Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 04/30
In Pictures: The kings and queens of modern monarchies
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 04/29
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 04/28
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 04/27
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 04/26
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 04/25
In Pictures: Where Our Clothes Come From
Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin became the first woman governor of her state in December 2006. Palin was selected by John McCain as the vice presidential candidate – only the second woman in the US to be selected for that post. After the 2008 election, Palin announced in July 2009 that she would resign her post as governor of Alaska and would not run for reelection in 2010. Palin released her memoir, 'Going Rogue: An American Life,' in November 2009. The former governor and vice-presidential candidate has since formed a political action committee, SarahPAC, and in February 2010 appeared as the keynote speaker at the inaugural 'tea party' convention in Nashville, Tenn. Gerald Herbert/AP/FILE
From first lady to New York senator to presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton has worked for nearly two decades as an advocate for children, women, universal health coverage, and other causes. In 2000 Ms. Clinton was elected to the Senate and became the first New Yorker ever to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Clinton made a strong bid for the White House, running for president in 2008, but after a string of losses in the primaries Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama in June. After Obama's victory in the presidential election, Clinton was named secretary of State. Al Goldis/AP/FILE
Nancy Pelosi made history in 2007 when she was named speaker of the House of Representatives. She is the highest-ranking elected woman in American history, and is second in line of presidential succession. A gradute of Trinity College, Ms. Pelosi has represented California since 1987 and was previously House Democratic leader. She is credited with building consensus and unifying the Democratic caucus that paved the way for the Democrats to take back the House in 2006 elections. Pelosi was a key player in getting the health-care reform legislation passed in the House in March 2010. Mitch Dumke/Reuters/FILE
Starting in 1989, Condoleezza Rice served in the Bush administration as director and then senior director of Soviet and East European Affairs for the National Security Council. Ms. Rice went on to become National Security Adviser in 2001, and in 2005 she was named secretary of State. A former provost and political science professor at Stanford, Rice has faced issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran's nuclear development, the Iraq war, and North Korea's nuclear weapons program, among others. Kevin Wolf/AP/FILE
Michigan's first female governor, Democrat Jennifer Granholm, is a Canadian-born Harvard Law School grad who was inducted into the 'Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.' In her second term, Granholm is focusing on the economy, partly by creating jobs through the alternative energy sector. Granholm has resolved more than $4 billion in budget deficits and considers her top priority to be Michigan families and universal access to affordable health care. After Barack Obama was elected, Granholm joined Obama's economic advisory team and it was reported that she may have been a possible candidate for appointment to the Supreme Court in May 2009. However, the nomination went to Sonia Sotomayor. Carlos Osorio/AP/FILE
Christine Todd Whitman started her political career during the Nixon administration under Donald Rumsfeld. In 1993, after an unsuccessful run for the Senate, Ms. Whitman became New Jersey's first female governor. President Bush appointed Whitman head of the EPA in 2001, where she faced controversy over numerous issues, including air quality following 9/11. In June 2003, Whitman resigned from the EPA and has since formed a political action committee to help elect moderate Republicans. Mike Derer/AP/FILE
Madeleine Albright was the first female secretary of State, nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1996, and is the highest-ranking woman in the history of the US government. Born in the Czech Republic, she is an alumna of Wellesley College. Albright is known for her dealings in the Bosnian and Kosovo wars, and the handover of Hong Kong. Albright is currently a professor at Georgetown University. Andy Nelson/The Christian Science Monitor/FILE
Janet Reno was the attorney general from 1993-2001, nominated by former President Bill Clinton, and was the second-longest serving attorney general. Reno, a graduate of Harvard Law School, supervised many Department of Justice actions, including bringing suit against Microsoft for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the capture and conviction of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Reno also supervised the capture and conviction of those behind the1993 World Trade Center bombings, and the seizure of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez and his return to his Cuban father. Reno made an unsuccessful bid for governor of Florida in 2002, and has since retired from public life. Ron Edmonds/AP/FILE
Barbara Boxer was raised in Brooklyn, New York, where she attended Brooklyn College, and then moved to California with her husband and family where she was a journalist and congressional aid. In 1992 she was elected to the US Senate as one of the first two female Jewish senators in California. Ms. Boxer has been active on environmental issues, abortion rights, gun control, and medical research, and is the Chief Deputy Whip in Majority. In May 2010, the Senate passed an amendment by Boxer that would ensure that no taxpayer funds would be used to bail out Wall Street. Alex Wong/Getty Images/NEWSCOM/FILE
