A New Face on Politics: Two Women in the Chairs
For the first time in history, the two most powerful persons after the president are women. 100 years after women won the right to vote, Dr. Karen O'Connor discusses the impact that Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi play — practically as well as symbolically — in American politics.
Dr. Karen O'Connor
For the first time in history, when President Joe Biden gives his first speech to a joint session of Congress, behind him will sit the two most powerful persons after him; both are women: Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, both of California. In November 2020, 100 years after women won the right to vote, the first woman elected nationwide not only was a Vice President, but a woman of color and of Indian heritage. Optics matter. In this lecture, Dr. Karen O'Connor will discuss the impact that these two women play practically as well as symbolically in American politics.
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About the speaker
Dr. Karen O'Connor, American University
Karen O'Connor is the Jonathan N. Helfat Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Founder and Director Emerita of the Women & Politics Institute at American University. Dr. O'Connor taught political science for seventeen years at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was the first woman to receive the university's highest teaching award. She has been recognized by several associations as the most outstanding woman in political science and public administration as well as by the Southern Political Science Association (SPSA) for her contributions to the discipline. She has served on the American Political Science Association (APSA) and SPSA councils and as chair of the Law and Courts and Women and Politics Research sections of the APSA. She is the lead author of American Government: Roots and Reform, 2020 Presidential Election Edition.