History was made at the 1972 Democratic and Republican national conventions—which both convened in Miami in July and August. They were the first US national party conventions in the history of the American Republic in which women held positions of power. Just a few months after the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and Title IX, the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) rode a wave of popular support, and Shirley Chisholm made history as the first woman presidential candidate to run a full primary campaign.
Article continues after advertisement
At the Democratic convention in July, a full 40 percent of the delegates (1,212) were women, and 15 percent were Black—three times more than in 1968. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, a Black California congressional candidate, was named Democratic National Committee vice chair, and the NWPC successfully lobbied the party to adopt a fifteen-point Rights of Women plank in the party platform. George McGovern’s staff nicknamed the women “The Nylon Revolution,” and they would soon battle over abortion rights on the convention floor.
*
Brenda Feigen: Gloria, Marc, my brother Richard, and I had all run as Chisholm delegates on the Upper East Side, but we lost and therefore were not delegates at the convention. Gloria and I flew to Miami and checked into this really dumpy hotel, the Betsy Ross. We shared a room. There was no shower curtain, the paint was peeling, the lightbulbs had no shades….Gloria mused that we wouldn’t be in the room very much.
*
Theodore H. White, The Making of the President 1972
The National Women’s Political Caucus had taken over as headquarters the third floor of the derelict, sea-sprayed Betsy Ross Hotel….The Betsy Ross was the power center. Mimeograph and Xerox machines spewed out leaflets in thousands; the switchboard at the Betsy Ross Hotel jammed; fuses blew; and each night, after dark, couriers boarded the busses to travel north on Collins Avenue and persuade night clerks of the forty or more major hotels to stuff mailboxes or let them slip leaflets under delegates’ doors. ‘WOMAN POWER 1972’…When the convention broke up, woman power 1972 was real.
Arlie Scott: The big issue was not only proportional representation, but also support for a pro-choice plank in the platform.
Betty Friedan: I went to both conventions as a reporter: a maneuver by Bella had replaced the caucus steering committee by special convention “spokeswomen”—Gloria Steinem at the Democratic, Jill Ruckelshaus at the Republican.
Brenda Feigen: The Policy Council of the NWPC chose Gloria to be its spokesperson at the Democratic convention. Neither Gloria nor I had been present during the vote, and Gloria expressed no pleasure at having been awarded the honor.
*
Esquire, November 1972, “Woman,” by Nora Ephron
Two weeks before the convention, the NWPC council met to elect a spokesperson in Miami and chose Gloria Steinem over Friedan. The election was yet another chapter in Friedan’s ongoing feud with Steinem….Just how well the caucus will do in its first national election remains to be seen….There were battles still to be fought at the convention—the South Carolina challenge and the abortion plank—but the first was small potatoes (or so it seemed beforehand) and the second was a guaranteed loser.
*
Harper’s Magazine, October 1972, “McGovern the Big Tease,” by Germaine Greer
When I got to the National Women’s Political Caucus meeting in the Napoleon Room at the Deauville Hotel on Sunday morning, Gloria Steinem was speaking, and the controlled jubilance of her tone pushed my tormenting hopes up to a fever pitch. She spoke of councilmen being ousted by housewives, of women forming 46 percent of the attendance at precinct meetings in one state. “The political process has been changed,” she sang, “and it will never be the same again.”…Bella Abzug took over, vowing staunchly…that women would not be McGovern’s sacrificial lamb….Bella brought up the question of the minority report on control of one’s reproductive destiny. To bring abortion into the Democratic party platform might be unwise, she argued, but the issue concerned a fundamental human right that could not be denied by those who chose to live by a different code…
There was a brief debate on the subject; some delegates argued that it was a state matter, and inappropriate therefore in the party platform…Bella’s…windup left us in even more doubt about how the women were to proceed: it was our overriding priority to dump Nixon, she said, even if we had to waive the immediacy of certain demands. “Womanpower is a growing thing that must live.”
*
Boston Globe, July 11, 1972, “Women Delegates Caucus, Hopefuls Woo Their Votes,” by Ellen Goodman
The women’s caucus held a meeting yesterday and the candidates came. They came not for chivalry but for votes.
