Women in the U.S.A. have a long history of being able to vote and being elected or appointed to responsible positions in the American political system.  Their influence in the U.S. government has been growing in recent years. A record 90 women were elected to serve in Congress in 2007. Below is a timeline of some of the women who have played a large role in American government:

1916 - Jeannette Rankin, of Montana, is the first woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
 
1922 - Rebecca Felton, of Georgia, is appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill a temporary vacancy. The first woman senator, she serves for only two days.
 
1925 - Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman to serve as Governor of a State, in Wyoming.
 
1933 - Frances Perkins is appointed Secretary of Labor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, making her the first woman member of a presidential cabinet.
 
1964 - Margaret Chase Smith, of Maine, becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States by a major political party, at the Republican National Convention.

1965 - Patsy Takemoto Mink, of Hawaii, is the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress.
 
1969 - Shirley Chisholm, of New York, becomes the first African-American woman in Congress.
 
1981  - Sandra Day O’Connor is appointed by President Reagan to the Supreme Court, making her its first woman justice.

1984 - Geraldine Ferraro is the first woman to run for Vice-President on a major party ticket.

1989 - Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, of Florida, becomes the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress.
 
1991 - On January 2, Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as Mayor of Washington, DC, becoming the first black woman to serve as mayor of a major city.
 
1992 - Carol Moseley-Braun, of Illinois, becomes the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

1993 - Shiela Widnall becomes the first Secretary of a branch of the U.S. military when she is appointed to lead the Air Force.

1993 - Janet Reno becomes the first woman U.S. Attorney General.

1997 - Madeleine Albright is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State. She is the first woman in this position as well as the highest-ranking woman in the United States government.

2005 - Condoleezza Rice becomes the first African-American female Secretary of State.
 
2007 - Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) becomes the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives.