Would a Hillary Clinton presidency break more glass ceilings for women?
Hillary Clinton's history-making role as the first female presidential nominee was a common theme at the Democratic convention this week, beginning with first lady Michelle Obama's stirring speech in which she described Clinton as a positive role model for her two daughters.
"And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters - and all our sons and daughters - now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States," Obama said.
In a surprise video appearance Tuesday night, Clinton was introduced by the shattering of a virtual glass ceiling. She delivered an empowering message to young girls, telling them, "I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next!"
But would her election really lead to the end of the glass ceiling in other areas of American life, or would she merely be "reenacting all of these familiar gender dynamics we've seen a million times before?"
That's the question New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor raises in her latest article for the paper. After speaking with women all across the country this week to hear their thoughts about Clinton's historic nomination, Kantor concludes that the impact may not be so straightforward.
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"They have this ineffable sense that a first female presidency would be a force in their own lives, that it would change their workplaces or cause them to act and think about themselves differently. But the truth is, we do not really know because of course, does a far-off president in Washington really affect your own behavior?" Kantor said. "And she has raised historic hopes, she has promised a lot to women. Those things will be very difficult to deliver on."
Other places in the world have already seen prominent female leaders - take British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But Clinton's seat in the Oval Office would be different, Kantor explained, because she shares a stronger connection with women in America.
"Well, I think there was often a disconnect between what those women experienced and the general population did. Think of the difference between Indira Gandhi... and the amount of power and agency that most Indian women had. Things are a little bit different with Clinton, though, because... she would be coming into office at a time when American women are making vast progress," Kantor said. "As commander in chief, one of the things she would be overseeing would be the integration of women into combat roles in the military. She would be trying to expand parental leave at a time when state-mandated parental leave is actually becoming a reality across the country."
Still, it's mind-boggling for many that 2016 marks a first for America. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin said it "mystifies" her that it took this long. She attributes the long wait to the lack of mentors and women in politics.
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"The pool of talent now has doubled overnight by Hillary getting to this mark," Goodwin said. "But think about how crazy this is." It comes at a time when "women are going to college more, they're going to medical school more, they're entering things more - suppose the next 43 presidents are women."
Aaccording to Goodwin, Hillary's nomination could be a crack in the glass ceiling for other groups who have historically been "excluded from power" and "dignity."
"Moving forward, that's one of the optimistic things I think I feel about America, despite all of the darkness that everybody else is talking about, it's great," Goodwin said.
In his convention speech, President Obama asserted that no one has been more qualified - neither him nor former President Bill Clinton - to serve as president of the United States.
Having been in the political realm for decades - since her days as first lady of Arkansas, during eight years as first lady during her husband's administration, as a U.S. senator from New York, and then as secretary of state - Hillary Clinton knows "the pressures that are on a president," Goodwin said.
She also said she couldn't "agree more" with former CIA director and defense secretary Robert Gates's statement that Republican nominee Donald Trump lacks the temperament to be president. Drawing on an example from history, she noted that Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. once said of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "Well, he's got a second rate intellect, but a first rate temperament."
"And temperament is it. It means that was the attitude he took towards the Depression - compared to the Trump convention where everything was so dark - the theme was, 'Happy days are here again!' in the middle of 1932.'"