And that’s a measure of political power.
A full third of the women delegates filled the Carillon Hotel ballroom as the candidates came to woo them: first Terry Sanford, then Hubert Humphrey, Shirley Chisholm and George McGovern. George Wallace sent a friend of his wife. Only Edmund Muskie didn’t show.
Arlie Scott: The Women’s Caucus at the Democratic convention met in a huge room with a podium where the candidates would talk about women’s issues. The big issue was not only proportional representation, but also support for a pro-choice plank in the platform. That was very, very important to everybody.
*
Esquire, November 1972, “Woman,” by Nora Ephron
Betty has publicly announced her drive to run Chisholm for Vice President. The ballroom of the Carillon Hotel, packed full of boisterous, exuberant delegates, activists and press, gives her suggestion a standing ovation; minutes later, it is hissing Chisholm with equal gusto for waffling on the California challenge.
*
Boston Globe, July 11, 1972, “Women Delegates Caucus, Hopefuls Woo Their Votes,” by Ellen Goodman
The women stood on chairs applauding and shouting for the only female candidate, their McGovern and Humphrey buttons shaking.
“This shows where you stand in our hearts,” said Liz Carpenter, herself a Humphrey supporter.
*
Off Our Backs, September 1972, by Vivien Leone
WE WANT SHIRLEY! Up went the beautiful soprano chant. It was tears-in-the-throat-making. Up rose the steering committee from their proscenium seats and they all-in-a-row kissed her. Magic!
*
Boston Globe, July 11, 1972, “Women Delegates Caucus, Hopefuls Woo Their Votes,” by Ellen Goodman
Mrs. Chisholm tried to convince the women to put their votes where their “hearts” were.
“You know deep in your hearts, you put me beside any candidate and I have a deeper commitment to those issues that are important to us than any of them. You have to make the decision whether your commitment to women is going to go down the line for a woman candidate or whether women go for the male candidate like they always do.”
Fewer than two dozen female delegates are voting for Mrs. Chisholm, but more than 400 applauded.
“That’s why I’m clapping so hard,” said one Michigan feminist delegate. “I’m clapping out the guilt. But this is politics and she’s not going to win.”
*
Off Our Backs, September 1972, by Vivien Leone
Into the meeting strode the bloodless figure of George McG, and the crowd screamed…even though a year ago most of the screamers had hardly heard of South Dakota… and this figure with all the fervor of a Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, is Against The War (Rah!), and Is A Man, and consequently is A Serious Candidate. The alternative adjective is “realistic.”
*
Esquire, November 1972, “Woman,” by Nora Ephron
Beaming, while he is graciously introduced by Liz Carpenter, “We know we wouldn’t have been here if it hadn’t been for you,” she says. “George McGovern didn’t talk about reform—he did something about it.” The audience is McGovern’s. “I’m grateful for the introduction that all of you are here because of me,” says the candidate rumored to be most in touch with women’s issues. “But I really think the credit for that has to go to Adam instead…” He pauses for the laugh and looks genuinely astonished when what he gets instead is a resounding hiss. “Can I recover if I say Adam and Eve?” he asks.
*
Harper’s Magazine, October 1972, “McGovern the Big Tease,” by Germaine Greer
There were a few cries of “Shame!” and “Pig!” but you would have thought they were more endearments. He swung into an explanation of the California delegate dispute and into his stock speech on Vietnam. Suddenly there was an interruption. Jacqui Ceballos, deadly pale, was on her feet just below the stage.
“What about the right to control our own bodies?” she cried. “We’ll never be free until we have that!”
I could hear her from where I was standing, halfway down the hall, but Bella and Gloria (who were sitting next to him on the stage) stared glassily out into the room, as if they were deaf or entranced. Without a microphone, Jacqui could not hope to compete with McGovern’s hugely amplified voice.
Arlie Scott: We started shouting “What about abortion? What about abortion, Senator?” Of course, that’s the Chisholm people.
