The Quest To Become Ms. President

Female Politicians Discuss The Prospects Of A Woman Leader

(CBS) 
And there's another reason why women may put their political careers on hold: balancing motherhood and family with the rigors of public life.

"It's this weighing out, 'What do I do with my kids in this mix?'" Walsh says.

"Jane Swift had twins while she was governor of Massachusetts, at the same time, John Engler, who was the governor of Michigan at the time had triplets. Nobody ever asked John Engler how are you gonna manage being governor while you're raising these little girls. Yet Jane Swift could not stop getting asked that question," Walsh says.

Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln actually left the House of Representatives to give birth to twins. Later, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate.

She is now in her second term and she says that even today women still face another traditional obstacle: they are often judged on their appearance.

"Now as a woman you realize that if you don't have on lipstick, there's gonna be a big issue," Lincoln says. "Or, if you've got a run in your panty hose, you know, no one's gonna take you seriously about the answers that you have to these questions. Well does a man have that problem -- no."

Women have always had a tough time in American politics. In 1872, when Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to run for president, women did not even have the right to vote in federal elections. They didn't get it until 1920.

In later years a handful of women have run for president. For example, Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm in 1972 and Senator Elizabeth Dole in 2000. But none have gotten very far. Meanwhile, Americans have watched Golda Meir in Israel, Indira Ghandi in India and Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain win high marks for their powerful governing styles.

But Geraldine Ferraro, the only woman ever nominated to run for vice president on a national ticket, says that in the United States, a major obstacle remains: the question of whether voters will feel comfortable with a woman being in charge of national security and foreign policy.

"I had been in Congress not a tremendously long period of time, but I certainly had more knowledge about foreign affairs and other things than Ronald Reagan did when he became president of the United States," Ferraro says.