Cite Article Details: Election 101: Who was the first woman to run for president? Title Election 101: Who was the first woman to run for president? Most American women didn’t win the right to vote until the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920, but the first female candidate for president came nearly 50 years earlier. In 1872, Ohio native Victoria Woodhull made history when she ran as the Equal Rights Party candidate against incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant.