only doing so because their wives were withholding sex unless they voted for the amendment. Yes, he really said that.

On the other hand, in contrast to Meeker, is State Rep. Harry Burn, a Republican and the youngest lawmaker in the Tennessee legislature. The suffragists zeroed in on Tennessee as the last state they would need to get the Constitutionally-required two-thirds of states to ratify the amendment. And the suffragists in particular zeroed in on Burn (and State Rep. Banks Turner) as potential “yes’ votes. Burn at first seemed unwilling to “pledge himself” to the cause.

Before the vote came, Burn read a note he had in his pocket from his mother saying she missed him and some other smaller things and then, “Hurrah and vote for suffrage and don’t keep them in doubt. I’ve been waiting to see how you stood but have not seen anything yet … Don’t forget to be a good boy … Love, Mama.”

Burn voted “yes.” You can’t disappoint your mom! So, sure, maybe it wasn’t out of any sense of ideology, but whatever the mechanism, he did the right thing under a lot of pressure not to.

In my estimation, every American ought to read Cassidy’s book. It’s insightful and reads like a thriller because of Paul’s steadfastness paired up against the dry academia bigotry of Wilson; of a woman from nothing up against a man with everything. That collision course, which Cassidy sought to chart, is well-done and exciting in the best, history nerd way. If you think history is inaccessible, I would argue that this is among the best of the “popular [insert social science] books.” So, yes, it is accessible and I highly recommend it! Cassidy’s writing flows with the sense of urgency as if Paul was guiding along her pen; it’s not a dense treatise.

And honestly, I find much of the book rage-inducing. That these brave women faced such unjust, immoral and illegal opposition from the most powerful people in America, as well as fellow women in the movement.

Women and men alike owe a debt of gratitude to those women. They fought for liberty, self-government and autonomy and they won. They freaking won. Yes, it took a long time. Longer than they ought to have waited. But because of their unyielding persistence to agitate Wilson, they won and should be vindicated in their methods, not just the ends achieved. As Frederick Douglass said, which is a quote used at the beginning of the book, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.”

The only sadness I have about the book related to my aforementioned second takeaway about Paul is that she largely died penniless and unknown. I don’t think she cared about either, but it’s quite the state of affairs that Wilson will always be remembered because of the office he occupied (and is considered one of the greatest presidents of all time, ranked 13th in C-SPAN’s latest ranking of presidents by historians) and Paul still is largely unknown by the wider public, including myself until recently.

Please rectify that by going and reading this book. You won’t be able to put it down and you’ll be better off for having now known Paul’s story.

[Candice L. Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having studied World War I so extensively in the last few years, I found that this book added a depth and breadth to that era. Alice Paul is a familiar hero of US women’s history, but this presentation of her life contrasted against that of Woodrow Wilson provides a great way to better understand both. For me, the choices made by Alice Paul and her colleagues were brave, bold, and perhaps a bit uncomfortable. But a protest that makes an impact, makes a statement, makes a difference - maybe really has to make people uncomfortable in order to do those things. Peaceful and pressing boundaries, we feel this in the efforts to impact change to this day. Overall it was a great and insightful reading providing an interesting set of subjects and an opportunity for education on important topics.

[cvtherin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a good, thorough book looking at just what women went through to get the right to vote. Alice Paul remains practically unknown to this day, and it's such a shame. Definitely recommend for people who want to know more about this subject.

Also, special shout out to Tina Cassidy who acknowledge that women of color didn't get the right to vote due to the wording of the amendment, vote suppression, etc. even if it was just a mention at the end. So many people who write books on this subject act like this gave all women the right to vote, when it was only white women.

I would love to see her delve into how women of color fought for this too.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

”What surprised me most about my findings was how much I seemed to be looking not at the past, but at our present. The issues at the heart of American democracy remain the same today as they did a century ago. We fight the enemy abroad and battle each other at home. We hold sacred ideals but struggle to meet them ourselves. We forget that progress can be slow and sometimes indirect. But most of all, we fail to remember that it takes just one person – however imperfect – who is utterly committed to change, to make it happen.”

When this book came out last year, I told my mom that she needed to read it. She told me that it was good, and it promptly moved to the bottom of my TBR. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to read this, but I have a million books on my TBR. (only a slight exaggeration) However this year is the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, so I knew I needed to read a bit about it.

Besides, Alice Paul is one of my heroes, so I knew I had to get back to this story eventually. Alice grew up near my hometown and I have always felt possessive of her. My hometown isn’t all that exciting, we have to claim our champions where we can.

This book, on the other hand, is exciting. Although I know the outcome of this story, Cassidy kept me interested from beginning to end. I was convinced that I knew most of what had happened on the way to women getting the vote. I do know the highlights, but Cassidy filled in some of the details.

One of the parts I liked about this book is that I learned more about Woodrow Wilson and his background. This knowledge explained some of the reasons he was not more supportive of women getting the vote.