*
Harper’s Magazine, October 1972, “McGovern the Big Tease,” by Germaine Greer
He faltered, and in the brief silence Jacqui’s voice wailed, “We must control our bodies, otherwise we’ll never be free.” McGovern resumed, sailing crescendo into the familiar finale: “I want us to resolve that once that tragedy is put behind us, never again will we send the precious young blood of this country to die trying to bail out a corrupt dictatorship.”
Arlie Scott: He closed his book, ended his speech, and stood up. And two women, two big leaders in the women’s movement [Gloria and Bella] were sitting right next to him and he never mentioned abortion and they stood up with him and started applauding. And everyone stood up and started applauding and we were still shouting. It wasn’t just Chisholm people. How can you even go to the women’s caucus and not even mention it?
*
Harper’s Magazine, October 1972, “McGovern the Big Tease,” by Germaine Greer
Why had Bella and Gloria not helped Jacqui to nail him on abortion? What reticence, what loserism had afflicted them? I wondered if they had already made some sort of a deal. They may have thought they had…but what on earth would they get in exchange….[What] could be worth it?
Arlie Scott: Afterwards, you could hear shouts of Shirley MacLaine [who worked for McGovern] and Bella arguing. So, the women didn’t get what they wanted.
Brenda Feigen: We still had to convince George McGovern to get behind the minority plank for abortion rights. As Gloria stayed up that first night drafting the statements of the three women who would introduce the plank [one of whom was Eleanor Holmes Norton], she made sure that the focus was on reproductive rights in general, including decrying involuntary sterilization for poor women and ensuring access to birth control by everyone. We, of course, ignored Shirley MacLaine, who was claiming that our insistence about abortion, however it was phrased, would cost McGovern the nomination.
*
Harper’s Magazine, October 1972, “McGovern the Big Tease,” by Germaine Greer
For me, the clearest case of funk was the railroading of the abortion issue….The delegates who were for McGovern first and the interests of the group they represented second argued that abortion was a state matter and had no place on a federal platform, which was irrelevant.
Tuesday night, the fight over the abortion plank—which was referred to as the human-reproduction plank because it never once mentioned the word abortion—produced the most emotional floor fight of the convention.
Brenda Feigen: We were on the floor of the convention and Gloria decided she needed to talk to Gary Hart because he was the only way she was going to get through to McGovern. She went up to him and he started screaming at her. I was right there. He was screaming about how abortion is going to destroy McGovern’s whole candidacy. And she started to cry.
Shirley Chisholm: The women had failed to get it together at Miami; too many had made commitments to a candidate ahead of time.
Then Nora Ephron descended on us, and I said, “We’ve got to get out of here,” and then the press started to come up with all the cameras. So, I got her out of there and we left.
*
Esquire, November 1972, “Woman,” by Nora Ephron
At four in the morning, Bella Abzug was screaming at Shirley MacLaine, and Steinem, in tears, was confronting McGovern campaign manager Gary Hart: “You promised us you would not take the low road, you bastards.”
Myra MacPherson: I was on the floor constantly reporting for the Washington Post, and I got Gloria Steinem screaming at Gary Hart saying, “You bastard, you’ve taken the low road.”
*
Washington Post, July 12, 1972, “Sisters vs. Sisters: Abortion Battle Turns Bitter,” by Myra MacPherson
Sen. George McGovern, a man under the gun, chose not to risk defeat in November on a controversial issue….McGovern strategists— Gary Hart, Frank Mankiewicz, Gordon Weil, Matty Troy—told their delegates that there was a Humphrey-Wallace coalition voting yes to saddle McGovern with an embarrassing and possibly defeating plank, and the votes began dropping sharply….
As the yes votes increased, some states switched several times. Abzug shook her fist at the New York delegation and threatened them if they changed any more. “I ask you, don’t distort the vote and sabotage our law in New York and other places”…In the end, many of the pro-abortion delegates did cave in. [Sissy] Farenthold [of Texas] said, “My delegation started out split, and in the end, it was 33-to-1. That one was me.”
