Although no woman has yet served as president of the United 
States, women have played important roles within the executive 
branch and have found many ways to exert pressure on the 
president. In this work, presidential scholar Janet M. Martin studies 
the influence of women on and in the American executive branch.

    The Presidency and Women offers a sophisticated understanding 
of the nation’s largest interest group and insight into the nation’s 
most visible office. Martin studies in detail the presidencies of 
Kennedy through Carter, demonstrating both the substantive 
growth in women’s involvement in policy making and the political 
showcasing of women appointees. Her analysis provides insight 
into the day-to-day interactions between the White House and 
outside groups, the outside political pressures for certain policy 
agendas, and the internal White House dynamics in response to 
those pressures.

    This book weaves the actions of presidents, their White House 
staff, and others in government with the actions of women and 
women’s organizations. The result is a longitudinal political 
narrative of the presidency and women from 1961 to 1981, with a 
focus on domestic policy and the departments and agencies 
relating to that policy.

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JANET M. MARTIN is a professor of government and legal studies
at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.


The Presidency and Leadership, A Joseph V. Hughes, Jr., and
Holly O. Hughes Book