All in all, I should have read this sooner. If only so my mom and I could have talked more about it together.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? focuses on the latter part of the first wave of the women's rights movement, and specifically on the actions and reactions of Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Wilson administration before the passage of the 19th amendment in Congress. It gives partial biographies of both Paul and Wilson to explain their viewpoints, behavior, and reactions to one another in the struggle to get the 19th amendment passed by Congress in the early part of the 20th century, and is extremely detailed in this regard. Accounts of the Women's Party protests - as well as the history, rationale, and symbolism behind the choices of methods - are much more in-depth than they have been in the other books on the women's suffrage movement that I have read (Votes for Women! by Winifred Conkling, which is an overview of the women's suffrage movement on a whole, and The Woman's Hour by Elaine Weiss, which focuses on getting the 19th amendment ratified in the last needed state, Tennessee). Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? is a great examination of the era and actions of Alice Paul, and for that I am happy to have read it and would recommend it to others. However, it is a very narrowly focused book, and those looking for a wider may find consulting other books on the first wave of the women's movement more helpful for gaining a greater understanding of the early history of the women's movement or the actions of other politicians or activists during this period.

[Cecilia Casagrande · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Woodrow Wilson, Alice Paul and her fight for women to have the right to vote was beautifully told in this compelling narrative non-fiction by Tina Cassidy. I can’t believe that I never heard of Alice Paul and I am so thankful for this engaging and fast-paced book that taught me the real story of the vote. Cassidy’s engaging, heart wrenching and dramatic account of what women only endured to secure equality in our democracy as well as Wilson’s push and pull was brilliantly done. Cassidy isn’t afraid to tackle the inside politics of the women’s movement as well as the racism of the time. The beautifully written details of the first Women’s March, Alice’s home and headquarters, working jails and the handmade signs for the protests outside the white house gates just to name a few are what makes this a powerful force and not just any historical non-fiction. I finished Cassidy’s book with my heart full and ready to finish Alice’s life-long fight to finally help pass the Equal Rights Amendment. I will certainly pass it on to friends and family, an important piece of the women’s movement history that everyone should know and thanks to Cassidy for this extremely enjoyable, thorough and easy to read work of art we will.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have given it 4 stars it I hadn't already known so much of the information. It was interesting to see it as a dual biography - a contrast between Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson. Alice was a fanatic about one thing and did not feel the need to support any one party or person unless they were loyal to her cause. Wilson was a racist who did espouse many other progressive ideas. At least two of Wilson's daughters were pro-suffrage. It would be interesting to know where his first wife would have stood on the issue had she lived longer. It is often forgotten that Ellen had her own cause - the improvement of the slum conditions in Washington, D.C. Legislation named for her passed in Congress as she was dying so they could tell her if had been successful.

Alice Paul and the radicals were in the background of history until the 1980s, when their role began to be more public. This was a good introduction to their fight.

Note: After Jeannette Rankin voted against entering WWI, she was defeated for re-election. She was re-elected in 1939 and became the only member of Congress to vote against entry into World War II. She was again defeated for re-election and spent the rest of her life involved in pacifist causes.

[Kimberly Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Paul was an American suffragist that was one of the leaders to finish the centuries old campaign for women to be able to vote. The 1920 19th Amendment, only happened because Paul pushed boundaries strategized events protests, marches, and events that would set the stage for the future of all activists. She made it impossible to ignore the subject despite competing world and national events like segregation and World War 1. And like the best activists, she was abused, jailed, and tortured for her efforts. Woodrow Wilson, President at the time had to be coaxed and prodded along repeatedly to move the topic to success.

After 1920, Paul spent a half century fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment of 1923. She played a major role in adding protection for women in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She died penniless in 1977 at 92 years of age.

The author does a fine job of following the life of Wilson along with Paul because the two would be tied to each others success or demise. An easy read, but full of good detail that described the times, It's a wonderful addition to American history reading.

[. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I applaud the author for taking the time to write this book. As she said, there are biographies out there of both Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson, but this work highlights something you'll find in neither: time.

Read about Woodrow Wilson and you'll see Paul's name pop up, but only a handful of times over the several hundred pages of bio. Why? Because even though the events are now important to us as a nation, they weren't important to Woodrow Wilson and he didn't spend much time thinking about women's suffrage.

And while Alice Paul largely dedicated her life to the Suffragist movement, with so many things going on at one time she can seem disconnected from the surrounding events.

In this book, however, both stories weave together (complete with appearances by the always bad ass Trotter) and the resulting product is a book which makes you feel the anguish of every day spent in waiting for rights which should've already been granted. You get to witness, seemingly in real time, the perpetual anger of disenfranchised women simmering over one of our nation's most glaring periods of inaction.