A native of San Francisco and a Stanford alumna, Sen. Dianne Feinstein was the city's first female mayor from 1978-1988, and is known for curbing crime, developing the downtown, and balancing the budget. In 1992, Ms. Feinstein and fellow Democrat Barbara Boxer were the first women elected senators from California. Since then, Feinstein has focused on the rising costs of college education, the subprime mortgage crisis, global warming, social security, and Medicare. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/FILE
An attorney and Democratic politician, Geraldine Ferarro was the first female vice-presidential candidate for a major American political party. Ms. Ferraro entered the House of Representatives in 1978 as a conservative, and moved up rapidly in the party. Ferraro focused much her work on equity for women in wages, pensions, and retirement plans. A member of the US delegation to the UN Commission on Human Rights under Clinton, Ferraro is today a political analyst and columnist. Stephan Savoia/AP/FILE
President Ronald Reagan nominated Stanford alumna Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 to be the first woman justice to sit on the Supreme Court. She was approved unanimously by the Senate despite political controversy. Conservatives criticized her lack of federal judicial experience, and liberals, while happy to have a woman on the court, criticized Ms. O'Connor's lack of strong support for feminist issues. O'Connor retired from the court in July 2005. She had served on the court for 24 years, often the deciding vote in a string of 5-4 decisions that came from the bench and sometimes sided with the conservative wing and others with the liberal contingent. J. Scott Applewhite/AP/FILE
Madeleine Kunin was the 77th governor of Vermont from 1985-1991 as a member of the Democratic Party, and was a US ambassador to Switzerland from 1996-1999. She was the first, and to date only, female governor of Vermont as well as the first Jewish woman to be elected governor of any state. Ms. Kunin was a member of the Clinton administration as deputy secretary of Education and wrote a book, 'Pearls, Politics and Power,' about female leadership in politics. Geoff Hansen/iPhoto/NEWSCOM/FILE
Patricia Harris served as the United States secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Jimmy Carter, becoming the first African-American woman to enter the presidential line of succession. Ms. Harris had been appointed by President John F. Kennedy to co-chairman of the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights, and following her first cabinet appointment, in 1979 she became Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Arthur Grace/ZUMA Press/NEWSCOM/FILE
Born in Maine and a University of Maine graduate, Olympia Snowe was selected by Time magazine as one of 'America's 10 Best Senators.' She entered politics by winning a seat on the Board of Voter Registration and working for a congressman, then entered the House of Representatives as the youngest woman ever in 1978. There she met her husband, John McKernan, then-governor of Maine. Snowe joined the Senate in 1994 and has never lost an election in 35 years as an elected official. Andy Nelson/The Christian Science Monitor/FILE
A graduate of Columbia Law School and leader of the women's movement, Bella Abzug said in her 1970 campaign, 'This woman's place is in the House – the House of Representatives.' From 1971 to 1977, she served the State of New York in the House of Representatives. She introduced the first federal bill for gay rights, the Equality Act of 1974, with Rep. Ed Koch. Edward Pieratt/The Christian Science Monitor/FILE
In 1968, Democrat Shirley Chisholm was elected to the House of Representatives, making her the first African-American elected to Congress. Throughout her time there, she worked for improvements for inner-city residents; spending increases for education, health care, and other social services; and reductions in military spending. Ms. Chisholm even made a bid at the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. She retired from Congress in 1982 and taught at Mount Holyoke College. AP/FILE
President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor (l.) for a Supreme Court Appointment in May 2009. Sotomayor became the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice. Sotomayor previously served on the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. Jim Young/Reuters/FILE
Kagan was nominated for appointment to the Supreme Court on May 10, 2010, by President Obama. She was the first female dean of Harvard Law School, and the first woman to serve as the top Supreme Court lawyer. On Aug. 6, she was confirmed as the new Supreme Court Justice. The 50-year-old Kagan, who will be the third woman on the current court, is not expected to change the ideological balance of power on the closely divided panel, which for years has been dominated by a 5-4 conservative majority. Larry Downing/Reuters
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 04/30
In Pictures: The kings and queens of modern monarchies
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 04/29
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 04/28
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 04/27
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 04/26
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 04/25
In Pictures: Where Our Clothes Come From
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is not interested in joining Romney, who has more than enough delegates to win the presidential nod at the party convention in Tampa.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is trying to tamp down any speculation she could be Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate.
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