4 Women Who Helped Pave the Way for Hillary’s Presidential Bid

Published April 28, 2016
Updated March 1, 2018

Gracie Allen

Gracie Allen

Gracie Allen on set. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Way before Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump became entertainers-turned-politicans, one Hollywood star decided to take her act on the road — to the White House.

Comedienne Gracie Allen’s campaign song was composed by Charles Henderson and included lyrics like: “the big politicians don’t know what to do — Gracie doesn’t either, but neither do you.”

The other half of a famous comedy duo, Allen and her straight man husband George Burns were Hollywood stars. Their double-act was known for their wild publicity stunts, but when Allen ran for president in 1940, no one anticipated that she would actually run a fairly successful campaign — let alone receive an endorsement from Harvard.

Allen ran on the “Surprise Party” ticket, which she and Burns created for the stunt. The Allen/Burns writers even published a book promoting her run, How to Become President.

In one of her campaign speeches, Allen said, “I don’t know much about the Lend-Lease Bill, but if we owe it we should pay it!” — which, of course, was meant in jest, though many longstanding jokes from the Burns and Allen act made their way into the campaign with a degree of legitimacy.

Despite the fact that it was all a joke, she received 42,000 votes in the general election in November 1940 — a respectable number and even more than several other serious female candidates who had, and would go on to, run.

author
Abby Norman
author
Abby Norman is a writer based in New England . Her work has been featured on The Rumpus, The Independent, Bustle, Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and Quartz.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.