[Elizabeth Hayhoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. The narration was mediocre. I learned a lot about suffrage. I still can’t believe that women won the vote in 1920!!! Are you kidding me? So so late in time.
Anyway this book went on and on. I wish it had been edited. I think most of the women working as a suffragette were independently wealthy. Who could spend all that time picketing in front of the white house? Spending time in jail? No time to work or take care of your family.
The descriptions of the jail time and work house is chilling.
I had a problem with the way the suffragettes went after Woodrow Wilson after he started to support the cause. Alice Paul was so focused on getting the bill passed she put the people on the picket line in grave danger, herself included having no regard about the war . I disagreed with setting anything on fire in front of the White House on the picket line.
Alice Paul lost her health, she asked women to put themselves in danger, she was relentless. She was probably hard to be around.
I believe I would not have been a suffragette because I would have had to work at a paying job.

[Beatriz Aldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read about the suffrage movement and this was really enlightening! No idea that Germany tried to align itself with Mexico either during WW1! Really incredible how theses women did define the 20th century approach to protest. I have to laugh at the idea of women standing outside the White House being controversial. When you go the WH now, every interest imaginable is represented and it’s just normal. But that’s what the first amendment means to us now. Cannot believe how these women were treated for their peaceful protest. More than anything this reinforced for me that anything worth having also requires work and fight. And just because there is a law about something that doesn’t make that something right or just. And it is disappointing how much work and fight it took for women’s enfranchisement.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Tina Cassidy gives us an insight into the work of women to obtain the legality to vote. She explains why women couldn't vote: voting was too much for women, that they would make bad decisions, that they were not prepared to understand the issues, or that voting would take them out of the house and house duties.

The best part of the book is the profile of President Wilson, a scholarly and somewhat forward looking man who slowly sees what to do in the battle for the vote. Cassidy does a powerful job of integrating the women's movement of the time with World War I.

Some of the book gets bogged down in details in the early pages. But the last half of the book moves along well. It's an important story about our history.

[Cara (Wilde Book Garden) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Worth reading for the details of Alice Paul’s tactical brilliance and a good description of the long, arduous road to the 19th amendment.

Some aspects of the writing didn’t work for me and I would have liked more focus on intersectional feminism (racism within the movement was discussed but I would have liked to hear more about the intensive work Black women and other people of color were doing at the same time as Paul and others), but overall a solid double biography/historical overview with a good amount of details - many of which don’t get covered in other sources on the women’s suffrage movement.

CW: Hunger strikes and force-feeding, incarceration and mistreatment/abuse of prisoners, misogyny, racism, violence, references to: slavery, Jim Crow laws, lynching

[Bri B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was incredibly well-written and well-researched, engaging and educational, and unique in its premise of following Alice Paul’s activism as well as Woodrow Wilson’s political career. The book also excelled at showing the political climate outside of suffrage and around the world that impacted American women’s suffrage.

Reading this is so inspiring but equally frustrating. Suffragettes were beaten in the streets and sentenced to months in work prisons for protesting—a good chunk of modern women are promoting a return to these oppressive ideals, while another group thinks the height of political activism is posting a colorful infographic on Instagram. Things truly haven’t changed much, have they?

[Kathleen E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, because it is less about the fight for women's suffrage than it was a dual biography of Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson.

I really enjoyed the book, but had expected more of the context and history on suffrage itself. Some other reviews note allusions to intersectionality, for instance, that is never fully explored. It also takes on a number of other suffragettes, so sometimes you lose sight of the titular Alice Paul.

Overall, I learned a lot from this book and would recommend it paired with another book on the women's suffrage movement. (By the way, totally open to any recommendations you may have! I'd love to learn more about this after reading this one!)

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I had a basic understanding of the challenge of voting rights for women, I certainly had much to learn. The sacrifices made and the obstacles overcome were almost unsurmountable. Women had their fortunes depleted and their health compromised as the struggle involved travel, personal funding and imprisonment under terrible conditions including force feeding.
President Wilson was reluctant, distracted, unsympathetic and/or simply unable to handle the situation. He put up roadblock after roadblock. For part of the time, he was heavily involved in his personal problems but also in all the ramifications of WWI.
Alice Paul lived a long life and continued to be a political force.

[Mariah Oleszkowicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been my favorite women's suffrage book yet. Cassidy writes beautifully and makes the story so full of anticipation. It's really amazing what Paul did over the course of her first 35 years, then the next 60 - I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in my future reading. I appreciate how Cassidy fills us in on the early life of Wilson. Between this and a couple other books, I feel like I have the total outline of him. I knew the fight for suffrage was fraught with violence, but she really makes you understand the devotion these women had and they really were ready to fight to the death for this ideal - and at times surely felt they were staring death in the face. Thanks ladies.

[Rhys Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting to learn of all of the discourse between the different suffragette movements. Snobbery, racism, and differing opinions on how to best get things done. First time I've really gone inside the prisons/workhouses where the women were kept to learn of their disgusting conditions and actual treatment. These were tough women. The next time you hear, "When women were given the vote..." Call it out. Women were given nothing, they fought an incredibly difficult battle to FINALLY be granted a voice. Woodrow Wilson was clearly a conflicted man, claiming one allegiance to his party and another to women. He doesn't have my respect.