ABSTRACT
John F. Kennedy is the last president to have gone directly from the US Senate to the presidency. This is a problem for women candidates because it is almost as hard for women to get elected governor as it is for woman to be taken seriously as presidential contender. Polls show that voters by a wide margin have more confidence in men as decisive leaders. They think women can hold their own in debating and crafting legislation, but when it comes to executive command, men have the edge. Women bring a different life experience, for better or worse, to the electoral arena. Others reflect powerful societal forces that ebb and flow, and that shape who we are, and who we elect. In the history of the United States only twenty-three women have served as governors. The women with best chance of winning had already been elected state-wide, and were using those posts as a stepping stone to the governor's mansion.