*
Esquire, November 1972, “Woman,” by Nora Ephron
The roll call on the plank was held largely at Betty Friedan’s insistence… The plank went down to a thoroughly respectable defeat, 1572.80 against 1101.37 for.
*
Washington Post, July 12, 1972, “Sisters vs. Sisters: Abortion Battle Turns Bitter,” by Myra MacPherson
The battle began after 2 a.m., and wound up around 4:30 a.m. It left some of the purists in McGovern’s camp disillusioned. “McGovern’s double-crossed everybody,” said one female delegate. Mankiewicz could not suppress his smile at their victory… “We have good bench strength,” he joked, knowing full well that no matter how mad the women were with the tactics, they had no other place to go. Even as her voice broke in disappointment, Mrs. Abzug said, “Of course I’ll support McGovern to defeat Nixon.”
After their loss last night, one NWPC member said, “We got everything we asked for except abortion, so I suppose people will say, ‘see, those women just aren’t effective: they lost on abortion.’”…
Former White House aide Liz Carpenter said, “We are being heard more and more. This convention is a victory for us. We don’t have to have every single woman delegate with us to be effective. And we don’t have to agree and get along. Heck, if the American Revolution waited for everyone to like each other, we’d still be at Bunker Hill.”
Myra MacPherson: That was a page one story. I finished it at like seven in the morning. We had those little tents, where everybody was working. Everybody was handing in their copy, and to [editor Richard] Harwood’s credit, he rang the bell and he said, “Best story of the day is Myra’s.”
Shirley Chisholm: At first the McGovern strategists said they would keep hands off the issue and let it be “a vote of conscience” for each delegate. But this was not to be…the [abortion] plank, which probably would have been defeated even if McGovern had honored his promise to keep aloof, was heavily defeated. Abzug, Steinem, and others were furious. They had considered McGovern wishy-washy on abortion, but now they felt betrayed. Like the Blacks, the women had failed to get it together at Miami; too many had made commitments to a candidate ahead of time, and their adherence to him made it impossible for them to work effectively for their cause.
*
Harper’s Magazine, October 1972, “McGovern the Big Tease,” by Germaine Greer
As Flo [Kennedy] said bitterly, “Honey, if you’ll fuck for a dime, you can’t complain because somebody else is getting a fur coat.” Womanlike, they did not want to get tough with their man, and so, womanlike, they got screwed.
Gloria Steinem: Then came the question of whether or not Shirley Chisholm wanted to have her name put in nomination at the convention for the vice presidency. Because we—“we” means the National Women’s Political Caucus, the poor people’s caucus, the Black caucus, and the Hispanic caucus, all of which met in coalition—all wanted to have a coalition candidate for the vice presidency on the floor of the convention, as a show of strength and also because there was some little hope that we might actually have a vice presidential candidate. We certainly had much more support than [Thomas] Eagleton, who finally ended up being the candidate.
I was hoping that Shirley Chisholm would agree to have her name put in vice presidential nomination. We waited and waited until the very last minute, until she made her decision. When she said, “No,” then Sissy Farenthold became the candidate. I was supposed to give her nominating speech. Of course, this took place in the middle of the night. I arranged to split my time with a representative from each of the other caucuses, so that Fannie Lou Hamer gave part of the nominating speech, and a Chicano man, who had served with Sissy in the state legislature of Texas, gave another part. Among the three of us, we represented the major caucuses of underrepresented groups. It was a great moment, actually, because it was very clear that this was an important coalition.
Shirley Chisholm: Through all of this, I was not on the floor; I spent most of the time seeing people in my hotel rooms.
Barbara Winslow: Chisholm ended up with 152 delegate votes and she became the first woman in the Democratic Party to have her name placed in nomination.
Shirley Chisholm: When I got to the convention hall, it was lit up by noise. That was a wonderful moment for me, to see the way all of the delegates received me at the convention….Because I had felt that someday, a Black person or a female person should run for the presidency of the United States, and now I was a catalyst of change.
__________________________________
From The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973 by Clara Bingham. Copyright © 2024. Reprinted by permission of Atria/One Signal Publishers, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
