Tina Cassidy
Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait: Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote
From the Publisher:
Woodrow Wilson lands in Washington, DC, in March of 1913, a day before he is set to take the presidential oath of office. He is surprised by the modest turnout. The crowds and reporters are blocks away from Union Station, watching a parade of eight thousand suffragists on Pennsylvania Avenue in a first-of-its-kind protest organized by a twenty-five-year-old activist named Alice Paul. The next day, The New York Times calls the procession “one of the most impressively beautiful spectacles ever staged in this country.”
Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? weaves together two storylines: the trajectories of Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson, two apparent opposites. Paul’s procession of suffragists resulted in her being granted a face-to-face meeting with President Wilson, one that would lead to many meetings and much discussion, but little progress for women. With no equality in sight and patience wearing thin, Paul organized the first group to ever picket in front of the White House lawn—night and day, through sweltering summer mornings and frigid fall nights.
From solitary confinement, hunger strikes, and the psychiatric ward to ever more determined activism, Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? reveals the courageous, near-death journey it took, spearheaded in no small part by Alice Paul’s leadership, to grant women the right to vote in America. “A remarkable tale” (Kirkus Reviews) and a rousing portrait of a little-known feminist heroine, this is an eye-opening exploration of a crucial moment in American history one century before the Women’s March.
Reviews:
“A remarkable tale… This book should be required reading until Alice Paul becomes a household name. She not only fought for voting rights and the 19th Amendment; she kept fighting for another 50 years.” ― Kirkus Reviews
“While this book brings to life one of the most important stories of the 20th century, Mr. President is essential reading for today, showing us what it takes to lead a movement, create positive change, and force government to be accountable to the people. It’s an inspiring reminder of what one committed person can do.” — Keith O’Brien, author of the New York Times Bestselling Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
“Compact and energetic. . . .A double portrait of Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic president whose opposition to suffrage gave way to half-hearted support, and Alice Paul, the single-minded young Quaker who brought to America the radical tactics she learned from the British suffragettes.” –Wall Street Journal
“Appearing as we approach the 2020 centennial of the amendment’s ratification, this book is especially timely, filled as it is with inspiration and practical lessons for activists, including recognition of the value of groups working separately for the same goal. Cassidy…also draws us into the unstoppable power of a movement.” – Ms. Magazine
“General readers will appreciate this treatment of the efforts of [Alice] Paul, a heroine of the women’s rights movement.” -Library Journal
[Recorded on August 15, 2024]
Tina Cassidy is the executive vice president and chief content officer at the public relations and social content firm InkHouse and also a board member at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. She has written two previous nonfiction books, Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born and Jackie After O: One Remarkable Year When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Defied Expectations and Rediscovered her Dreams. Previously, she was a journalist at The Boston Globe, where she covered politics, sports, fashion, and business.
