Former Secretary of Commerce Barbara H. Franklin was welcomed by the Bush School Tuesday night to discuss her role in advancing the cause of women and those individuals who pioneered allowing women in the landscape of politics.
Her presentation in the Annenberg Conference Center used the book by Lee Stout titled, “A Matter of Simple Justice: The Untold Story of Barbara Hackman Franklin and a Few Good Women.”
After an introduction by former Bush School dean Andrew Card, Franklin, who served under President Richard Nixon, spoke about presidential leadership, a recurring theme throughout her discussion.
“Presidential leadership really counts,” Franklin said. “I really think what President Nixon did was take this left-leaning movement for women’s equality, and brought it right into the middle of American life and made it mainstream.”
Franklin then described the social climate that marked the beginning of her efforts to introduce women to the Nixon White House and government in general. She said the growing movement for equal rights for women, combined with an increased push for women to be able to join the workforce, led to the appearance of more women in government offices.
“There are lessons to be learned and inspiration to be gained from history,” Franklin said. “First lesson is that presidential leadership really counts. In this case, it was President Nixon whose leadership really counted in the advancement of women. Second, women were becoming responsible for positions that they had never been responsible for and there was a glass ceiling, and they broke it.”