Women have been fighting to break into the highest ranks of government long before they had achieved the right to vote. It started in 1864 when Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association, and they have been making great strides ever since.

Victoria Woodhull was nominated for President of the United States by the newly formed Equal Rights Party in 1872, on a ticket with Frederick Douglass.

Belva Lockwood ran as the candidate of the National Equal Rights Party in 1884 and 1888. Her running mate in the first election was Marietta L. Stow - an all female ticket!

Before women were legally granted the right to vote in 1920, they not only manage to cast ballots, they were also elected to public office. Susanna M. Salter was Mayor of Argonia, Kansas in 1887, and in 1916, Jeannette Rankin of Montana was elected to Congress.

Even Gracie Allen of the famed Burns and Allen comedy team got in on the action. In 1940, she ran for President on the Surprise Party ticket as a publicity stunt and actually received votes!

Until 1978, all women in the U.S. Senate were connected to a deceased spouse who had held the office.

This year, Hilary Clinton worked to put "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling," announcing that women are not only on the playing field, they are scoring like never before! And this week while Democratic National Convention was nominating Barack Obama, Hillary assumed a new role as party elder.

Today, when John McCain added Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket, this election took on new significance.

What an amazing week! Now we can all tell our children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren that they can be anything they want to be, and we can believe for ourselves as well.

For ideas on ways you might raise your voice on issues that matter to you, check out The White House Project and The Op Ed Project.

Reprinted from Revolution Me!