Marie Caroline Brehm (June 30, 1859 – January 21, 1926) was an American prohibitionist, suffragist, and politician. The Head of the suffrage department for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), she was a key figure in the Prohibition Party and Presbyterian Church, active in both local and national politics, and an advocate of reform laws. Twice she was appointed by the President to represent the United States at the World's Anti-Alcoholic Congress in Europe. Additionally, she was the first woman to run for the Vice President of the United States after the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. Early life and family Brehm was born in Sandusky, Ohio, to William Henry and Elizabeth Rode Brehm as the third of eight children. Her father was a dry goods merchant. Her siblings were Minnie Duennisch-Schaber, Theodore Brehm, Elizabeth C. Forth, William H. Brehm, Frederick Conrad Brehm, John Brehm, and Carrie Brehm. She was reported to be a voracious reader, having read about 300 books from the Sunday school library when she was a child. Brehm's mother, a widow, was reported to have committed suicide by throwing herself into the bay in 1896. Brehm was a lecturer and educator in the public school system of Sandusky, where she also conducted private lessons in languages and civics. In 1883 or 1884, Brehm left her job as a bookkeeper in Sandusky and moved to Olney, Illinois, where she taught art, embroidery, and painting for five years. During this time, she was also a teacher and Superintendent of a Sunday school in the First Presbyterian Church of that city. While teaching at the Claremont School in Olney during the 1887–88 term, she resided with her uncle, Captain William Rhode and his wife. Rhode was a successful businessman with a thriving hardware store, clothing business, as well as a bustling tavern and resort. Temperance and suffrage work Brehm first became involved in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) organization in 1891, during which time she was an organizing member, and made president of the local chapter in April of that year. In September 1891 she served as secretary of a WCTU district convention in Newton, Illinois, where she was elected District President of a ten-county district and greatly increased WCTU membership and engagement over the next four years. Following her district work, Brehm was appointed State Superintendent of the WCTU Institutes, which grew under her