“An illuminating compilation of essays.... It provides an excellent overview of the many challenges—and to some degree benefits—that many women candidates and politicians encounter.” —Ivy A.M. Cargile, Gender & Society

Scholars and pundits alike will continue for years to speculate about why both Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris lost presidential elections to Donald Trump. Their conclusions may differ, but few would disagree that Clinton's nomination by a major party changed the political landscape in significant ways—nor that the results of the 2016 election provoked a large number of women to run for office at all levels of government. The genie is out of the bottle.

The authors of Madam President? critically analyze the barriers facing women on the road to the White House—from gender stereotyping to biased media coverage, the conflation of masculinity and the presidency, gendered conceptions of leadership, and more.