Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait?

Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote

By: Tina Cassidy

Narrated by: Amanda Carlin

In this “heroic narrative” (The Wall Street Journal), discover the inspiring and timely account of the complex relationship between leading suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women’s equality.

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.

Everyone should hear this story

I am in awe of what women sacrificed so we can have the vote. This story is so engaging I finished the book in two days. If you need to be reminded that committed people can change the world listen to this book.

Worthy Read

Having studied World War I so extensively in the last few years, I found that this book added a depth and breadth to that era. Alice Paul is a familiar hero of US women’s history, but this presentation of her life contrasted against that of Woodrow Wilson provides a great way to better understand both. For me, the choices made by Alice Paul and her colleagues were brave, bold, and perhaps a bit uncomfortable. But a protest that makes an impact, makes a statement, makes a difference - maybe really has to make people uncomfortable in order to do those things. Peaceful and pressing boundaries, we feel this in the efforts to impact change to this day. Overall it was a great and insightful reading providing an interesting set of subjects and an opportunity for education on important topics. I highly recommend.

Every American of voting age should read this book.

The book reads like a suspense novel. It tells an incredible story of perseverance. We all owe the women documented in the book and all the others who campaigned locally a huge debt of gratitude. It is a story everyone should know.

How two people changed America

From the time he arrived in Washington following his election until the 19th amendment passed the Senate six and a half years later, Alice Paul hounded Woodrow Wilson to push for the right to vote for women. Her strategy and tactics shocked Americans at the time but became a model for future fights to expand civil rights.
Cassidy focuses narrowly on this period. While Wilson pushed for the “progressive” agenda and Allied victory in WWI, Paul’s only objective was the passage of the amendment.
Using Wilson’s own words against him, on banners which women picketers carried to the White House gate, Paul was fearless in her attacks. Facing down misogynists and charges of being unpatriotic, she continued to argue that America would not be a democracy if half of its population did not have a say in their government.
Splitting from less radical women’s organizations, Paul deserves much of the credit for the final passage of a federal amendment.

Robotic Reading Hurts Story

Fascinating history is diminished by narrator that sounds like a computer. She makes the most interesting scenes sound boring. I suggest getting the book rather than listening.